During Monday night’s Democratic town hall on Fox News, Bret Baier asked Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to try and defend their radical views on abortion – a task they have until now largely been spared.
Do you support any restrictions - particularly in regards to late-term abortion? Baier asked Sanders.
“It is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Sanders said, avoiding a direct answer.
“I am very strongly pro-choice,” he concluded. “That’s my view.”
The Heritage Foundation’s Ryan T. Anderson provided the unfortunate summary of Sanders’ non-answer:
Wow. @BernieSanders can't name a single instance in which abortion should be prohibited. Unlimited abortion up to (and including?) birth.
— Ryan T. Anderson (@RyanTAnd) March 7, 2016
Earlier in the town hall, during a policy discussion, Sanders said that simply “being a human being” guarantees one the right to the health care.
Funny he doesn’t think the same about the right to life.
Baier later asked Clinton an even simpler question: “Do you think a child should have any legal rights or protections before it is born?”
Yet, that too proved too difficult an inquiry for the former secretary of state. She offered some unique language to explain pro-life legislation (“late pregnancy regulation”) and insisted that she needed to put the issue in “context.”
She mentioned the Texas pro-life bill HB2 which is currently being considered by the Supreme Court. If upheld, the legislation would shut down many abortion clinics in the Lone Star State. Clinton suggested that was unacceptable and then reminded the audience that under Roe v. Wave women have the right to make the personal decision of abortion for themselves.
“It’s not much of a right if it’s totally limited and constrained,” she continued. “We’ve got to stand up for women and defend Planned Parenthood.”
Planned Parenthood, might I remind you, was caught negotiating the sale of fetal body parts in an undercover investigation last summer.
There’s no putting that in context.
Good for Bret Baier for making the Democrats (finally) try and defend their indefensible stance on abortion.
Update: The Republican National Committee was disgusted with Clinton's non-answer. Here's how RNC Spokeswoman Allison Moore characterized the candidate's meandering response:
“Throughout her career in politics Hillary Clinton has repeatedly avoided giving a definitive stance on late-term abortions. When pressed to define what limits to abortion she believes in, Clinton opted to say she believes in ‘late pregnancy regulation’ rather than give a specific date. Voters deserve to know where Clinton stands on protecting life rather than continue to be misled with undefined language.”