Politics

Beto Refuses To Endorse Bill That Would Ban Infanticide

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Mike Brest Reporter
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Former Democratic Texas Rep. and current presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke refused to say if he’d support a bill that would ban infanticide while speaking Wednesday afternoon at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.

A student asked O’Rourke how he’d vote on the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, a bill that would provide babies who survive an attempted abortion with medical care and legal protections equivalent to other had it passed in the Senate last month. (RELATED: Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act Fails In The Senate)

“I wanted to ask you about a recent bill that just went through the senate about two weeks ago and the bill was that if an abortion was performed on a viable fetus and the fetus survived the abortion, the doctor would then be compelled to give that living baby the same care as any other pregnancy baby that came out and put that baby through the care,” the student asked. “Would you support this bill that does not in any way limit abortion? It simply seeks to keep babies alive that have been born alive.” 

“Thank you for the question. The way that I would approach your question and this issue generally, is to trust women to make their own decisions about their own bodies,” O’Rourke responded. “When you talk about universal guaranteed high-quality health care for everyone in this country it’s primary healthcare, it’s mental healthcare and it’s women’s healthcare.” (RELATED: ‘Wax My Ass, Scrub My Balls’ — This Beto O’Rourke Poem From 1988 Is Beyond Belief)

PLYMOUTH, NH – MARCH 20: Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke arrives at a meet and greet at Plymouth State College on March 20, 2019 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

He continued, “I’ll tell you what, in my hope state of Texas, we have shut down, our state legislature our governors, more than half the family planning clinics in our state, making it that much harder for women to get a cervical health screening, see a family planning provider or see a provider of any kind.”

O’Rourke was asked about his stance on abortion earlier this week as well.

On Monday, while speaking to a crowd of people in Cleveland, the former Texas Rep. said that abortions performed during the third trimester “should be a decision that the woman makes.”

The GOP has attempted to pass the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act nineteen times but Democrats have blocked it every time. Three Democrats, Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, all voted in favor of the bill, which was introduced by Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse.

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