Claire McCaskill Refuses to Say if She Would Vote to Force Americans to Fund Abortions

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Nov 6, 2018   |   10:41AM   |   Jefferson City, MO

Facing the likelihood of losing her seat, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill has been trying desperately to appeal to moderate voters.

The pro-abortion Democrat has a 100-percent pro-abortion voting record and the support of Planned Parenthood, but she tried to dodge questions Monday about forcing taxpayers to fund abortions.

It is an unpopular issue with voters, so it is not surprising that a struggling McCaskill would try to avoid answering. Polls consistently show that most Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortions.

On Monday, the Weekly Standard approached her at a press conference to ask if she supports the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding of elective abortions through Medicaid. The news outlet asked the question three times before McCaskill finally gave a straight answer.

According to the report:

Asked at the St. Louis press conference if she supports the Hyde amendment, McCaskill dodged the question multiple times before finally endorsing the general prohibition on federal funding of abortion for Medicaid recipients.

“I do not think it is something that we should be spending federal money on,” McCaskill said.

… Repealing the Hyde amendment is a top priority for organizations like Planned Parenthood and NARAL that back McCaskill, and Democrats will likely attempt to repeal it the next time they control Congress and the White House.

While McCaskill has never voted specifically on repealing the Hyde amendment as it applies to Medicaid, she did vote against permanently applying the Hyde amendment to a smaller health care program (the Indian Health Service) in 2008.

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Voters will have to decide if they can trust her on the issue. An undercover video recently called her campaign rhetoric into question. Campaign staffers caught on video said McCaskill is trying to appear more moderate than she is on issues like abortion.

The new Democratic Party platform calls for unrestricted taxpayer funding of elective abortions and an end to the Hyde Amendment. McCaskill’s record indicates she votes with her pro-abortion party, not her constituents, on abortion issues.

Earlier this year, she voted against a late-term abortion ban. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks when strong scientific evidence indicates unborn babies can feel pain.

The bill had strong public support, including from women and young adults, and it would have made American abortion laws similar to those in Europe and other developed nations. The U.S. is one of only seven countries in the world that allows elective abortions after 20 weeks – a fact confirmed by the Washington Post.

But McCaskill voted no and represented one of several votes that narrowly defeated the bill.

She also repeatedly has voted to fund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion chain in America. It receives about half a billion tax dollars every year and aborts approximately 320,000 unborn babies.

Her campaign has strong support from the abortion industry and pro-abortion groups. Emily’s List, a pro-abortion PAC, is McCaskill’s top donor in 2018, sending $630,745 to her campaign, according to Open Secrets.

Missouri voters will have to weigh these matters Tuesday and decide if McCaskill is too pro-abortion for their state.