Walz Dodges Vance’s Queries About Minnesota’s ‘Barbaric’ Abortion Policies| National Catholic Register

‘I asked you a specific question, Governor, and you gave me a slogan in response,’ Vance said.

During the vice-presidential debate Tuesday night, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz refused to describe the details of bills he signed in Minnesota eliminating restrictions on abortion.

As the Register reported in August, in May 2023, Walz signed into law a bill that got rid of a requirement in a 1976 state law that doctors try to “preserve the life and health of the born alive infant” after an attempted abortion, replacing that language with “to care for the infant who is born alive.”

Abortion supporters in the state Legislature said the change was appropriate because babies born alive after an attempted abortion are often beyond saving and parents and doctors should decide what kind of care they get.

But pro-lifers said they found the change disturbing, arguing that everyone who is alive deserves potentially lifesaving care.

In January 2023, Walz signed a bill into law declaring abortion a “fundamental right” in Minnesota that can be exercised without restrictions at all stages of pregnancy.

Walz, a Democrat, said during the debate that one bill he signed doesn’t allow doctors to assist babies who survive an attempted abortion to die, but he did not explain why that’s the case.

Referring to another bill, CBS debate moderator Norah O’Donnell asked Walz if he believes abortion in the ninth month “is absolutely fine,” as former president Donald Trump said Walz does during the presidential debate between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Sept. 10.

“That’s not what the bill says,” Walz said, but he didn’t elaborate.

Later in the discussion, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican nominee for vice president, asked Walz about a bill he signed into law that removed a previous requirement in Minnesota that a doctor try to save the life of a baby born alive after an attempted abortion.

“And maybe — you’re free to disagree with me on this and explain this to me — but as I read the Minnesota … statute that you signed into law, it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide lifesaving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion,” Vance said during Tuesday’s debate.

“That’s not true. That’s not how the law is,” Walz interjected.

Vance continued: “That is, I think — whether you’re pro-choice or pro-abortion — that is fundamentally barbaric.”

Vance pressed Walz on what Vance termed freedom of conscience.

“Do you want to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions against their will? Because Kamala Harris is supported suing Catholic nuns to violate their freedom of conscience,” Vance said, referring to yearslong efforts by the Little Sisters of the Poor to avoid paying for contraception in health-insurance plans for their employees, citing the Catholic Church’s condemnation of contraception as immoral.

“We can be a big and diverse country where we respect people’s freedom of conscience and make the country more pro-baby and pro-family,” Vance said.

Walz responded by saying: “Look, this is one where there’s always something there. This is a very simple proposition. These are women’s decisions to make about their health-care decisions and the physicians who know best when they need to do this. Trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point, that’s not it at all.”

Vance interjected: “But what was I wrong about, Governor? Please, tell me. What was I wrong about?”

Walz responded, “That is not the way the law is written.”

“But how?” Vance asked.

“That’s been misread, and it was fact-checked at the last debate,” Walz said.

“I asked you a specific question, Governor, and you gave me a slogan in response,” Vance said.

“It’s not the case, it’s not true; that’s not what the law says, so they fact-checked it with President Trump,” Walz said, without offering details.