Iowa Democrat Mike Franken Says Restrictions on Abortion Are ‘Not Necessary’

Iowa Democrat Mike Franken, running against longtime Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, said it is “not necessary at this stage” to discuss having “any restrictions” on abortions.

When pressed on his stance on abortion during an interview this week with CBS News’ Robert Costa on Red and Blue, Franken said it is “not necessary at this stage” to talk about any restrictions on abortions while crediting Grassley for putting the most conservative justices of the Supreme Court.

Initially, when Franken was asked to clarify his stance on abortion by the interviewer, Franken said he believes that “a woman has the right in all such matters and what we shouldn’t have is a constitutional lawyer or Chuck Grassley or the federal government or, worse yet, the state government standing in that maternity ward.”

Franken also claimed that Grassley’s “legacy” is putting conservative justices on the Supreme Court, saying that the rightward tilt of the high court is “compliments of him being fundamentally unfair,” leading to the “most partisan Supreme Court we have had since 1934.”

Recent polling suggests Americans oppose the left’s radical abortion agenda.

A May Gallup survey found that only 36 percent said abortion should be legal in the second trimester of pregnancy, while an even smaller number (only 20 percent) said it should be legal during the final three months of pregnancy. Ultimately, 71 percent said it should be illegal in the last trimester.

In response to Franken’s comments, Michaela Sundermann, the communications director for Grassley’s campaign, said, “Mike Franken’s support for unlimited abortion-on-demand up until the last moment before birth, including on minors without parental consent, is shocking and way out of step with Iowans.”

“Senator Grassley is pro-life, and like most Iowans, he supports exceptions for incest, rape, and life of the mother,” Sundermann added. “Mike Franken’s rejection of any commonsense middle ground on the issue is extreme and out of touch with Iowans’ respect for human life.”

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.