Marco Rubio presidential campaign, 2016/Abortion

	; ; Former presidential candidate; Marco Rubio
	Political offices: ; Current U.S. Senator; (2011-Present); FL House of Representatives; (2000-2009)
	Rubio on the issues:
	Taxes • Banking policy • Government regulations • International trade • Budgets • Agricultural subsidies • Federal assistance programs • Foreign affairs • Federalism • Natural resources • Healthcare • Immigration • Education • Abortion • Gay rights • Civil liberties
	Republican candidate:
	Donald Trump
	Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage; 2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016

Marco Rubio suspended his presidential campaign on March 15, 2016.^[1]

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

On September 30, 2015, Marco Rubio stated he supports emergency contraception in cases of rape and incest. “[W]e have treatments available early on after an incident that can prevent that fertilization from happening. And that’s why I support the morning-after pill being available over the counter and I certainly support them being made available immediately for rape victims,” Rubio said.^[2]^[3]

In September 2015, Rubio said he was comfortable with medical researchers using fetal tissue from a miscarriage or other non-elective end to a pregnancy.^[4]

Rubio stated in an interview on September 21, 2015, that he thought Planned Parenthood created an environment that incentivized abortions. “Now what you've done is created an industry, now what you've done is created an incentive for people to be pushed into abortions so that those tissues can be harvested and sold for a profit,” said Rubio. When asked if that statement might be a stretch, he answered, “No, absolutely. If you got to these centers, young women are provided very few options, in many places they're not told anything about, for example, adoption services that may be available to them. The idea that, in essence, you come in and it's already pre-determined, this is what place [sic] this place does. It provides abortions, and we are going to channel you in this direction.”^[5]

During an interview on September 18, 2015, with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Rubio discussed defunding Planned Parenthood and the possibility of a government shutdown. He said, "Obviously, the House, the Senate should have laid the groundwork for this debate so that people understand that we’re not just debating an organization here, that some people might think is a nice organization or whatever. We’re organization — we’re debating their practices. And here’s the truth…the people who are threatening a shutdown [are] Barack Obama and his allies in the Senate. What they’re arguing is, if the federal budget does not fully fund Planned Parenthood, I will veto the budget, and hence, shut down the government. That should be the message. Instead, it’s always the reverse, the Republicans are going to shut down the government. No, we’re not. We are in support of funding the government fully, just not giving any more money to this one organization that was just caught on video dismembering unborn children, or in one case, a child that had already been born alive, as Carly did very well last night outlining and describing the video. So, I don’t understand why we accept this argument that we’re the ones shutting it down. They’re the ones shutting it down. It would be a Democratic filibuster and a presidential veto that would shut down the government, and it would be for the purpose of supporting one organization."^[6]

When asked for clarification on August 9, 2015, on whether or not he supported some exceptions to abortion restriction, Rubio responded, “I'll support any legislation that reduces the number of abortions. And there are those that have that exception in it. What I've never done is said, 'I require that it must have or not have exceptions.'”^[7]

At the Republican debate on August 6, 2015, Rubio said, "I believe that every single human being is entitled to the protection of our laws, whether they can vote or not. Whether they can speak or not. Whether they can hire a lawyer or not. Whether they have a birth certificate or not. And I think future generations will look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies who we never gave them a chance to live.”^[8]

An opponent of Roe v. Wade, Marco Rubio said of the decision in 2012, "It is perhaps the most egregious and devastating example of a court that has decided that because a political branch will not deal with an issue they think is important, they’re going to step in and make a policy decision and literally create a Constitutional right."^[9]

In June 2011, Rubio sponsored S 1241 - the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which proposed outlawing the transportation of a minor across state lines for an abortion. He re-introduced the bill, S.369, in February 2013.^[10]^[11]

In April 2011, Rubio supported ending taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. He said, "First of all, no program can be untouched. This notion by some of my colleagues here that this program can’t be touched and somehow it can’t be on the table is absurd. I don’t care what they do. There’s no program in our budget that should be off the table in terms of looking at it and understanding whether it’s justified or not. Second of all, we simply can’t afford to continue fund things like this. We are adding $12 trillion to our debt over the next ten years. That’s outrageous. I’m going to vote to defund it. Third, I have problems with what Planned Parenthood does and ultimately what the aim of their organization is. And it’s not their stated aims, it’s what they actually do."^[12]

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