Marco Rubio on abortion: Every person deserves legal protection, 'birth certificate or not'

Marco Rubio opposes abortion, he wants you to know

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has gotten in hot water with the Republican base for his support of immigration reform, but when Megyn Kelly asked Rubio about his support for a rape and incest exemption for abortion laws in Thursday night's Republican presidential debate, he threw out some red meat. "I'm not sure that's a correct assessment of my record," he told Kelly. "I have never said that. I have never advocated for that."

In fact, Rubio said, he favors a law that protects all people at all stages of development. He continued:

And let me go further: I believe that every single human being is in charge — is entitled to the protection of our laws, whether they can vote or not, whether they can speak or not, whether they can hire a lawyer or not, whether they have a birth certificate or not. And I think future generations will look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies, who we never gave them the chance to live. [Rubio, GOP debate]

That "birth certificate" part might raise some eyebrows, but otherwise Rubio has laid down his anti-abortion marker. You can watch his comments below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.