The federal Hyde amendment bars funding for abortions through Medicaid.
But Medicaid — or to be precise, taxpayers — will cover the killing of unborn children conceived in rape or incest or to save the mother’s life.
Chris Christie whipped up a social media storm at Saturday’s GOP presidential debate when he said this about unborn human beings conceived in rape or incest (emphasis added):
…I believe that if a woman has been raped, that is a birth and a pregnancy that she should be able to terminate. If she is a victim of incest, this is not a woman’s choice, this is a woman being violated. And the fact is that we have always believed, as had Ronald Reagan, that we have self-defense for women who have been raped and impregnated because of it or the subject of incest and been impregnated for it. That woman should not have to deliver that child if they believe that violation is now an act of self-defense by terminating that pregnancy.
But did Ronald Reagan support such exceptions?
Pro-lifers on Twitter did not like Christie’s remarks:
@ChrisChristie unborn children are not attackers, so why would the mother need to be “defended” from them? https://t.co/2ZmVnypTm4
— Perpetua (@PE0814) February 7, 2016
Disappointing: @ChrisChristie @LindseyGrahamSC attack @MarcoRubio for his strong pro-life stand. Abortion doesn’t heal rape, incest victims.
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) February 5, 2016
Chris Christie’s abortion answer should have made headlines. It was the dumbest thing I’ve heard in years. But no: “RUBIO REPEATED A POINT!”
— Chidike Okeem (@VOICEOFCHID) February 8, 2016
And from Live Action News:
The “abortion as self-defense line” is quite possibly the most morally reprehensible thing I’ve heard uttered in any debate on either side
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 7, 2016
I know someone who was conceived via rape. Her life is no less valuable than mine.
That was a disgusting answer from Christie.
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) February 7, 2016
I am still wincing over Christie’s brutal description of when it’s ok to kill your baby. Horrid. Horrid.
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) February 7, 2016
Photo credit: American Life League (Creative Commons) – Some Rights Reserved
This is a hard and difficult question. But in the final analysis I believe Christie was wrong.