Wow. Senator Rand Paul just gave the best answer on abortion I’ve ever seen—a complete home run.
Pro-abortionists love to force pro-life candidates to be very specific on abortion, and the media is often their willing accomplice. The media will happily force pro-life candidates to explain which exceptions they support, which they don’t, and generally just flummox them into eventually giving up on defending their position altogether outside of a vague declaration of being pro-life. After all, when you’re explaining, you’re losing.
This has been a frustrating trend to watch. Republicans have generally avoided the issue altogether, while Democrats continue to radicalize and become bolder in their pro-abortion ideology.
Abortion isn’t an issue on which conservatives need to be playing defense. Instead, we should be going on the attack and forcing liberals defend their radical views of supporting abortion without exception from the moment of conception to the moment of birth.
Enter Rand Paul.
Rand Paul did an interview recently where he affirmed his pro-life stance and argued that the specifics aren’t nearly as important as moving the ball forward. He said that he has supported pro-life legislation with exceptions—that is, allowing abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is at risk—and he has also supported pro-life legislation without exceptions.
The Democratic National Committee pushed that interview out to reporters, with no commentary, at 1 p.m. Minutes later, Paul happened to be taking questions after his speech to hundreds of people in Milford’s town hall.
“Should there be any exemptions or not?” asked NH1 reporter Paul Steinhauser, citing the DNC attack.
“What’s the DNC say?” asked Paul. That landed like a joke—the room holding the press conference also contained some Paul supporters waiting for photos—but he was serious.
“Here’s the deal—we always seen to have the debate waaaaay over here on what are the exact details of exemptions, or when it starts,” said Paul, waving his hands to the left. “Why don’t we ask the DNC: Is it okay to kill a seven-pound baby in the uterus? You go back and you ask Debbie Wasserman Schultz if she’s OK with killing a seven-pound baby that is not born yet. Ask her when life begins, and you ask Debbie when it’s okay to protect life. When you get an answer from Debbie, get back to me.”
This is exactly what pro-life candidates should be doing—stop letting pro-abortion candidates dictate the terms of the abortion argument when they’re so morally and politically weak on it. The vast majority of Democratic candidates support abortion without exception—from the moment of conception to the moment of birth. They absolutely support the idea, as Rand Paul argued, of aborting a “seven-pound baby.”
This interview should be Abortion 101 for all Republican candidates running for any office—from City Council to the President of the United States. Rand Paul just demonstrated how to stick to your principles and win on abortion.
NRCC and NRSC—take note, please.
Absolutely phenomenal job, Senator Rand Paul. Kudos.
Check out Weigel’s video here. Paul’s answer to abortion question starts around the eight-minute mark.
Jon Schweppe is Deputy Director of Communications for American Principles in Action.
