Presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke dodged directly answering a question about late-term abortion during a campaign stop on Monday.
During the event in Cleveland, Ohio, a woman asked O’Rourke whether he supports third trimester abortions, noting that in those cases the fetus might be viable outside of the womb, and if there were an emergency doctors could just perform a caesarean section.
O’Rourke answered the question quickly, not addressing the root of the inquiry. He simply said that he supports a woman’s right to the procedure.
“So, the question is about abortion and reproductive rights. And my answer to you is that that should be a decision that the woman makes about her body. I trust her,” O’Rourke told the audience to applause.
Here’s Beto O’Rourke at a campaign event in Cleveland responding to a question about third-trimester abortions: “That should be a decision that the woman makes. I trust her.” pic.twitter.com/nBrlazlMob
— Alexandra DeSanctis (@xan_desanctis) March 18, 2019
O’Rourke, who served as a Democrat in Congress from 2013 to 2019, has a 100 percent voting record from NARAL, a national abortion rights group. While serving, O’Rourke voted in 2017 against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill which passed the House, but not the Senate. The act would ban abortions after 20 weeks. A majority of American’s do not support late-term abortion.
Late-term abortion recently reemerged in the national dialogue when Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam came under fire from President Trump and others after comments he made regarding state legislation supporting the procedure.
O’Rourke announced his bid for presidency last week. He joined a crowded field of candidates, including Sen. Bernie Sander, I-Vt., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and others.
