OPINION:
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dodged a pointed question Thursday: “Is an unborn baby at 15 weeks a human being?” an intrepid reporter asked.
Mrs. Pelosi deflected and never answered directly: “Let me just say that I am a big supporter of Roe v. Wade. I am a mother of five children in six years. I think I have some standing on this issue.”
But, Mrs. Pelosi: Do you believe an unborn baby at 15 weeks is a human being?
For that’s the central issue at hand in a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, a case the Supreme Court is set to hear. If the high court decides to uphold Mississippi’s ban, the decision will whittle away at Roe V. Wade, which declared a woman has the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy in the first six months.
Democrats, in their support of unrestricted, abortion on-demand, throughout pregnancy, are out-of-step with the majority of the American public. A poll released this month by the Susan B. Anthony List found 53% of likely voters are more likely to vote for a Republican candidate who supports a 15-week limit on abortion versus just 28% of voters who prefer a Democratic candidate who supports unlimited abortion up until the moment of birth. Independent voters break strongly to the GOP side by a 54% to 18% margin.
Published scientific literature proves unborn babies can feel pain at 20 weeks gestational age or earlier. A comprehensive review of scientific studies including neural development, psychology of pain sensation, and the moral implications of fetal pain, concludes that unborn babies may experience pain as early as 12 weeks. When factoring this into the equation, 55% of likely voters say they are more likely to support a 15-week limit on abortion, the poll found.
The Biden White House has been reluctant to speak directly to the issue of the 15-week ban, much like Mrs. Pelosi, seemingly acknowledging they’re on the wrong side of this issue. When the Mississippi abortion law came up in a press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to even utter the word abortion, and instead referred to it as “health care.”
“Over the last four years, critical rights like the right to health care, the right to choose have been under withering and extreme attack, including through draconian state laws,” Ms. Psaki said in May. “And the president and the vice president are devoted to ensuring that every American has access to health care, including reproductive health care, regardless of their income, ZIP Code, race, health insurance status or immigration status.”
Referring to unlimited, on-demand abortions, where the unborn baby can feel pain, as a “health care issue,” is just Democratic spin to pass through the most radical pro-abortion agenda in America’s history, without the majority of American support.
On the campaign trail, candidate Joseph R. Biden stated he would use the Justice Department to strike down state parental notification laws, waiting periods or ultrasound requirements for those seeking an abortion. The president openly has said he has a pro-abortion litmus test for federal judges and has bragged about opposing Supreme Court nominees that he thought opposed Roe v. Wade.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ position on abortion is even more radical – she supports abortion up until the day of birth, voted against bills to protect the lives of babies that survive abortions and voted against banning abortions after 20 weeks. On the campaign trail, she said she wanted to give the federal government the power to veto state abortion laws and eliminate state laws that ban late-term abortion.
Mr. Biden’s budget removed a longstanding ban on federal funding for most abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest or to save a pregnant woman’s life, known as the Hyde Amendment. He’s calling for direct taxpayer-funded abortion through federal programs such as Medicaid.
In April, the Biden administration began to undo a Trump-era ban on abortion referrals, which forced Planned Parenthood to exit from a federal family planning program. The federal grants amounted to an indirect subsidy for the nation’s largest abortion provider – and now, thanks to the Biden administration, they’re back on the table. Earlier that month, the Food and Drug Administration said women would not be required to visit a doctor’s office to get a prescription for an abortion pill. In his first 100 days in office, Mr. Biden removed restrictions to medical research that uses fetal tissue obtained from abortions.
Yet, as Politico has noted, since becoming president, Mr. Biden hasn’t mentioned abortion in any speeches, videos or social media posts.
Perhaps it’s because Mr. Biden knows he’s radically out of step with the American public on the issue. He’d rather stay silent and quietly pass through his liberal pro-abortion agenda than have to answer tough questions, like does he believe an unborn baby at 15 weeks is actually a human being.
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