In her new book, Hillary Clinton says she’s fine with Democrats who personally oppose abortion – as long as they vote against their principles and for legislation that promotes it.
The former Democratic nominee says sexism and misogyny put a damper on her campaign, and she doesn’t want to see women’s rights – aka abortion – take a back seat to other issues.
In What Happened, Clinton addresses the current Democratic Party’s internal debate over whether to make support for abortion rights a litmus test for the party’s candidates, explains the Washington Examiner – which received a copy of Clinton’s book.
The failed presidential candidate reportedly offers up her former running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, as an example of a pro-life Catholic Democrat who is “personally opposed” to abortion.
“But when personal views on abortion become public actions – votes on legislation or judges or funding that erode women’s rights – that’s a different matter,” Clinton writes. “We have to remain a big tent, but a big tent is only as strong as the poles that hold it up.”
According to the Examiner, Clinton refers to herself as “pro-choice, pro-family, and pro-faith.”
While on the campaign trail, Clinton received the endorsement of abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood in her primary race against Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“I will always defend Planned Parenthood,” Clinton said in January of 2016. “And I will say – consistently and proudly – Planned Parenthood should be funded, supported, and appreciated; not undermined, misrepresented, and demonized.”
To that end – funding Planned Parenthood – the former secretary of state called for an end to the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal taxpayer funding for abortion on demand.
Clinton said:
I believe we need to protect access to safe and legal abortion, not just in principle, but in practice. Any right that requires you to take measures to access it, is no right at all. Not when patients and providers have to endure harassment and intimidation just to walk into a health center; not when making an appointment means taking time off from work, finding child care, and driving half-way across your state; not when providers are required by state law to recite misleading information to women in order to shame and scare them; and not as long as we have laws on the books like the Hyde Amendment, making it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights.
During her campaign, Clinton expressed her view that an unborn child has no constitutional rights throughout a woman’s pregnancy – even up until its due date.
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