Conservative Tomi Lahren Tries to Justify Supporting Abortion: “You Can Be Anti-Abortion and Pro-Choice”

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Apr 13, 2017   |   1:58PM   |   Washington, DC

Popular young conservative commentator Tomi Lahren gave more details about her position on abortion this week during an interview with ABC News.

Lahren came under fire in March after she said it was hypocritical to be both pro-life and pro-limited government, and called herself “pro-choice.” Lahren later was suspended from her show on The Blaze with pay. She now is suing her employer.

“I believe you can be anti-abortion and pro-choice, and that’s where I sit,” Lahren told ABC News this week.

“Personally, I would never have an abortion. Personally I would never encourage someone to have an abortion. In fact, I’ve counseled friends against it,” she continued. “I don’t believe in abortion. However, as someone that views limited government, I do believe that during the first trimester, that option should be there for women.”

Lahren did not explain why she thinks it should be legal for a woman to abort her unborn baby in the first trimester, but not later. She did mention “viability” as a reason, though an unborn baby is not viable outside the womb until later in the second trimester.

Whether Lahren is flip-flopping on her abortion position or simply clarifying it is difficult to tell. 

Her abortion statements on The View on March 17 were much stronger.

“I’m pro-choice,” Lahren told the panel, “and here’s why: I can’t sit here and be a hypocrite and say I’m for limited government but I think that the government should decide what women should do with their bodies.

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“I can sit here and say that, as a Republican and I can say, you know what, I’m for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well,” she continued.

The comments sparked immediate outrage among conservatives and pro-lifers. Many conservative pro-life advocates argue that being pro-life and pro-limited government is not hypocritical because one of the government’s fundamental roles should be to protect the lives and rights of its citizens.

The Blaze founder Glenn Beck responded to Lahren on his radio show not long after her appearance on The View, saying: “I would disagree that you’re a hypocrite if you want limited government and yet you want the government to protect life of the unborn. It’s very, very clear. But it takes intellectual honesty, and it takes a willingness to actually think these things through and to do more than just read Twitter or Facebook to get your news and your political opinions.”

Lahren also told ABC this week that she wants The Blaze to dissolve her contract, which is scheduled to end in September, so that she can find another job. The Blaze has said that Lahren is suspended, but she still is being paid.

‘It’s my job, it’s my life. Without that, I feel lost. When your outlet is taken away from you, when your catharsis is stripped from you, and you don’t understand why and you’re so disappointed and you’re so blindsided by it, it hurts,” she said, clearly emotional.

At another point, she said she is being silenced because The Blaze will not let her post on her social media accounts or continue her how.

“This is not about politics,” Lahren said. “This is about someone who had an opposing viewpoint that has been silenced and sidelined and thrown away.”

Lahren’s lawyer contends that The Blaze has not fully followed Lahren’s contract, and that Lahren wants her contract to end so that she can begin looking for another job.

A Blaze spokesman told Dallas News in response, “It is puzzling that an employee who remains under contract (and is still being paid) has sued us for being fired, especially when we continue to comply fully with the terms of our agreement with her.”

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