Bernie Sanders backs funding abortions in poor countries to curb population growth as part of climate plan
Critics troubled by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' radical position; reaction and analysis from Fox News contributors Donna Brazile and Ari Fleischer.
"The View" hosts Meghan McCain and Joy Behar had some tense moments on Friday's show as the two disagreed about Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., indicating he would support abortion access as part of his plan to fight climate change.
"Isn't population one of the biggest issues in the world right now?" Behar asked before McCain interjected.
"It's actually not — population growth is on the decline. The world's population is projected to nearly stop growing by the end of this century," she said.
Co-host Abby Huntsman said she was confused as to why Sanders discussed population growth while talking about climate change.
"Well, it has to do with using up the resources of the world," Behar responded
When McCain tried to interrupt by claiming population growth was declining, Behar snapped: "Can I say a sentence here?"
"Well, if it's factual," McCain responded.
The Vermont senator was asked on Wednesday whether he would seek to "empower women" as part of his plan to control the population and mitigate climate change.
"Human population growth has more than doubled in the past 50 years. The planet cannot sustain this growth," an audience member said.
"I realize this is a poisonous topic for politicians, but it’s crucial to face. Empowering women and educating everyone on the need to curb population growth seems a reasonable campaign to enact. Would you be courageous enough to discuss this issue and make it a key feature of a plan to address climate catastrophe?"
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Sanders responded: "The answer is yes and the answer has everything to do with the fact that women — in the United States of America, by the way — have a right to control their own bodies and make reproductive decisions."
He went on to call out the Mexico City policy which blocks U.S. aid to international organizations that refer clients for abortions.
"I think especially in poor countries around the world, where women do not necessarily want to have large numbers of babies and where they can have the opportunity through birth control to limit the number of kids they have — something I very, very strongly support," Sanders added.
McCain, who is pro-life, said that anytime politicians talk about "population control," it raises concerns.
She pointed to China, where the country implemented a one-child policy and saw hundreds of millions of abortions within just decades.
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Behar countered by arguing that China's policy wasn't an example of eugenics, something McCain's friend – conservative author S.E. Cupp – had claimed online after Sanders made that statement.
"I believe it's a slippery slope towards that and I do think this dystopian, hellhole nightmarish hellscape that Democrats are putting out – that climate change is just going to end everything to the fact that we're going to have to have population control in this country – seems very extreme," McCain said.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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