Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has damaged with the Democratic Party on any variety of points, however he apparently went too far by popping out in favor of federal gestational limits on abortion.
Hours after Mr. Kennedy stated he helps banning abortion after the primary three months of being pregnant, a stance backed by most U.S. voters, his marketing campaign walked it again by saying he “misunderstood” the query on the marketing campaign path in Des Moines, Iowa.
“Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by [an] NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,” stated the marketing campaign in a Sunday evening assertion titled “Kennedy Clarifies Position on Abortion.”
“Mr. Kennedy‘s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion,” stated the unsigned assertion.
In the Sunday morning interview, nevertheless, the long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination confirmed no indicators of confusion.
“I believe that the decision to abort a child should be up to the woman during the first three months of life,” stated Mr. Kennedy as proven in a video posted on-line on NBC News.
NBC reporter Ali Vitali requested: “So you would cap it at 15 weeks? Or 21 weeks?” Mr. Kennedy replied within the affirmative, saying, “Yes. Three months.”
She summed it up: “So three months. You would sign a federal cap on that?” The candidate stated, “Yes, I would.”
Mr. Kennedy went on to clarify his reasoning: “Once a child is viable outside the womb, I think the state has an interest in protecting that child.”
Not everybody was shopping for the marketing campaign’s clarification for the switcheroo.
“RFK Jr.’s Campaign Says He ‘Misunderstood’ Abortion Question That He Clearly Understood,” stated the headline within the left-wing outlet Jezebel.
RFK Jr. tells an MSNBC reporter that he helps a federal abortion ban after three months. pic.twitter.com/MmFh3Kn9gN
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 14, 2023
The marketing campaign’s reversal got here shortly after Mr. Kennedy drew reward from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who referred to as him “one of the few prominent Democrats aligned with the consensus of the people today.”
Ms. Dannenfelser stated Monday that it “seems clear someone told Kennedy to step back in line.”
She and different pro-life advocates characterised the abrupt about-face as the most recent proof of the Democratic Party’s inflexible all-or-nothing stance on being pregnant termination.
“Kennedy is no staunch pro-life advocate. He merely expressed the consensus of Americans — and a majority of rank-and-file Democrats — that unborn babies should be protected at least when they feel pain by 15 weeks,” stated Ms. Dannenfelser. “Yet most Democrat leaders refuse to name any protections they support for babies or their mothers.”
A Cygnal ballot launched final week discovered 56% of U.S. voters assist a federal restrict of 15 weeks’ gestation for abortions, whereas 23% opposed it and 21% have been uncertain, a discovering per previous surveys.
In June, a Gallup ballot confirmed 69% of Americans suppose abortion must be authorized within the first trimester, however solely 37% supported retaining it authorized within the second trimester, a determine that dropped to 22% within the third trimester.
Such polling would seem to favor Republicans, however Democrats have countered by avoiding mentions of particular abortion restrictions, a method that has thus far proved efficient.
Pro-choice advocates have received each abortion-related state initiative battle within the final 12 months, most lately in Ohio, the place they defeated a proposed poll measure earlier this month.
“Debating weeks is not where we want to be,” longtime Democrat pollster Celinda Lake stated final 12 months, in keeping with The New York Times. “People are terrible at math and terrible at biology.”
RFK Jr.’s Abortion Fallout Shows Dem Party’s Extremism, Intolerance of Debate
Hours after @RobertKennedyJr acknowledged he would signal a federal restrict on abortion at or round 3 months of being pregnant, his marketing campaign took these feedback again.
Read extra ⬇️https://t.co/WifMAERO7A
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) August 14, 2023
Ms. Dannenfelser stated Democrats have been instructed to “avoid discussing milestones that humanize the child in the womb at all costs, and instead to paint their Republican opponents as the extremists.”
“This speaks volumes about the radical abortion lobby’s grip on party leadership and consultants,” she stated. “The voters deserve to hear directly from Kennedy on where he really stands given the conflicting statements from him versus his campaign.”
Mr. Kennedy‘s preliminary assist for a 15-week gestational cut-off put him consistent with plenty of Republicans, together with Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who launched a invoice final 12 months banning most abortions after 15 weeks gestation.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a candidate for the GOP presidential nod, expressed assist in June for the 15-week restrict as a “nationwide minimum standard.”
Mr. Kennedy, an outspoken vaccine skeptic and scion of the storied Kennedy political clan, trails President Biden within the polls by a median of fifty proportion factors, in keeping with RealClearPolitics.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com