When asked about his stance on late-term abortion, top Democratic Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, skirted around the topic of restrictions on abortions.
In an interview on The View, conservative host and daughter of the late Senator John McCain, Meghan McCain asked Buttigieg if he could clarify comments he made about abortion in a recent radio interview.
“So I was really surprised, I saw an interview you did on a radio show where you were talking about abortion … you were talking about, and this is your quote, ‘there’s a lot of parts of the Bible that talk about how life begins with breath, so even that is something that we can interpret differently.’” McCain started.
The former Senator’s daughter then noted that the interview was heavily circulated throughout conservative circles because of the extreme nature of his claim. “It was passed around because I think the interpretation from pro-life people like me was that you mean a baby actually being born and there’s a lot of controversy with Governor Northam and what it means and what time a woman should be able to have an abortion.”
McCain then urged “I wanted you to clarify because I found that statement to be pretty radical.”
Buttigieg, who came neck in neck with Bernie Sanders to win the Iowa Democratic caucus, responded by arguing that everyone has a different interpretation of morality. “I’m just pointing to the fact that different people will interpret their own moral likes, and for that matter, interpret Scripture differently.”
He continued, “We live in a country where it’s extremely important that no one people have to be subjected to some other person’s interpretation of their own religion.”
McCain interrupted, moving the conversation forward. She said, “Partial-birth abortion is something that was coming up … I think people, even Democrats – there are a lot of pro-life Democrats in the country – want to know exactly where your line is.”
Buttigieg answered noting that he does not believe a government official should decide when during a pregnancy a woman should be allowed to have an abortion. Instead, he argued, that decision should be completely left up to the woman.
McCain pressed the issue, questioning Buttigieg’s stance on infanticide.
“Does anybody seriously think that’s what these cases are about?” Buttigieg responded.
“If this is a late-term situation,” Buttigieg argued, “then by definition, it’s one where a woman was expecting to carry the pregnancy to term. What if she gets the most devastating news of her life? I’m talking about families that may have picked out a name, maybe assembling a crib, and they learn something excruciating and are faced with this terrible choice, I don’t know what to tell them, morally, about what they should do. I know that I trust her and her decision, medically or morally. It isn’t going to be any better because the government is commanding her to do it in a certain way.”
WATCH: Pete Buttigieg refuses to give a stance on partial birth abortion. pic.twitter.com/J6QsbfXntc
— America Rising (@AmericaRising) February 6, 2020
Many are taking Buttigieg’s response to mean that he believes in unrestricted abortion access for women. On his website, Buttigieg skirts around the topic of abortion restriction simply writing, “A Buttigieg administration will ensure that women permanently have access to safe, affordable, and legal abortions by codifying the right into law to protect women from state-level interference, abolishing the Hyde Amendment, prohibiting interference in public and private insurance coverage of abortion, and increasing the number of clinicians capable of providing abortions. Pete is committed to appointing judges that share his vision of freedom and choice for all Americans, which includes reproductive rights.”
Related:
5 Things Christians Should Know about the Faith of Pete Buttigieg
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Win McNamee/Staff
h/t: CBN News
Kayla Koslosky is the former Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com.