Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and Republican nominee Tim Sheehy debated on Monday night amid a tight race for a seat that could determine control of the Senate. During the debate, Tester tied himself to a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to protect the right to abortion until viability.
“Well, the bottom line is this—whose decision is it to be made?” Tester said. “Is it the federal government's decision? The state government's decision? Tim Sheehy's decision? John Tester’s decision? No. It's the woman's decision. Tim Sheehy has called abortion ‘terrible’ and ‘murder.’ That doesn't sound to me like he's supporting the woman to make that decision.”
Montana is one of 10 states with abortion-related initiatives on the ballot in November. At the debate, Sheehy didn’t speak to his state’s initiative—which he has criticized in the past—likely because he knows his anti-abortion position is unpopular. Instead, Sheehy resurrected a debunked lie frequently trotted out by anti-abortion extremists, saying that Democratic lawmakers wouldn’t “even entertain a ‘born alive’ bill. When a baby is born alive, they refuse to enshrine protection for that life.”
"That ‘born alive’ statement that Tim Sheehy just made is total bunk. It's a lie,” Tester was quick to respond. “It doesn't happen. Those lives are already protected, Tim. You know it. You're saying it to try to politicize this issue more than it already is.”
“The bottom line is this: If we want situations not to happen, like just happened in Georgia—with a woman dying because doctors were afraid to treat her, because she was afraid to go get help—then he's your man,” Tester continued. “If you want somebody who's going to make sure that women can make their own health care decisions, I'm your guy.”
Tester has his work cut out for him in the deep-red state. Abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats. Hopefully, Tester can get together enough voters to retain his seat.
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