Harrisburg, Pa. — John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, said during a debate against Republican Mehmet Oz on Tuesday that he would support allocating federal funds to transport women across states lines to have abortions.
"I would because I believe abortion rights is a universal right for all women in America," Fetterman said when asked if he would support such an allocation of federal funds. "I believe that abortion is health care and I believe that that is a choice that belongs with each woman and their doctor."
"I want to look into the face of every woman in Pennsylvania if you believe that the choice of your reproductive freedom belongs with Dr. Oz then you have a choice but if you believe that the choice for abortion belongs between you and your doctor, that what's I fight for," Fetterman said earlier in the debate.
He added that he would fight for Roe v. Wade to become law, if elected.
Abortion became a heated topic on Tuesday during what is the first and likely only debate of the race. The race offers Pennsylvania voters a rare opportunity to see Fetterman respond to questions live after he suffered a stroke in May. Fetterman has said he still has lingering auditory processing issues as he recovers. Fetterman relied upon live closed captioning to understand questions from the moderators and comments by Oz.
Fetterman appeared to struggle at time to choose his words when giving his responses.
He declined to release his medical records, telling debate moderators: "My doctor believes that I’m fit to be serving and that is what I believe is where I am standing."
For his part, Oz said the federal government should not be involved in how states decide their abortion laws.
"As a physician, I've been in the room when there's some difficult conversations happening," said Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon. "I don't want the federal government involved in that at all."
Oz said he would not vote in support of a 15-week federal ban on abortion as proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.).
“I am not going to support federal rules that block the ability of states to do what they wish to do,” he said.
Fetterman later struggled to defend his shifting positions on fracking. He supported a ban on fracking as recently as 2018, but said Tuesday that he “absolutely” supports fracking.
When moderators pushed Fetterman about why he changed his views, Fetterman appeared confused and replied only, “I do support fracking.”
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