MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Val Demings said Friday she supports women or girls having the right to an abortion “up to the time of viability of the fetus,” a day after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio attacked the Florida congresswoman for supporting “abortion on demand, taxpayer-funded at any point in a pregnancy.”
During a campaign stop at the University of Miami, Demings told the Miami Herald that while she knows fetus viability is widely considered to be at 24 weeks, she believes that every woman or girl should have the right to consult with a doctor to make a decision to end a pregnancy.
“Marco Rubio has a lot of damn nerve to talk about me. ... A woman or girl should have the right to an abortion up to the time of viability of the fetus. So which part of that does Marco Rubio not understand?” Demings said.
She went on to say that the conversation around abortion should be particularly nuanced when it comes to victims of abuse, and making individual and private decisions about their bodies.
“Yes, we’ve heard 24 weeks, but a medical professional should be able to help a family who’s having to make that tough decision, answer that question. So Marco can say whatever he wants to say. And his enablers can say whatever they want to say,” Demings said.
“A part of this whole discussion about a woman’s right to choose is also about her right to privacy, that she should be able to make that decision with her family ... based on her faith and with her doctor. I think that women, each woman, each child who may be the victim of abuse, sexual abuse, should be able to sit down with the doctor and let their doctor tell them what the point of viability is,” Demings added.
Last week, Demings gave a similar response on her position on access to abortion during an interview with CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede. When pressed on the issue, she said she supported access to abortion up to the point when a fetus becomes viable.
On Thursday, Rubio attacked Demings over her stance on abortion, an issue that has defined much of Demings’ campaign after the U.S. Supreme Court oveturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. During an event with religious leaders in Davie, Rubio said society should give precedence to “life” if the rights of a mother and a fetus are in conflict.
“You have the right of what happens to her (the mother) which she possesses from God, and a right of an unborn innocent human being to live, and these rights are in conflict, as rights sometimes are. A society has to decide which of these two rights are we going to give precedence. And I just believe with all my heart, that if you’re not a society that gives precedence to life, above every other right, then you’re headed in a very dangerous direction,” Rubio said.
When asked by journalists why he supports making abortion illegal despite broad support for access to abortion by most Florida voters, Rubio said the issue would now be up to the states to discuss.
“I would argue that people like Val Demings and others need to tell us what abortions do they think should not be allowed. Should we be allowed to abort a child in the ninth month? In the day they’re supposed to be born? I think that’s pretty egregious. They refuse to answer that question,” Rubio said.
Demings also reacted to Rubio’s comments on giving precedence to the life of a fetus, saying his position was “dangerous” and “un-American.”
“I’m just absolutely shocked and extremely disappointed,” she said. “Senator Rubio believes that there should be no exception, regardless of the circumstances of that conception. Regardless, if the person was raped, sexually abused the victim of incest, or regardless of the age. But then to say that the seed of the person’s rapist matters more than the person? The mother? I think that’s disgraceful.”
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