Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Monday that he ultimately didn’t think the federal government had the right to keep someone from having a late-term abortion, during Fox News town hall event.
“You said yesterday, I watched your rally, that no one should tell a woman what to do with her own body,” co-host Martha MacCallum began. “With regard to abortion, do you believe that a woman should be able to terminate a pregnancy up until the moment of birth?” (RELATED: Bernie Sanders’ Presidential Campaign Will Be The First To Unionize)
“Look, I think that happens very, very rarely, and I think this is being made into a political issue,” Sanders responded. “Okay, so I think it’s rare, I think it’s being made into a political issue, but at the end of the day, I believe that the decision over abortion belongs to a woman and her physician, not the federal government, not the state government, and not the local government.”
The question came after Sanders announced a new bill that would provide “Medicare for all” if it passed both chambers of Congress and was signed by the president. The bill provides for free coverage of “comprehensive reproductive, maternity, and newborn care,” wording that doesn’t explicitly mention abortion, but the authors of the measure indicate that an abortion would be covered under the plan according to Politico.
Sanders’ plan doesn’t address any limit on what abortions are covered under the plan, but there is room for the secretary of Health and Human Services to determine what services are “medically necessary or appropriate,” according to Politico.