Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, recently unveiled a plan that would require states to receive federal “preclearance” before enacting approved pro-life laws.
If elected president, Sanders’ pro-abortion agenda, which he has outlined on his campaign website, would “ban” states from implementing laws that place “undue and unnecessary burdens and regulations” on abortion providers.
Sanders isn’t the first — or only — Democratic contender to endorse such a policy.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who has since suspended her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, was also supportive of federal “preclearance,” as were her fellow erstwhile presidential hopefuls Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, for his part, refused to provide an answer last fall, when The New York Times asked if he would support federal “preclearance” for pro-life state laws, should he win the presidency in November.
“Biden’s Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate the constitutional right to an abortion, such as so-called TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws, parental notification requirements, mandatory waiting periods and ultrasound requirements,” said a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign.
Sanders has also made clear he would make agreement with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 1973 regarding Roe v. Wade a litmus test for future judicial appointments. The 47-year-old ruling granted nationwide legal cover for abortion.
Discussion about Sanders’ pro-abortion agenda comes as celebrities and activists like Busy Philipps have descended on the Supreme Court building as the justices hear oral arguments over a Louisiana law which some have deemed unconstitutional for requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at local hospitals.
“I will never stop talking about my abortion, or my periods, or my experiences in childbirth, my episiotomies, my yeast infections, or my ovulation that lines up with the moon!” Philipps said during an enraged speech about her own experience with abortion.