California Senate: Fiorina and Boxer Debate Abortion, Boxer Misleads on Funding
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 30, 2010
Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) — California Senate candidates Carly Fiorina and Barbara Boxer debated the issue of abortion on Wednesday in a forum hosted by KPCC-FM and La Opinion radio. Fiorina accused Boxer of misrepresenting her pro-life views on abortion and Boxer sought to downplay her support for taxpayer funded abortions.
Fiorina accused Boxer of engaging in a "unconscionable shocking misrepresentation" of her pro-life views to make her appear more extreme.
While Boxer and her campaign’s ads have made it appear Fiorina would put women who have abortions in jail, Fiorina pointed out she doesn’t support that and wouldn’t push for legislation to do that if elected to the Senate.
"Barbara Boxer is engaging in this kind of misrepresentation to change the subject, to change the subject from her own extreme views, which are that a baby doesn’t have rights until it leaves the hospital," Fiorina said. "The subject of this election is not abortion."
Boxer has been playing on a statement Fiorina made in January that she would "absolutely vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if the opportunity presented itself" which Boxer and her campaign have twisted to make it appear Fiorina supports criminalizing women.
"It means that women and doctors could be put in jail in any state of the union.That is the fact," Boxer said about the statement, according to the NPR debate. "Roe v. Wade, I believe, is a decision that brings us all together."
Fiorina sought to highlight Boxer’s pro-abortion record during her tenure in Washington, especially her consistent support for taxpayer funding of abortions.
Fiorina called Boxer an "extremist" for supporting the use of taxpayers’ money to pay for abortions "any time, anywhere for any reason."
"I think this is typical, typical politics. When people want to talk about the issues that matter most to them: Where is my job? Why is government debt out of control? Barbara Boxer always punts to the divisive issue of abortion to try and change the subject," Fiorina said.
Boxer told the audience listening to the debate that she supports the Hyde Amendment, saying "At this point, it’s a compromise."
However, not only did Boxer vote against the Senate version of the Hyde Amendment when lawmakers attempted to add it to the ObamaCare national health care bill, but she made the motion to kill it.
The Senate voted 54-45 to defeat the Nelson amendment that would have removed the massive abortion funding from the Senate government-run health care bill.
The Nelson amendment, sponsored by Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, Democrat Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah, would have restored the Hyde amendment principles to the bill to ensure that abortions can’t be funded.
Sen. Barbara Boxer moved to table (kill) the Nelson amendment and she was joined by most Democrats and opposed by most Republicans.
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
