What is the position women are in?

“In many cases, women seek abortions because they don’t feel they have a choice. Socioeconomic reasons are the number one reason, also fears that they’ll lose their current relationship, fears about completing school, being able to compete in society in any meaningful way. I think it’s totally fine if you want to live your life without children. I don’t have children; I’m not demonizing that choice. But women who do have children, we know, are at an economic disadvantage. It’s much harder to compete in our male-dominated, patriarchal society if you have quote-unquote burdens like that. “So if we’re addressing the horror of abortion, we need to address the situations that make a woman feel like abortion is the only way she’ll be able to continue on. As Democrats, we want to give them every opportunity to thrive, inform them of their Title IX rights, and provide for women just like we want to provide for every human being in this country.” And so your goal would be to make abortion…

“Unthinkable.” Would you say you’re zero-tolerance?

“There are certainly situations where the majority of pro-lifers think abortion is permissible, and those are if the mother’s life is in danger and in cases of rape, for reasons of bodily autonomy. Because if a woman didn’t even consent to the sexual situation that [got her pregnant and] put another person’s life at risk, while it is a tragedy to potentially lose that life, we feel that is justifiable. Otherwise, it would be in a woman’s best efforts to avoid the situation that causes pregnancy in the first place.” There’s no room, in that view, to trust a woman’s making the best choice for her life?

“No, allowing it to be just the woman’s choice based just on how she feels about it, we don’t feel that that’s ethical, either.”

And then in the case of rape, would you have a review board? How would women access a “justifiable” abortion?

“I don’t have all the answers of how the entire society would work out, but in general if a woman says that she’s raped, I think our best efforts should be made to believe her, and to take it from there.”

Have you ever voted Republican or considered moving parties because of Democrats' stance on choice?

“I have voted Republican before, but ultimately I believe social justice can only be achieved through a more socialist-style system. I think the Democrats are better positioned to address a range of issues related to inequality. I’d rather work within that framework to end abortion rather than work in a conservative framework trying to end racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia, and so forth.” “I oppose the death penalty; I oppose unjust war; all kinds of things that I think Republicans are willing to sacrifice human lives for, so that’s just not consistent with my beliefs. Seeing Republican legislators who claim to be for life, that say, ‘We don’t want to have paid maternity leave,’ that’s absolutely ridiculous. We need things that will put women at a less disadvantaged position.”

So that’s kind of the crux of why you’re a Democrat, supporting social programs that address inequality.

“The crux of why I’m a Democrat is that I believe in the dignity of every human being. I believe that every human person should have a chance, should not be a victim of violence, should not have their lives taken from them prematurely. And this is why I oppose police brutality — any type of inequality — and abortion is just one of those things that contribute to inequality.”