Politics

Democratic Senator Asks 8th-Grade Students If Government Should Be Taking Away Their ‘Abortion Rights’

ABC News

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Democratic Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii told a crowd in Washington, D.C., Tuesday that she lectured a group of eighth-grade students earlier about “abortion rights.”

The congresswoman said she asked the girls and boys if the government should decide “when and if we want to have babies.”

Hirono announced that she had “just met with 70 eighth-graders from a public school in Hawaii.”

“I told them I was coming to a rally in front of the Supreme Court, and they said ‘why,’ and I said it is because … we have to fight for our abortion rights and they knew all about it,” she continued.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 24: Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) speaks to reporters on her way to a vote on Capitol Hill, September 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) speaks to reporters on her way to a vote on Capitol Hill, September 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The senator said she then quizzed the girls.

“I asked the girls among the eighth-graders, ‘How many of you think that the government should be telling us women when and if we want to have babies?’ And not a single one of them raised their hands.” (RELATED: Bernie Says, ‘Abortion Is A Constitutional Right’)

Hirono then turned to the boys in the classroom, and reminded the kids that “it’s kind of hard to get pregnant without you guys.”

“‘How many of you boys think the government should be telling girls and women when and if we’re going to have babies?'” Hirono said she asked the students. “And not a single one of them raised their hands.”

Democrats like Hirono continue to push for fewer restrictions to abortion. House Democrats, for instance, are demanding the repeal of the Hyde Amendment that prohibits taxpayer funding of most abortions and promoting the restoration of funding for overseas abortions. (RELATED: Why Are So Many Democrats Supporting Or Quiet On Late-Term Abortion? They Owe A Lot To Planned Parenthood)

States like Alabama, however, are embracing pro-life policies that restrict or prohibit abortions. The “Human Life Protection Act,” which the governor of Alabama signed into law last week, bans all abortion except when the health of the mother is a vital concern. The law has proven to be a lightning rod for Democrats.

“Alabama’s law won’t stop abortion, but it will kill women,” Democratic California Rep. Harley Rouda tweeted. “Women’s bodies are under attack, and I won’t sit idly by as millions of Americans lose their freedom to choose.”

Pro-life and pro-choice protesters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court waiting for the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra case, which remains pending, in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan

Pro-life and pro-choice protesters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court waiting for the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra case, which remains pending, in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp approved the heartbeat bill May 7. It prohibits abortion — except in the case of rape, incest or where the mother’s health is threatened  — when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

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