Clinton was asked by host Chuck Todd, “When or if does an unborn child have constitutional rights?”, to which she responded:
“Under our laws, currently, that is not something that exists. The unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights.”
“Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t do everything we possibly can in the vast majority of instances to help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support,” she qualified.
“It doesn’t mean that you don’t do everything possible to try to fulfill your obligations, but it does not include sacrificing the woman’s right to make decisions, and I think that’s an important distinction that, under Roe vs. Wade, we’ve had enshrined under our Constitution.”
The comments follow her attack against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for suggesting women who have abortions should be “punished” – comments he later appeared to flipflop on.
In her statement, Ms Clinton seems to agree that while a woman is pregnant, their ‘lives’ a ‘person’ in her womb. Only that, until that ‘person’ steps his/her feet on US soil ‘personally’, they are strangers, ‘aliens’ in a kill free world. Anyone willing can take a shot without their ability to defend.
Diana Arellano, manager of community engagement for Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, said Sunday that Mrs. Clinton’s comments undermined the cause for abortion rights.
The comment “further stigmatizes #abortion,” Ms. Arellano said in a tweet. “She calls a fetus an ‘unborn child’ & calls for later term restrictions.”
Describing the fetus as a “person” or “child” has long been anathema to the pro-choice movement, which argues the terms misleadingly imply a sense of ‘humanity’. They want to ‘kill’ a person but not feel like they have killed a person. Take away the guilt.
In addition, the specific term “person” is a legal concept that includes rights and statuses that the law protects, including protection of a person’s life under the laws against homicide. Pro-choice intellectuals have long said that even if an unborn child is a “life,” it is not yet a “person.”
Guidelines issued by the International Planned Parenthood Federation discourage pro-choice advocates from using terms such as “abort a child,” instead recommending “more accurate/appropriate” alternatives such as “end a pregnancy” or “have an abortion.”
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