Hillary Clinton has reiterated her support for late-term abortion in the final presidential debate.
When asked why she previously voted against banning partial-birth abortion, the Democrat nominee replied: “Because Roe vs Wade very clearly sets out that there can be regulations on abortion so long as the life and the health of the mother are taken into account, and when I voted as a senator I did not think that was the case. The kind of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most painful, heartbreaking decisions for families to make.”
Mrs Clinton said it was often at the end of a pregnancy that women discovered something shocking about the baby or its threat to her health.
She added: “I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal decisions, so you can regulate if you are doing so with the life and health of the mother taken into account.”
Republican nominee Donald Trump responded by saying that partial-birth abortion involves ripping a baby from its mother’s womb. He said: “Well, I think it is terrible. If you go with what Hilary is saying, in the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now you can say that that’s OK, and Hillary can say that that’s OK, but it’s not OK with me. Because based on what she is saying and based on where she’s going and where she’s been, you can take the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and that’s not acceptable.”
Mrs Clinton responded by saying that Mr Trump’s description of a late-term abortion was inaccurate and that he was using “scare rhetoric.”
She added: “The Government has no business in the decision that women make with families, in accordance with their faith with medical advice and I will stand up for that right.”
She also pledged to support Planned Parenthood and resist any moves to defund it.
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