Doug Jones, the Democrat challenging former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for the state’s open Senate seat, says he supports a right to abortion up until the moment of birth.
In an interview Wednesday on “Meet the Press Daily,” Mr. Jones said he becomes a “right-to-lifer” only “once a baby is born.”
“I’m not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right in her freedom to choose,” the former U.S. attorney said when asked if he would support a 20-week ban on abortion. “That’s just the position that I’ve had for many years. It’s the position that I continue to have.”
“But when those people ― I want to make sure people understand, that once a baby is born, I’m going to be there for that child,” he continued. “That’s where I become a right-to-lifer.”
Mr. Jones said he’s a “firm believer that a woman should have the freedom to choose what happens to her own body,” and that women should “have access to the abortion that they might need if that’s what they choose to do.”
Mr. Moore won a heated Republican primary on Tuesday for the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The special election to determine Mr. Sessions’ replacement will be held Dec. 12.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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