2 years ago
Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz on Tuesday clarified an element of his stance on abortion, telling reporters he would not support criminal penalties for those who have abortions or the physicians providing the care.
“There should not be criminal penalties for doctors or women regarding abortion,” Oz said in response to a question at a news conference in Philadelphia, adding that he is “strongly pro-life” but supports exceptions in the cases of rape or incest or if the life of the mother is at risk.
His stance on abortion has been of keen interest in both Pennsylvania’s Senate Republican primary earlier this year and now the general election, as he’s set to face off against Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has played a key role in Democrats’ potentially shifting fate in the 2022 midterms — once projected to be disastrous for the party — and Fetterman’s team is capitalizing on the issue.
Oz, a physician who as recently as 2019 defended Roe, has wavered on the subject. His campaign website says he is “100% pro-life.” And audio last week, first published by The Daily Beast, spurred more questions about Oz’s beliefs. In the recording from a tele-town hall held a week before the Republican primary in May, Oz said he believed “life starts at conception.”
“If life starts at conception, why do you care what age the heart starts beating at? It’s, you know, it’s still murder, if you were to terminate a child whether their heart’s beating or not,” he said, speaking to a conservative crowd.
The Fetterman campaign is taking advantage of Pennsylvania’s standing as a 2022 abortion battleground. Fetterman, who has been endorsed by abortion rights groups, has slammed Oz’s position, claiming the celebrity doctor wants to “let extremists ban abortion.” The campaign has also said electing Oz would be a step toward criminalizing abortion, which Oz clarified he does not support on Tuesday.
Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
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