Washington, D.C. – Florida Congresswoman Val Demings dodged two opportunities to clarify to Floridians when she thinks the point of viability is. Does she know? Does she just not want to admit her position? If she won’t speak up for herself than her voting record will. Demings supports abortion up until birth and on taxpayers’ dime. Floridians deserve a leader who is going to be transparent and speak up.
Val Demings’s Abortion Incoherence
In an interview with CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede yesterday, Representative Valerie Demings, the Democratic nominee to take on Marco Rubio in Florida’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, stated that she supported “abortions up to the point of viability.” But when pressed about when, precisely, the point of viability happens,Demings demurred. It was an instructive interchange:
Demings: I support abortions up to the point of viability. And as a former police detective . . . who investigated cases of rape, incest and sexual abuse . . . for Marco Rubio to think that there should be no exceptions [to abortion bans] . . . is disgraceful.
DeFede: “I wanna — I just wanna — when you say point of viability, is that 24 weeks in your mind? I guess I just, I really do want to try to get a specific . . .
Demings: “You know, and let’s not forget the healthcare portion that is involved in reproductive rights. Um, women should have the opportunity to counsel with their doctors. And their doctors, in the privacy of that doctor’s office, should be able to make that decision. A doctor can tell us all what the point of viability is. But that’s my position. That I support a woman’s right to an abortion up to the point of viability.”
So which is it, congresswoman? Does your support for abortion rights end after the point of viability — i.e., would you support restrictions on abortion after the point of viability — or do you support women and doctors being able to decide when viability occurs? If it’s the latter, then Demings is essentially endorsing unrestricted abortion access, so long as the “decision” about “what the point of viability is” can be made “in the privacy of that doctor’s office.” Running in an increasingly red state, Demings has made the calculated decision to stress that her support for abortion ends “at viability.” But “viability” doesn’t mean anything if there’s no concrete legal definition of when it actually occurs.
Read full National Review Article HERE
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