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Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016/Abortion

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Hillary Clinton announced her presidential run on April 12, 2015.[1]

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Hillary Clinton
Democratic presidential nominee
Running mate: Tim Kaine
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See below what Hillary Clinton and the 2016 Democratic Platform said about abortion.

CANDIDATE SUMMARY
  • Clinton was in favor of legalized abortion.
  • She supported providing funding for Planned Parenthood.
  • She said that the 1973 Helms Amendment, which prohibits the use of foreign assistance funds for abortion, should be reconsidered in conflict zones where rape is used as a weapon of war.

    • Democratic Party Clinton on abortion

    • In the third and final presidential debate on October 19, 2016, Hillary Clinton said, "I will defend Planned Parenthood. I will defend Roe v. Wade, and I will defend women's rights to make their own health care decisions."[2]
      • She also discussed her vote against banning late-term abortions, saying, "The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make. I have met with women who toward the end of their pregnancy get the worst news one could get, that their health is in jeopardy if they continue to carry to term or that something terrible has happened or just been discovered about the pregnancy. I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions. So you can regulate if you are doing so with the life and the health of the mother taken into account."[2]
      • Clinton concluded that the government should not make reproductive decisions for women. "I've been to countries where governments either forced women to have abortions, like they used to do in China, or forced women to bear children, like they used to do in Romania. And I can tell you: The government has no business in the decisions that women make with their families in accordance with their faith, with medical advice. And I will stand up for that right," she said.[2]
    • On June 29, 2016, in an op-ed arguing that New Hampshire’s Executive Council should vote to fund Planned Parenthood, Clinton promised that as president she would “make sure that a woman’s right to make her own health decisions remains as permanent as all of the other values we hold dear.” She wrote that she would always fund and support Planned Parenthood, “fight to protect access to safe and legal abortion,” and “support comprehensive, inclusive sex education.” She also criticized Trump’s stance on women’s healthcare, writing, “Donald Trump doesn’t think much about women’s health at all. But when pressed, he’s said that women ought to face ‘some form of punishment’ for having an abortion. He’s already released a list of the right-wing judges he’d consider for the Supreme Court – many of whom are committed to overturning Roe v. Wade. And he’s pledged to defund Planned Parenthood – an effort that would effectively try to spread the Executive Council’s actions to all 50 states.”[3]
    • On June 27, 2016, after the United States Supreme Court struck down two provisions in Texas House Bill 2 that regulated abortion, Clinton’s campaign released the following statement: “Today’s Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt ruling is a major victory in the fight for our right to access health care, to make our own decisions about our bodies, and to decide our own futures. But the fight is far from over. … But the current political battle being waged over filling the current vacant seat on the Supreme Court—and the fact that our next president could appoint as many as three or four justices in the next four years—are striking reminders that we can’t take rulings like today’s for granted. Just consider Donald Trump, the Republicans’ presumptive nominee. The man who could be president has said there should be some form of “punishment” for women seeking abortions. He pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. And last year, he said he’d shut down the government rather than fund Planned Parenthood. If we send Trump to the White House and a Republican majority to Congress, he could achieve any—or all—of these things. And that’s why this election is so important. The outcome of November’s contests, from the presidency to state legislatures, is going to be a deciding factor in whether our elected officials and our courts defend or attack a woman’s right to health care for generations to come.”[4]
    • In an interview on April 3, 2016, with NBC’s Chuck Todd, Hillary Clinton discussed her position on if and when fetuses have constitutional rights. “Well, under our laws currently, that is not something that exists. The unborn person doesn't have constitutional rights. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't do everything we possibly can in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support,” Clinton said. She continued, “It doesn't mean that you don't do everything possible to try to fulfill your obligations. But it does not include sacrificing the woman's right to make decisions.”[5]
    • Hillary Clinton said on November 22, 2015, that the 1973 Helms Amendment, which prohibits the use of foreign assistance funds for abortion, should be reconsidered in conflict zones where rape is used as a weapon of war. She said if a woman cannot be provided with access to abortion, "then we have to help them in every other way and to get other people to at least provide the options. … They will be total outcasts if they have the child of a terrorist or the child of a militia member. Their families won't take them, their communities won't take them."[6]
    • In an extensive interview with The Des Moines Register on September 23, 2015, Clinton said, “The Republicans have made it clear in recent years that they are not only opposed to abortion, which they have been for quite some time. They’re increasingly opposed to family planning and contraception. This is a direct assault on a woman’s right to choose health care. Forget about abortion, which is something that a limited number of Planned Parenthood facilities perform, with not a penny of federal money.”[7]
    • During a September 2015 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Clinton declined to respond to Carly Fiorina's challenge to watch all of the footage released by the Center for Medical Progress about Planned Parenthood. Instead, Clinton focused on the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood and the possible government shutdown. She said, "I would hope that the Republicans — and particularly the Republicans in the House, led by Speaker (John) Boehner — would not put our country and our economy in peril pursuing some kind of emotionally, politically charged, partisan attack on Planned Parenthood to shut our government down. I think that would be a very, very unfortunate decision. ...If they want to shut down the legal provision of abortion services, then they've got a bigger problem, because obviously Planned Parenthood does not use federal dollars to do that."[8]
    • Clinton likened Republican views on women's rights to those of terror groups at an Ohio rally on August 27, 2015. She said, "Now, extreme views about women, we expect that from people who don't want to live in the modern world. But it's a little hard to take coming from Republicans who want to be the president of the United States." This generated responses from Republican candidates and the Republican National Committee (RNC).[9]
    • Clinton released a two-minute video on August 3, 2015, stating, “Republicans like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush are calling to defund Planned Parenthood, the country’s leading provider of reproductive healthcare, and they are joined by Republicans in Congress who will not waste a minute in voting to make that happen. If this feels like a full-on assault on women’s health, that’s because it is."[10]
    • In 2005, Clinton advocated abstinence counseling and family planning to reduce unintended pregnancies and access to morning-after emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault. She said, "We can all recognize that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women. The fact is that the best way to reduce the number of abortions is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place."[11]
    • As a senator, Clinton was given a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.[12]


    Recent news

    The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Hillary Clinton Abortion. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

    Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016/Abortion - Google News

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ CNN, "Hillary Clinton launches second presidential bid," April 12, 2015
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Washington Post, "The final Trump-Clinton debate transcript, annotated," October 19, 2016
    3. ↑ Concord Monitor, "Today’s Planned Parenthood vote shows what’s at stake this election," June 29, 2016
    4. ↑ HillaryClinton.com, "The Supreme Court just handed down a major abortion ruling. We can’t take this victory for granted." June 27, 2016
    5. ↑ RealClearPolitics, "Chuck Todd to Hillary Clinton: 'When Or If Does An Unborn Child Have Constitutional Rights?'," April 3, 2016
    6. ↑ CNN Politics, "Clinton on rape, abortion in war zones," November 23, 2015
    7. ↑ The Washington Post, "Hillary: Republicans don’t just oppose abortion. They oppose family planning and contraception," September 23, 2015
    8. ↑ CNN.com, "Clinton rushes to Planned Parenthood's defense amid shutdown talk," accessed September 19, 2015
    9. ↑ New York Times, "Hillary Clinton Likens Republican Views on Women to Those of Terror Groups," August 27, 2015
    10. ↑ YouTube, "Hillary Clinton: Support and Stand with Planned Parenthood," August 3, 2015
    11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 New York Times, “Clinton Seeking Shared Ground Over Abortions," January 25, 2005
    12. ↑ NARAL.org, “Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)," accessed December 17, 2014
    13. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.1997," accessed February 2, 2015
    14. ↑ Democratic Party, "The 2016 Democratic Party Platform," accessed August 23, 2016
    15. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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    Post-debate analysis overview
    Democratic: April 14, 2016 (CNN) • March 9, 2016 (Univision) • March 6, 2016 (CNN) • February 11, 2016 (PBS) • February 4, 2016 (MSNBC) • January 17, 2016 (NBC) • December 19, 2015 (ABC) • November 14, 2015 (CBS) • October 13, 2015 (CNN)
    Republican: March 10, 2016 (CNN) • March 3, 2016 (FNC) • February 25, 2016 (CNN) • February 13, 2016 (CBS) • February 6, 2016 (ABC) • January 28, 2016 (FNC) • January 14, 2016 (FBN) • December 15, 2015 (CNN) • November 10, 2015 (FBN) • October 28, 2015 (CNBC) • September 16, 2015 (CNN)

    Insiders Poll: First Democratic debate (October 13, 2015) • Presidential Nominating Index: Clinton remains choice of Democratic Insiders • Presidential Nominating Index: Bush remains choice of Republican Insiders • Insiders Poll: Winners and losers from the Fox News Republican Debate


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