Amy McGrath and abortion. McConnell retreads attacks on McGrath’s abortion views.
In April 2018, Democratic candidate Amy McGrath gave an interview with a local radio host when a caller shifted the conversation to abortion.
“You don’t think there should be any limitations at all on abortion?” asked host Larry Glover on 590 WVLK.
“I don’t think government should be involved in making a decision on a woman’s body,” McGrath said.
“So you think a woman on the way to the hospital to give birth could decide to abort it instead?” Glover said.
“I don’t think the government should be involved in a woman’s right to choose what is happening to her body,” McGrath said.
If this conversation is familiar, it’s because it became an attack ad for U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, in his general election campaign against McGrath. He won in 2018 by three percentage points.
Abortion, which has long been a defining political issue in Kentucky, has not gone away. Neither has the interview. Now, as McGrath has stepped into an even bigger race against U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the interview is back.
McConnell’s campaign, retreading the path taken by Barr, started running ads Sunday saying McGrath supports abortion “through the ninth month,” basing the statement on the interview with Glover.
McGrath, though, says she does not support late-term abortions and has never done so.
By not directly engaging with the premise of Glover’s question, McGrath opened herself up to what would go on to become a talking point in the anti-abortion rights movement, centered around the idea that women are getting abortions in the third trimester. Abortions in the third trimester are extremely rare and typically occur in the event of a medical emergency.
This year, the Kentucky legislature passed Senate Bill 9, which offered protections for a “born-alive infant,” saying a physician performing an abortion would have to take “reasonable steps to preserve the life and health” of the infant.
The bill, which also contained language that would have allowed Attorney General Daniel Cameron to shut down abortion clinics during the coronavirus pandemic, was vetoed by Gov. Andy Beshear.
When asked whether she regretted her response to Glover, McGrath chalked it up to being an inexperienced candidate in 2018.
“I just think the whole premise of the question was pretty outlandish and it was frankly a slap in the face to anyone who has been a mother,” McGrath said. “To say that somehow in the ninth month, it’s just crazy, the whole premise of it is crazy. I guess the only fault that I would have is that I wasn’t prepared for crazy questions in that way.”
McGrath’s answer for where she personally stands on abortion has always given a hat tip to her Catholic beliefs — the Catholic church opposes abortion — before saying she doesn’t think the government should be involved in the decision.
“I am somebody, I am Catholic, I grew up in a Catholic institution, in catholic schools, I am a mother,” McGrath said. “This issue is an issue that has been important to me my entire life. That said, I am somebody who believes that the government should not legislate my religious beliefs and my church’s doctorine onto Americans. And I don’t believe the government should be involved in personal family decisions.”
She went on to say that she believes “there are already reasonable restrictions within the context of Roe V. Wade,” the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The ruling said state governments could regulate abortions in the second trimester and could ban abortions in the third trimester as long as there are exceptions for the life and health of the mother.
“Amy’s own words directly contradict her many shameless attempts to hide her extreme liberal views on abortion from the people of Kentucky,” said Katharine Cooksey, McConnell’s campaign press secretary. “Amy’s disrespect for the sanctity of life is shocking and goes against everything Kentuckians believe.”
For his part, McConnell calls himself “pro-life” and has been endorsed by the National Right to Life and the Kentucky Right to Life in the 2020 election. In February, he brought an abortion bill similar to the one passed by the Kentucky General Assembly to a vote on the Senate floor. It failed to get the votes necessary to pass.
Although abortion remains a major political issue in Kentucky, Beshear was able to win his 2019 gubernatorial campaign even after he had the backing of NARAL, a national abortion rights group. Former Gov. Matt Bevin’s campaign frequently tried to make the fact that Beshear was backed by abortion-rights groups a camapign issue — Bevin held a press conference accusing Beshear of accepting “blood money” — it didn’t end up defining the race.
For her part, McGrath has not sought the endorsement of EMILY’s List, a major national group that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 3:45 PM.
