Doug Jones Embraces Abortion on Demand: ‘I’m Running This Race Based on My Personal Belief System’

Doug Jones
AP/Brynn Anderson
Dr. Susan Berry

Alabama Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones – who has said he rejects any restrictions on abortion – stated in an interview with the Economist that his campaign is based on his “personal belief system.”

Below is an excerpt from the transcript of Jones’s interview with the Economist:

Q. You say you don’t need everyone to agree with you on everything. It’s in fact pretty striking that you’ve stuck to your guns on some issues, choice say. Was that much of a decision for you?

Jones: No

Q. Why not? It’s poison isn’t it? Campaigning in Alabama as a pro-choice Democrat?

Jones: No, it’s absolutely not. I absolutely do not believe it is. At the end of the day, my position, which has been consistent with the law for decades is what deep-down most people believe. So I don’t think it is. But regardless—when my wife and I first talked about this race, we said the one thing we did not want to do is move the needle on positions based on polls or whatever. People need to be transparent, people need to be authentic. There’s not enough authenticity in our political leaders these days. And that’s the one thing I’ve always prided myself on being. We can agree to disagree, but what you see is what you get. And I’ll give my point, but what I’m also going to do is say, “We may not be able to agree on that issue, I know you have beliefs on that issues and I respect those beliefs, but let’s talk about something else, let’s move on from that for a minute and let’s talk about your health care.”

In September, Jones told MSNBC’s MTP Daily host, Chuck Todd:

I’m not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose. That’s just the position that I’ve had for many years. It’s a position I continue to have.

But when those people — I want to make sure that people understand that once a baby is born, I’m going to be there for that child. That’s where I become a right to lifer.

This month, Jones started to walk back his comments on abortion, complaining that he was a victim of an “attack.”

“Those comments, everybody wants to attack you so they are going to make out on those comments what they want to their political advantage,” Jones told Al.com, adding:

To be clear, I fully support a woman’s freedom to choose to what happens to her own body. That is an intensely, intensely personal decision that only she, in consultation with her god, her doctor, her partner or family, that’s her choice.

Having said that, the law for decades has been that late-term procedures are generally restricted except in the case of medical necessity. That’s what I support. I don’t see any changes in that. It is a personal decision.

Jones now says his views are “consistent with the law for decades.” Tim Graham at MRC NewsBusters observed Jones’s later comments do not mitigate his “personal belief system” in abortion up until the day of birth:

What part of that doesn’t say abortion on demand? When it became a controversy in Alabama, Jones added “I support the current law on a woman’s freedom to choose, which has been in place for decades, where late-term abortions are permitted to protect the life or health of the mother.” This would imply the original language in the Roe vs. Wade companion case Doe vs. Bolton, but abortion advocates define “health of the mother” very broadly to “well-being” — meaning “she can have one if she wants one.” Jones is running for U.S. Senate, so he was telling Todd that on Senate bills, he’s going to stand with Planned Parenthood on the “no infringing” on abortion rights.

Planned Parenthood – which champions no restrictions whatsoever on abortion throughout pregnancy – is clearly supporting Jones, who says on his campaign website that he “stands with Planned Parenthood”:

Additionally, the United States is only one of seven nations – alongside North Korea and China – to allow elective abortion on demand after five months of pregnancy.

Dr. Alveda King – the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – who heads up Civil Rights for the Unborn at Priests for Life, told Breitbart News the Alabama Senate race is important for those who value life from conception.

“Every election counts in the race for life,” King said. “Judge Roy Moore stands for the sanctity of human life from the womb to the tomb. Doug Jones does not. We must always vote our values. Life is a civil right.”

Moore’s campaign website clearly states his pro-life position and his specific call for defunding Planned Parenthood:

I oppose abortion, same-sex marriage, civil unions, and all other threats to the traditional family order.

Federal funding for Planned Parenthood or any form of abortion should be stopped.

Jones faces Republican candidate Judge Roy Moore in a special election on December 12 to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by current Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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