Stacey Abrams on abortion rights: Politically motivated restrictions 'make no sense'
Stacey Abrams, Georgia’s Democratic nominee for governor, joins Yahoo News National Reporter Marquise Francis to discuss her views on the state-level battles over abortion access. “It is a medical decision, and while your faith tradition may tell you that you personally do not want to make that choice, it is not my right as a Christian to impose that value system on someone else,” Abrams tells Yahoo News. “It should always be that abortion care is available until a fetus is viable, unless that viability threatens the life of the mother.”
Video Transcript
MARQUISE FRANCIS: With the reversal of Roe v Wade, millions of women across the country lost reproductive rights. And I know you have been a staunch advocate for reproductive rights. I also know your faith and you're very vocal about Christianity. So what would you say to people who kind of have a hard time being pro-abortion but also Christian?
STACEY ABRAMS: Abortion is a medical decision. It is medical care. It is what helps a woman who's had a miscarriage actually navigate that space. It's technically a spontaneous abortion.
It is what happens in an ectopic pregnancy, but it is also a decision that women make because they are not ready to be mothers. It is a medical decision. And while your faith tradition may tell you that you personally do not want to make that choice, it is not my right as a Christian to impose that value system on someone else, because the value that should overhang everything is the right to make our own decisions-- the free will that the God I believe in gave us. And my responsibility as a legislator is to make certain that we allow doctors, and nurses, and medical professionals to make medical decisions, and that politicians stay out of it.
MARQUISE FRANCIS: And would you accept any restrictions? And if so, what would those be?
STACEY ABRAMS: What I've said is that we understand that this is a medical decision. And so arbitrary political parameters make no sense. But it should always be that abortion care is available until a fetus is viable, unless that viability threatens the life of the mother.
