Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday denounced as “pathetic” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s assertion that she would support abortion as late as the baby’s due date during Saturday’s Republican presidential candidates debate.
“This illustrates how Senator Rubio has been just going as far as he can try to, I guess, buttress his credentials with certain parts of the Republican constituency,” she said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“I have been on record for years about where I stand on making abortion safe and legal, the exceptions that are appropriate, that should be looked into, and the very difficult choices that very few women have to confront that lead to excruciating kinds of decisions,” Mrs. Clinton said. said.
She bashed Mr. Rubio for politicizing the issue and making false assertions “so early” in the campaign season, and said she would stand up against his plans to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case and to defund Planned Parenthood.
She said that supporting non-medical reasons for abortion does not make her an extremist on this issue.
“People should go back and read Roe v. Wade. Reasonable kinds of restrictions can be imposed as long as the life and health of the mother are taken into account, and that is what the law is today,” she said.
Mrs. Clinton said she had conversations with women about something “devastating” happening towards the end of their pregnancies, and who faced life-threatening problems as a result of their pregnancies.
“That’s why this has to be taken into account by each individual woman, by her physician and her family. But, of course, under Roe v. Wade, there are certain guidelines,” she said. “And Senator Rubio should know that, or I hope he does now.”
• Anjali Shastry can be reached at ashastry@washingtontimes.com.
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