Interviews during 2018-2020: on Abortion
Tom Steyer:
Pro-choice, & only work for pro-choice candidates
Social issues: Protect a woman's right to abortion, and enact gun control legislation. Steyer is pro-choice, and made a point of saying so at the
Netroots Nation conference in 2017, when he vowed his NextGen America group would not "work for a single candidate who is not pro-choice."
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 10, 2019
Joe Sestak:
Secure reproductive rights; pass family leave
Sestak's website says that he wishes to "secure reproductive rights and reproductive health services for all women," close the gender
wage gap, "advance women's opportunities in the military," and "pass family and medical leave legislation."
Source: Townhall.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 9, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
VA must cover full spectrum of women's reproductive care
His plan emphasizes care for female veterans, pledging to "cover the full spectrum of women's reproductive health care, and include the provision of contraception with no out-of-pocket costs, in vitro fertilization without regard to
marital status or sexual orientation, and abortions to the extent they are provided by other federal programs." VA hospitals would also be required to provide free child care.
Source: CNN coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 24, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Male legislators shouldn't decide female reproductive rights
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang supports a woman's right to choose. "I personally don't think male legislators should be weighing in on women's reproductive rights and freedoms," he tweeted last month as Alabama passed its ban on nearly all abortions.
Yang also believes the Hyde Amendment should be repealed, his campaign manager, Zach Graumann, told the NewsHour.
Among the plethora of policy proposals on his campaign website, Yang argues that "the two most effective ways" to decrease the number of abortions are increasing access to birth control and providing support to
those "who are financially struggling and become pregnant" through his plan for universal basic income. As president, Yang has said he would also nominate judges who support a woman's right to choose.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 7, 2019
John Hickenlooper:
Fight GOP-controlled legislatures' restrictive abortion laws
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has described recent efforts by GOP-controlled legislatures to pass restrictive abortion laws as "horrific." In response, Hickenlooper unveiled a plan to expand his Colorado Family Planning Initiative, which
provides long-acting reversible contraception, including Intrauterine Devices, to all women above the age of 15 at no cost.
The Colorado program, which Hickenlooper implemented in 2009, helped reduce teen pregnancies by 50 percent and reduced the rate of abortions among teens by nearly 50 percent, according to state health officials.Hickenlooper's new plan would increase
Title X funding by $700 million to fund the contraceptives, which he says would ensure access to low-income individuals. Hickenlooper also supports efforts to reinforce Roe v. Wade with a federal law.
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 7, 2019
Wayne Messam:
Trust women to make their own decisions; period
Campaign advisers for Messam, the mayor of Miramar, Florida, said the candidate is in favor of allowing federal dollars to be used to provide abortions.
On Messam's campaign website, women's health is the issue area with the shortest description. It includes a single sentence: "I trust women to make their own decisions when it comes to their health. Period."
Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 7, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Personal choice is best for abortion's moral decision
If elected, Pete Buttigieg (boot-a-judge, often referred to as "Mayor Pete"), the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would be the youngest U.S. president ever.
Said on Meet the Press that abortion is a "question that is almost unknowable ... a moral question that is not going to be settled by science. So the best way for it to be settled in practice is by the person who actually faces the choice."
Source: Axios.com "Election Factsheet," on 2020 Democratic primary
May 3, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Abortion is about private morality; government has no role
I believe that abortion is a moral issue, but I believe that it is an issue of private morality. I believe that it is an issue of private rather than public morality. The government should have nothing to do with our private morals.
And therefore, I do not believe the government should have anything to do with a decision a woman is making for her body, anything that she does or does not do.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 14, 2019
Wayne Messam:
Abortion issue demagogued, should be left to the mother
"It should be left to the mother. I think there's a misnomer in terms of the prevalence of 'late-term abortions' when over 90 percent of abortions take place within the first 21 weeks. I think when a woman is forced with a tough decision to abort a
pregnancy, it's tough enough by itself to have to make such a personal decision. Right now in our country this issue has been demagogued, and I think that primarily us men are making the decisions in the laws."
Source: WBUR FM (Boston) on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 9, 2019
John Hickenlooper:
Against fetal heartbeat laws; favors access to contraception
Q: What is your reaction to fetal heartbeat bills?A: I think those laws are unconstitutional. I recognize the difficulty of the question and I empathize with people on both sides. But I've always come down on the side of a woman's right to take care
of her own health care. In Colorado we provided long-acting, reversible contraception. We have reduced teenage pregnancy and teenage abortion by over 60%. I think a woman has to ultimately have the right to make decisions about her own health.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 31, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Abortions up until third trimester are woman's choice
Last week here in Happy Valley, former Texas congressman and Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke did just that when he clarified his position on abortions up until the third trimester. "Absolutely," he said. "Listen,
I think those decisions are best left to a woman and her doctor. I know better than to assume anything about a woman's decision, an incredibly difficult decision, when it comes to her reproductive rights."
Source: Washington Examiner on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 29, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Abortion is a woman's choice, not a political statement
Buttigieg has not made abortion rights a major focus of his campaign. But he has spoken on the issue. Asked in February for his thoughts on a New York state law lifting some restrictions on abortion, he identified himself as pro-choice. "These
questions ought to be resolved by women in consultation with their doctors, not by the intervention of male politicians putting politically motivated restrictions on women's health care ," he said.
Source: Anna North in Vox.com on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 27, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Calls herself 100% pro-choice
Williamson has affirmed her support for abortion,
calling herself "one hundred percent pro-choice."
Source: Townhall.com: 2020 Democratic primary "Candidate profiles"
Mar 5, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Abortion should be regulated by doctors, not legislators
He thinks that state laws regarding the legalization of the process should be handled by a board of doctors rather than legislators. Uniquely among his fellow candidates,
Yang has proposed ways to decrease the amount of abortions in the country, saying that contraceptives and financial support to impoverished pregnant women should be provided.
Source: Townhall.com: 2020 Democratic primary "Candidate profiles"
Feb 6, 2019
Bill de Blasio:
Crucial to protect women's right to choose in 2019
New York lawmakers have passed one of the nation's strongest protections for abortion rights, saying the women of New York need legal safeguards if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. The Democrat-led Senate and Assembly passed the bill on the
46th anniversary of the Roe decision. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo was expected to quickly sign it into law.The bill was first introduced back in 2007 and removes abortion from the state criminal code and ensures women the right to an abortion in
New York should that federal right ever be changed by the Supreme Court. For years, the law would pass the Assembly but fail in the Republican-controlled Senate. That all changed last fall when voters put Democrats firmly in charge in Albany.
"I support this act. It's crucial that we protect a woman's right to choose, particularly at this moment in history, when women's rights are under attack," NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Source: Associated Press on ABC7NY on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 22, 2019
Bill de Blasio:
Women, not politicians, should control their bodies
Yet again, legislators are attempting to turn back the hands of time and violate the constitutional rights of women. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin is currently considering legislation that would revoke the medical license of any doctor performing
abortions in the state, except in the most extreme cases where the woman's life is at risk. Women, regardless of where they live, should be able to make their own private health care decisions and have control over their bodies--not politicians.
Source: NYC.gov mayoral press release for 2020 Democratic primary
May 3, 2016
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021