John Kasich is hoping for a candidacy-saving showing in New Hampshire on Tuesday by positioning himself as a pragmatic GOP budget-balancer, more moderate than his rivals. But on abortion, the Ohio governor is anything but moderate, signing a slew of restrictive laws that have closed nearly half his state’s clinics.

During months of campaigning, Kasich has scarcely talked about that record, however, even though abortion is an issue that drives many Republican primary voters.


“He’s the classic under-commit, over-perform guy,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List. “Certainly on this issue, it’s hard to find a governor or anyone who has a better record.”

Kasich doesn’t include his anti-abortion bona fides in his stump speeches. When Kasich is asked for his views, he typically says he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother — and then moves on. For instance he told CNN earlier in the campaign that abortion is “an important issue.” But he immediately added, “Many other issues are really critical: early childhood, infant mortality, the environment, education.” The other GOP candidates are more likely to emphasize their anti-abortion credentials.

Dannenfelser attributes Kasich's reticence to having come of age politically and culturally as a working-class Catholic when abortion was something “you didn’t talk about.”

But one Republican strategist says that anti-abortion crusader doesn’t fit the image of pragmatism and experience that Kasich has built his 2016 presidential campaign on — an image that so far has not engaged angry GOP voters drawn to upstarts and outsiders.

"He has presented himself very much as a Mr. Fix-It, especially on balancing budgets — 'I did that in the House of Representatives. I did that in [Ohio].' That's the identity that he's created for himself," said Republican strategist Doug Heye. "If it's not an issue that touches on that identity, it's not something he's talking about."

Yet Kasich recently wondered aloud about his failure to win over conservatives and evangelicals. He never made a big play for Iowa, where those voters dominate, and he did not do well in the caucuses.

"I don't know why I can't win conservative votes. I don't know why I wouldn’t be able to win evangelicals," he said Wednesday at a Bloomberg breakfast in Manchester, N.H. "I mean, I don't go out and try to win a vote by using God. I think that cheapens God.”

Ironically, Kasich, who now attends an Anglican church, has talked about his religious values when he defends his decision to expand Medicaid health care for the poor under Obamacare, a decision that has helped brand him as too moderate and hurt him in the early phase of the nomination contest.

“Now, when you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small,” Kasich said. “But he is going to ask you what you did for the poor. You better have a good answer.”

Kasich’s campaign spokesman, Rob Nichols, said the Ohio governor does talk about abortion when others raise it. “Whenever he’s asked the question, he says he believes in the sanctity of human life,” Nichols said. “He’s very proud of his record here.”

Laws signed by Kasich prohibit almost all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, mandate ultrasounds before a woman can get an abortion and require abortion clinics to establish formal written agreements with local hospitals about emergency care — a provision that has been repeatedly modified to be even more restrictive and make it harder for clinics to comply. Several other states have enacted similar laws — and the Supreme Court this year will decide how far states can go with such restrictions.

All these measures “add up to a big deal,” said Stephanie Kight, president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio. “The fact is the culmination of over 17 direct cuts and restrictions — completely unnecessary restrictions — have made it much more difficult for women to access safe legal abortion in a timely manner.”

Kight and other abortion rights advocates also question whether those restrictions have actually stopped abortions — or just made women go through more obstacles to obtain them. Eight Ohio clinics have closed since Kasich took office, and another is open only because of a court order. Abortions have decreased in Ohio but they’ve risen in neighboring Michigan, which could suggest that Ohio women are going to another state that has fewer legal hurdles.

Ohio’s hard line on abortion may seem unusual given that it’s considered the quintessential “purple” swing state. But since 1991, the state has been run by Republicans who oppose abortion rights — except for a four-year break in 2007-2011. Kasich's administration has continued the tradition.

“Ohio has become, over the years — over decades really — a testing ground for anti-abortion policies and restrictions on family planning services,” Elizabeth Nash, a senior policy analyst at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. “It really is one of the most hostile places in the country.”

One Kasich-backed requirement in particular has resulted in several clinic closures: a mandate that clinics have a written agreement with a local hospital to transfer patients who need emergency care. While the provision was enacted before Kasich took office, over three years, he signed into law three changes that critics say made it even more difficult for the clinics.

In 2013, for instance, he signed a state budget that barred public hospitals from such agreements, saying it could potentially lead to taxpayer dollars supporting abortion. Two years later, the requirement was changed again so that a clinic had to have the agreement with a hospital within 30 miles.

Critics say the law was changed just as clinics figured out how to come into compliance and remain open. Officials at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio and NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio say that the requirements led to the vast majority of the clinic closures in Ohio under Kasich's governorship because it became too hard to comply. Anti-abortion advocates say the laws aren’t forcing clinics to close — they’re merely forcing clinics to become safer.

But abortion rights backers say the requirement is not needed anyway. Emergency complications are rare in pregnancy terminations — and under federal law, nearly all hospitals have to accept and stabilize any emergency patient.

No matter what the outcome in New Hampshire — Kasich said months ago that he would leave the race if he does poorly — he will soon get another chance to reinforce his anti-abortion bona fides back home.

The Republican-controlled Ohio Legislature is expected to soon approve a bill to eliminate about $1.3 million in funding for Planned Parenthood. It’s supposed to hit his desk after Feb. 9 and he is expected to sign it.

Daniel Strauss contributed to this report.