A prominent Democratic senator on Tuesday dodged a question about the humanity of a 15-week-old unborn baby, saying he’ll wait for a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Richard Blumenthal, the senior senator from Connecticut and a former attorney general from that state, was asked by CNSNews.com about the humanity of the unborn in reference to a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of a pregnancy.
The Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of that law later this year.
“The Supreme Court this fall will review a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy,” CNSNews asked Blumenthal. “Is an unborn baby at 15 weeks a human being?”
“You know, I’m going to wait for the Supreme Court decision,” he said. “Right now, abortion at that point in a pregnancy is legal and constitutionally protected, and I believe it should be.”
Asked again by CNSNews if an unborn baby is human, Blumenthal did not respond.
Blumenthal is a sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade and legal abortion in federal law and would overturn hundreds of state-level pro-life laws nationwide. The text of the bill says its purpose to “permit health care providers to provide abortion services without limitations or requirements.”
He’s also chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution within the Judiciary Committee.
The Mississippi law prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy except in cases of fetal abnormality or medical emergency. The text of the law says abortions after 15 weeks mostly involve the “use of surgical instruments to crush and tear the unborn child apart.” Such an abortion is called a dilation and evacuation abortion in the medical realm.
“The Legislature finds that the intentional commitment of such acts for nontherapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice, dangerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession,” the law says.
Related:
Respect Science and Affirm Humanity of Unborn, Miss. Governor Tells CNN
Supreme Court Takes Major Abortion Case in ‘Landmark Opportunity’ for Pro-Life Cause
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
