As the only pro-choice GOP candidate in the race, George Pataki had to expect a question about Planned Parenthood. He perhaps didn’t expect such a personal one, however. Fox News moderator Martha MacCullum, after pointing out that a pro-choice candidate has not won a GOP primary in over 35 years, poignantly asked Pataki if the Center for Medical Progress's disturbing Planned Parenthood investigation, which exposed employees negotiating the sale of fetal body parts, had changed his heart on the issue.
“My heart hasn’t changed,” he said. “I’ve always been appalled by abortion. I'm a Catholic. I believe life begins at conception…When you look at these videos, they are horrific, they show a hideous disrespect for life.”
Yet, he said, the law is the law. Roe v. Wade has been on the books for 42 years and politicians should not try to change it.
As president, he said he would instead end federal funding of abortion and make a significant pro-life bill reality.
“We can put an absolute ban on taxpayer dollars,” he said. “We should follow science. Doctors say at 20 weeks that is a viable life inside the womb. I would pass legislation outlawing abortion at 20 weeks.”
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) also weighed in on the Planned Parenthood controversy, by issuing the following threat.
“Planned Parenthood had better hope Hillary wins this election.”