Bernie Sanders: I’ll Use the Justice Department to “Go After” States That Defund Planned Parenthood

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Apr 28, 2016   |   6:20PM   |   Washington, DC

Bernie Sanders’ position on abortion is just as radical and out of touch as Hillary Clinton’s.

Both Democratic presidential candidates support legalized abortion for any reason up until birth, a position that most Americans oppose.

During an MSNBC Town Hall on Monday, Sanders revealed even more details about his extreme position. Sanders said he would give even more tax dollars to the abortion business Planned Parenthood and go after states that try to defund it.

Here are Sanders’ remarks:

Not only do I vigorously oppose Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, I think we should expand funding for Planned Parenthood —

And it is no secret that in states all over this country, in a dozen different ways, there are governors and legislatures who are trying to make it impossible for a woman to control her own body.

I will use the Department of Justice to go after those states in every way that I legally can. I believe that in the United States of America women have that right to control their own body, and I find that, I must say, completely hypocritical for my Republican colleagues who tell us every day how much they hate government, how they want to get government out of our life, but they think that local state and federal government have the right to tell you and every woman in America what she can do with her body.

That is hypocrisy.

SIGN THE PLEDGE: I Pledge to Vote for a Pro-Life Candidate for President

Later during the interview, Sanders told host Chris Hayes that he would fill any open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court with pro-abortion justices:

HAYES:  There’s a very big abortion case before this eight member Court that is a challenge to the Texas law. That Texas law — many people believe essentially it upheld death-row inmates in all but name. Meaning it wouldn’t overturn it (CROSS TALK) how big a deal is that court case to you?

SANDERS:  Of course it’s a big deal. And by the way, that is why it goes without saying, that if elected President, I will appoint or nominate people to the Supreme Court who number one are prepared to overturn Citizens United, a disaster and a (poor decision) and number two, absolutely protect a woman’s right to choose.

Clinton recently made a similar promise. Up to four of the nine seats on the high court could come open within the next president’s term, meaning that the next president’s appointees could sway the court’s decisions for decades.

If Sanders or Clinton were allowed to impose these extreme positions through appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court, many of the pro-life advancements passed in recent years could be put in jeopardy – including late-term and partial-birth abortion bans, informed consent laws, sex-selection abortion bans, abortion facility regulations and more.

However, if a pro-life president is elected, there is hope that Roe v. Wade will be overturned and protections restored for unborn babies in America.

berniesanders11