VP debate

I watched the debate between Vance and Walz last night. I just want to point out here some of the lies told by Vance on the subject of reproductive rights. I say "lies" because he's a smart guy and I'm sure he knows the actual facts, but chose to misrepresent them at the debate to mislead voters.

1) Vance said that he supports abortion laws being made in the states, and that he doesn't want a federal ban against abortion. But up to this point, he has indeed supported a federal ban.

2) Vance also said he supports IVF. This is an odd stance for a conservative Catholic ... the church is against IVF because it usually includes the destruction of embryos. He had a chance recently to vote in the Senate for protections for IVF ... he didn't vote.

3) Then Vance lied about the Minnisota reproductive rights law that Walz signed as governor, saying that it allowed doctors to deny medical care to babies born alive after a "botched" abortion. Here's some fact checking from CBS news ...

Vance's statement omits key context about the law. In 2023, Walz signed a bill that updated state law regarding medical care for infants "born alive" as a result of an abortion. Both the previous and updated law state that an infant "born alive shall be fully recognized as a human person, and accorded immediate protection under the law."

Previously, the law required medical professionals to take all reasonable measures to "preserve the life and health of the born alive infant." After the update, medical personnel are required to take all reasonable measures "to care for the infant who is born alive" — a change advocates say allows parents of infants not expected to survive to forgo extraordinary and futile interventions.

Late-term abortions typically occur to save the mother's life or when families are facing situations where the fetus is unlikely to survive long after birth. The Minnesota Department of Health reported eight infants "born alive" from 2019 to 2022. According to the records, three of those infants were classified as "previable" or not developed enough to survive outside the uterus; three were provided "comfort care as planned;" and two had fetal anomalies.

4) Then Vance implied that Catholic hospitals are (or will be?) forced to perform abortions against their will. But it is federal law that no medical practicioner is forced to do any procedure that is agains their conscience. And - U.S. can't punish Christian hospitals for refusing to do abortions, gender surgery

JD Vance said he and Trump are for women, for children, for families. This is untrue ... the Republican party in government has consistently slashed funds for these groups. Vance wants the Republicans to "win back women's trust". Women don't trust people who lie to them. And given that the man at the top of the Republican ticket is a rapist, well, that doesn't exactly inspire women's trust either.