Less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump affirmed his anti-abortion stance as a wave of bans on the procedure sweep several states, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) lambasted the commander in chief for waging “a war on America’s women.”
“This is nothing short of an all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedom, an effort to take away our basic human rights and civil rights,” the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate told CBS’s “Face the Nation” of the new legislation. “And make no mistake, the 30 states that are trying to unwind abortion rights are trying to get rid of Roe v. Wade. It’s nothing more complex than that.”
So far this year, eight states have passed bills limiting abortions, the most recent of which was Missouri.
On Friday, lawmakers in the state’s House approved a ban on the procedure after eight weeks of pregnancy, sending it to Gov. Mike Parson (R), who is expected to sign it.
On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed into law her state’s near-total ban on abortion ― the country’s most restrictive legislation yet ― which makes no exceptions for cases of incest or rape. If it takes effect, the only situation in which the procedure would be legal in Alabama is when the mother’s life is in danger.
Though the president voiced his support for those who oppose abortion on Twitter Saturday, he stated that he believes in exceptions for all three of those instances ― incest, rape and when the mother’s life is at stake.
Focusing on Trump, Gillibrand rebuked abortion opponents who “do not believe that women should have the right to make the most intimate, personal, life-and-death decisions,” adding, “I hope America’s women are paying attention because President Trump has started a war on America’s women. And if it’s a fight he wants to have, it’s a fight he’s going to have, and he’s going to lose.”
Like Missouri, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have passed so-called heartbeat bills to outlaw abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur at the six-week mark.
On Thursday, Gillibrand spoke at the Georgia Capitol, saying the restrictive policies are “against Christian faith” and arguing that they violate the concept of free will.
Earlier this month, the senator pledged that if she is elected president she would only nominate judges who support Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that affirmed women’s rights to lawful abortions.
She is one of several presidential candidates to stand against the crackdown on abortion, along with former Vice President Joe Biden (D); South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D); former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas); and Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).