Elizabeth Warren says ban on federal funding for abortion has been 'wrong for a long time': 'It's just discrimination'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren was asked, “Is Joe Biden wrong?” regarding his stance on upholding a ban on federal funding for abortion, and her answer was clear. “Yes,” she responded.
Her comments came at a recent town hall hosted by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. Hayes pressed the senator further. “Why is he wrong?” he asked. Warren went on to paint a clear picture for viewers of how the ban, known as the Hyde Amendment, disproportionally affects women who can’t afford medical care.
“Women of means will still have access to abortions,” she explained. “Who won’t will be poor women. It will be working women and women who can’t afford to take off three days from work and very young women.”
Warren didn’t stop there. “It will be women who have been raped and women who have been molested by someone in their own family. We do not pass laws that take away that freedom from the women who are most vulnerable,” she said. The studio audience applauded in agreement with the senator’s explanation.
Hayes challenged Warren, asking, “Are there things where you think, substantively, that’s probably the right thing to do but probably 70 percent of the public doesn’t like it? Or, that might be a good policy but it’s going to be a very tough sell in Pennsylvania?” The senator had a clear answer for that, too.
“This is what leadership is about,” she said. “You really do work through what you believe is right and you get out there and most of America isn’t with you then you talk about it.” She added, “You make the arguments and you listen because maybe you don’t have it right but that’s the whole point. You start with what you believe is right and then you get out there and fight for it.”
Many viewers on Twitter also agreed with Warren’s position:
@SenWarren on the #Hyde amendement! 🔥👏🔥
Schooling @JoeBiden. https://t.co/H4obMFbIfG— Francoise Girard 💚 (@FrancoiseGirard) June 6, 2019
#ElizabethWarren absolutely showed how much women have to be the focus on these abortion conversations and how even Dem male candidates (Joe Biden specifically) aren’t even where they need to be on things like the Hyde Amendment.
— Look Forward (@LookForwardShow) June 6, 2019
One commenter issued their own dire assessment:
Chris Hayes: "Is Joe Biden wrong?"
Elizabeth Warren: (without hesitation) "Yes."
Endangering abortion rights deeply affects the poor and people of color. It's almost institutionalizing slavery again. #maddow #yetshepersisted #WarrenTownHall #Warren2020— Alicia Fox (@aliciafoxrocks) June 6, 2019
Other viewers felt Warren was off-base with her stance:
Elizabeth Warren challenges Biden on abortion. The Hyde Amendment Protects religious Conscience!
It is UN-AMERICAN to force my tax $ to be used to pay for a procedure that violates my conscience.https://t.co/kqaZl6rDXF— George Gianopulos (@Geognop) June 6, 2019
Elizabeth Warren is a lying leftist. Pretty much the same as the rest of the Democrat party. Abortion is murder and no one should be able to commit it.
— Big Ed (@Big_Ed_41378) June 6, 2019
Star of “The Handmaid’s Tale” says comparisons drawn between the show and anti-abortion laws are “apt”:
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