Here’s What Happened When Clinton & Trump Were Finally Asked About Abortion

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were finally asked about abortion in their final face-to-face showdown ahead of Election Day. For weeks, reproductive rights activists and scores of people on social media have been urging the presidential and vice-presidential debate moderators to #AskAboutAbortion. Tonight, it actually happened. During a discussion about the Supreme Court, debate moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump about his position on Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling legalizing abortion. Trump had said he would put pro-life justices on the Supreme Court. He reiterated that vow and, after Wallace's question, he answered that the issue would return to the states. "The state will make a decision," he said. In her rebuke, Clinton doubled down on her commitment to defending reproductive rights. “In this case, it’s not only about Roe v. Wade, it is about what is happening right now in America. So many states are putting very stringent regulations on women that block them from exercising that choice, to the extent that they are defunding Planned Parenthood, which, of course, provides all kinds of benefits for women in this country,” she said. “I will defend Planned Parenthood, I will defend Roe v. Wade, and I will defend women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions," she continued. "We have come too far to have that turned back now.” Wallace also pressed Clinton on her position on late-term abortions, which led Trump to go after the Democratic nominee on her so-called "partial-birth abortion" policy in inaccurate and grotesque terms. “If you go with what Hillary is saying in the ninth month, you can take the baby and you can rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth," he said. "You can say that is okay and Hillary can say that it's okay, but it's not okay with me.” Clinton answered that this is not true and defended her position on late-term abortions. “The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make," she said. "The government has no business in the decisions women make with their families, in accordance with their faith, with medical advice, and I will stand up for that right.”