Pro-Life Groups Respond To Dem Candidates Pushing Taxpayer-Funded Abortions

• Democratic presidential candidates discussed their stances on abortion Wednesday night at the first primary debate.
• Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and former Housing and Urban Development Sec. Julian Castro specifically outlined their extreme abortion stances.
• Pro-life leaders pushed back Thursday, saying these stances do not reflect the vast majority of American views on abortion.

Pro-life leaders fired back at pro-choice Democratic candidates Thursday after the presidential candidates touted support of taxpayer-funded abortions at the Democratic presidential debates Wednesday night.

The Democratic 2020 presidential candidates discussed reproductive rights at the first of the presidential debates. Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee singled out Christian charities for taxpayer-funded abortions. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she would make sure women have the “full range” of access to all reproductive healthcare. Former Housing and Urban Development Sec. Julian Castro, meanwhile, insisted men can have children and abortions.

Pro-life leaders responded Wednesday night and Thursday to these statements. (RELATED: Inslee Takes Aim At Christian Charities, Talks About Forcing Abortion Coverage)

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser says the clear winner of the Democratic presidential debates was the “radical abortion lobby.”

“Not a single candidate, from Booker to Warren, speaks for the majority of Americans – including a strong majority of Independents and more than one-third of Democrats – who oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions,” Dannenfelser said in a press release.

The SBA List president added that while President Donald Trump has “led the charge” in protecting the rights of the unborn, Democratic contenders push “a deeply unpopular agenda of taxpayer-funded abortion on demand and join corporate bullies in attacking Georgia’s compassionate heartbeat law.”

Dannenfelser referenced a new SBA poll released Wednesday that finds that a majority of voters oppose using federal tax dollars to pay for abortions under Medicaid.

Ashley McGuire, Senior Fellow at the Catholic Association, pointed out that Julian Castro’s eagerness to show support of taxpayer-funded abortion points “to the abortion extremism that has taken over his party.”

“By equating ‘reproductive justice’ with taxpayer funding of abortion, he reveals the party’s fundamental schism with Americans writ large on the issue,” McGuire said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Americans overwhelmingly oppose the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions, and yet Democrats are actively and aggressively working to undo legal barriers like the Hyde Amendment,” McGuire added. ” They now believe that forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions is a matter of “justice.” No doubt this election cycle will unveil a competition between the candidates as to who can be most extreme on abortion; Castro was just the first one out of the gate.”

Tom McClusky, President of March for Life Action, emphasized in a statement provided to the DCNF that every single Democratic candidate favors forced taxpayer abortion — a position that Americans do not necessarily embrace.

“The eleventh annual Marist Poll Survey on American attitudes toward abortion showed once again this year how out of step that the Democratic presidential candidates are with both the American people as well as their own party,” McClusky said in the statement.

“As the just-released March for Life Action Presidential scorecard shows, this is the most pro-abortion slate of candidates in recent history,” McClusky added. “Every single candidate is in favor of forced taxpayer funding for abortion and would also eliminate all current pro-life protections.”

Live Action founder and President Lila Grace Rose tweeted during the debates about Warren’s stance on abortion. “Elizabeth Warren was asked point blank if she would support ANY abortion restriction,” Rose tweeted. “She couldn’t name one.”

Elizabeth Warren @ewarren was asked point blank if she would support ANY abortion restriction.

She couldn’t name one.

— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) June 27, 2019

“Democratic candidates now trying to out-do each other in their support for abortion (at ANY point) in pregnancy and government funded abortion,” Rose added during the debate.

Democratic candidates now trying to out-do each other in their support for abortion (at ANY point) in pregnancy and government funded abortion.

— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) June 27, 2019

“Abortion politics are rapidly approaching a breaking point in our country, with Democratic presidential hopefuls finding themselves on the wrong side of history and out-of-step with a vast majority of Americans regarding this contentious issue,” March For Life President Jeanne Mancini wrote in an op-ed to the Washington Times.

“The growing disconnect between frenzied abortion extremists within the Democratic presidential field and their prospective constituents is on full display with every prime-time appearance,” Mancini added. “No doubt this will again prove true during the second Democratic presidential debate in Miami.”

The pro-life group Students For Life also weighed in on the candidates’ stances on abortion.

“Happening now: Democrat candidates fighting over who wants to kill babies via abortion the most,” the group tweeted.

Happening now: Democrat candidates fighting over who wants to kill babies via abortion the most #demdebate #democraticdebate

— Students for Life (@StudentsforLife) June 27, 2019

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