{"id":231807,"date":"2020-09-30T06:18:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T11:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=231807"},"modified":"2020-09-30T02:25:11","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T07:25:11","slug":"presidential-debate-failed-address-critical-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/presidential-debate-failed-address-critical-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"First presidential debate of 2020 fails to address critical issue of abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last night’s highly anticipated debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden failed to address the critical issue of abortion, leaving many pro-lifers \u2014 and even some abortion supporters \u2014 disappointed.<\/p>\n

Fox News commentator Chris Wallace moderated the event and selected the questions that would be asked. The overall feel of the debate was combative, and at times it seemed that Wallace had lost control of the debate. But it also appeared to some, including conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, that Wallace transitioned “from moderator to debater”<\/a> at times\u00a0rather than overseeing the debate.<\/p>\n

Outside the debate hall, the group Created Equal<\/a> gathered to send the message that abortion is a top concern for pro-lifers. A banner the group commissioned to fly overhead read, “Unborn Black Lives Matter.”<\/p>\n

The first question of the debate seemed to have the potential of raising the topic of abortion, as it centered on Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination<\/a>\u00a0to the Supreme Court during an election year. Trump stated that his decision to move ahead with the nomination was because “[w]e won the election and have the right to do it,” claiming that he believed a Democratic president would do the same in his position. Biden suggested that the “election has already started” and that “we should wait to see what the outcome of the election is” before voting on the nomination. In response, Trump stated that he was elected as President for four years, not three.<\/p>\n

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Students for Life Action quotes Donald Trump in 2020 Presidential Debate (Image: Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n

Biden stated that he is “not opposed to [Amy Coney Barrett]; she seems like a really nice person….” However, he suggested that if Barrett is confirmed, “women’s rights” will be “fundamentally changed,” most likely referring to the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade<\/em> decision, which legalized abortion throughout the United States.<\/p>\n

Trump quickly responded by saying that Biden does not know Barrett’s position on Roe v. Wade<\/em>. At that point, Wallace interrupted the exchange, telling the candidates that he would “come back to Roe v. Wade<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this never happened.<\/p>\n

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"You don\u2019t know her view on Roe V. Wade," Trump tells Biden of Amy Coney Barrett. pic.twitter.com\/irmg1e3umm<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) September 30, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n