Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is considering running for president as an independent, said he is for abortion rights but is against abortion in the third trimester.
“In many ways, the question has been answered by the Supreme Court,” Schultz said Thursday at a Fox News town hall in Kansas City, Mo., when asked his stance on abortion.
“I have been a person that is pro-choice. I recognize that every woman — this is such a personal issue — and it’s between her and her god as to what that decision should be. And in my view, there should be no abortion that is in the last trimester.”
Schultz also quoted President Bill Clinton who in 1996 said abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.”
Schultz said he may turn away Republicans who are anti-abortion from voting for him if he runs for president, but he wants to be honest about his stance.
“People may not agree with me. I understand that. But people are going to know where I stand,” he said.
Republicans hammered Democrats earlier this year after Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam said he was supportive of a state measure that would loosen restrictions on late-term abortions.
“[Third trimester abortions are] done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s nonviable. So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam said in January. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then, a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
