When discussing abortion policy, Ohio Sen. JD Vance claimed a “fundamentally barbaric” Minnesota law that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed into law states that “a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide life saving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion” — a claim Walz denied.
Vance also alleged that Vice President Kamala Harris is forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions because she has supported suing Catholic nuns and violating their freedom of conscience.
During his allotted rebuttal time, Walz then reaffirmed his support for a woman’s right to make decisions about her health with the support of physicians.
“Trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point that’s not it at all,” said Walz, while being interrupted by Vance asking him to clarify what was wrong about his initial statement.
“The point on this is there’s a continuation of these guys to try and tell women or to get involved. I use this line on this: just mind your own business. Things work best when Roe v. Wade was in place. When we do a restoration of Roe, that works best,” Walz continued.
Walz said that a woman’s right to an abortion won’t preclude the government from increasing funding for childcare and childhood education, accusing Vance of making verbal promises that weren’t specifically outlined in his budget unlike Harris and her economic proposal.
“I asked a specific question, Governor, you gave me a slogan as a response,” Vance responded.
With just more than a month to go before Election Day, Vance and Walz met for their first and only vice presidential debate on Oct. 1, hosted by CBS in New York.
For more context, our partner PolitiFact is live fact-checking the debate: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/live-fact-check-vance-and-walz-meet-for-presidential-debate
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