Hillary Clinton promises to defend Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood


During Wednesday night's final presidential debate, Hillary Clinton reiterated her support of Planned Parenthood and a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices.
Clinton said she will "defend Roe v. Wade," which "guarantees a constitutional right to women to make the most intimate, most difficult in many cases, decision about her health care that one can imagine." She called out states that are "putting very stringent regulations on women that block them from exercising that choice" and want to defund Planned Parenthood, "which of course provides so many cancer screenings and benefits for women in the country." Moderator Chris Wallace asked Clinton to discuss late-term abortions, and she shared that she has met with women who have had to have one because their "health is in jeopardy" or they were told "something terrible has happened or just been discovered about the pregnancy. I do not think the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions. You can regulate if you are doing so with the life and the health of the mother taken into account."
Donald Trump said in response that he thinks it's "terrible if you go with what Hillary's saying, the ninth month, and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. You can say that's OK, Hillary can say that's OK, but it's not OK with me." Clinton sharply rebuked him, saying that is "not what happens in these cases," and said Trump "using that kind of scare rhetoric is terribly unfortunate." Traveling the world as secretary of state, Clinton said she went to countries where "the government either forced women to have abortions, like they used to do in China, or forced women to bear children, like they used to do in Romania, and I can tell you the government has no business in the decision that women make in their families in accordance to their faith with medical advice, and I will stand up for that right."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’
The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodges
The Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Crossword: October 9, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US