(LifeSiteNews) – A Republican hoping to unseat incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike Levin of California’s 49th congressional district is raising eyebrows by campaigning on a promise to keep abortion “safe, legal, and rare,” apparently hoping that a moderate but ultimately “pro-choice” tone will help him prevail in America’s most liberal state.

Businessman Matt Gunderson is running against Levin, who was first elected in 2019 and won his most recent reelection 52.6% to 47.4%. NOTUS reported that the Republican debuted an ad this week, declaring, “a woman’s right to choose? I’m pro-choice. I believe abortion should be safe, legal and rare. I don’t want politicians dictating health care for my daughters.” 

Former President Bill Clinton popularized the “safe, legal, and rare” formulation in the 1990s, though his party has moved substantially leftward since then.

“I have four daughters who are young adult women, and I don’t want the government to get involved and dictate their health care,” Gunderson told the publication, explaining that he opposes criminalizing abortion but also wants individual states to make the decision, echoing Republican presidential standard-bearer Donald Trump. “I would obviously encourage other Republicans to agree with me, but, you know, I can’t expect them to agree with me on every issue.”

He added that in 2022, he opposed a “disgusting” ballot initiative to enshrine a right to abortion in the California Constitution because it “opened up the issue of abortion to the Pandora’s box of late-term abortion.”

“I think if it comes up in conversation, you know, people are very thankful that we can put that issue aside,” Gunderson said. “They’re just happy to see that issue kind of set aside so we can have a serious conversation about solving California’s problems and our country’s problems.”

Levin responded that his opponent was “just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. I think the only thing that’s going to stick is that he’s trying to deceive people. It’s no longer the early ’90s.”

Shifting public opinion and a wave of ballot defeats since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 have led some in the Republican Party to conclude they must moderate the party’s longstanding pro-life stance. Pro-life activists such as Lila Rose have forcefully challenged that conclusion, but Trump vocally siding with the moderation camp throughout his current campaign has given other GOP candidates cover to compromise as well.