Bernie Sanders says abortion will help fight climate change

By Shelby Talcott

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he supports abortion, in part, as a way to curb human population in light of climate change.

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

A member of the audience asked the Vermont senator about human population growth during CNN’s climate town hall Wednesday. She specifically asked Sanders whether he would support measures to curb that growth.

The audience member added that “the planet cannot sustain this growth” and “empowering women and educating everyone” on curbing the population seems “reasonable.” Sanders said he supports women being able to “control their own bodies” and have abortions when answering the climate change question.

“The answer is yes and the answer has everything to do with the fact that women, in the United States of America, by the way, have a right to control their own bodies and make reproductive decisions,” Sanders said.

Sanders specifically voiced support for U.S.-taxpayer funded abortions, bringing up the Mexico City agreement, the Washington Examiner reported.

“And the Mexico City agreement, which denies American aid to those organizations around the world that allow women to have abortions or even get involved in birth control, to me is totally absurd,” he added.

“So I think especially in poor countries around the world, where women do not necessarily want to have large numbers of babies and where they can have the opportunity through birth control to control the number of kids they have: something I very, very strongly support.”

All of the major Democratic candidates have expressed support for abortion rights, but none have tied abortion to climate change or discussed it as a means of population control.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Images courtesy of Public domain and Gage Skidmore/Flickr

18 thoughts on “Bernie Sanders says abortion will help fight climate change

  1. If humans are the main culprits, why not have fewer humans?

    Abortion for free for everyone? Of course.
    However, it would be better to act BEFORE the fact.
    We should not reduce the innocent flora and fauna, but reduce the guilty human population by a factor of ten to reduce human impact on climate.

    One way to do that, and have an anti-poverty program as well, is to give $2500 to a young woman in a poorer countries to have a minor operation FOR FREE, so she can no longer have children.
    About $20 billion per year would treat 8 million young women each year.
    They likely would live in countries with per capita incomes of about $500/y or less
    Vermonters would not qualify.
    They would become rich in their countries.
    All is voluntary.

    The knee jerk reaction often is “government eugenics”, etc.
    I want this to be a private effort.
    People would get a US income tax deduction, if they contributed to PRIVATE funds.
    Keep the government out of it.
    Make it a grassroots people to people program.

    The rich get their tax deductions anyway.
    This time it would be for a good cause.
    Helping young women in poorer countries become relatively well off.

    Population in the world is currently (2019-2020) growing at a rate of around 1.08% per year (down from 1.10% in 2018, 1.12% in 2017 and 1.14% in 2016); 1% of 7.5 billion is 75 million/y. The growth rate has decreased by nearly half since 1968 (2.08%).

    “The funny thing about people who advocate reducing the population to save the planet is that they always want to start by killing babies. They never seem to see themselves as members of the surplus population in need of extermination. What a strange coincidence.” Matt Walsh

    My program is pro active.
    No one gets pregnant in the first place.
    No one gets killed.
    Local young woman would be a lot richer in their own countries
    No reason to leave.
    Fewer refugees.
    All is private, people to people.
    Government is not involved.

  2. Socialist Sanders and his rhetoric is pure BS, abort all the kids you want in one breath,
    but it’s hell to pay if someone takes there own life with a firearm……..Hypocrisy at it’s best.

    Sanders could care less about any person in any third world country, he was only playing the
    audience in front of him, he knew what the wanted to hear and played the woman that posed
    the question like a cheap fiddle ……………….. Scam Artist Sanders !!

    Sanders only care about his run for the WH, as he has stated he will do whatever it takes to
    get Trump out of office …………………… Good luck with that.

  3. Don’t you just love how people like Sanders and all the other “feminists” invoke feel-good phrases like “controlling their own bodies” and “reproductive decisions” as euphemisms for killing babies, even up to full term? These are the same duplicitous demagogues who assert even one person killed by a gun is too many. But they just can’t kill enough unborn. Sad.

  4. While I totally oppose Sander’s view of human life and government, I do not think he was the one that tied abortion to climate change, at least not from his quotes in this article. The woman that asked the question is where they got pulled together. It would not at all surprise me if he did support that, but he is far to clever to state that and his carefully worded answer above shows that.

  5. If I’m not mistaken, it is my understanding the the birth rate has been declining. Bernie’s suggestion that abortion will contribute to the slowing of global warming is another of his looney ideas. What’s next Bernie?

    • birth rates in some “minor” regions decrease based upon various factors, but overall world population and birth rates increasing at faster and faster pace, especially in those regions of greater poverty, as expected, with minor “ebbs and flows”. Having less kids in areas of great poverty and little resource, is a wise idea (and a conservative ideal I.e. “don’t expect or ask for handouts, and don’t “take” from others”)
      See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

      • Population in the world is currently (2019-2020) growing at a rate of around 1.08% per year (down from 1.10% in 2018, 1.12% in 2017 and 1.14% in 2016). The growth rate has declined by nearly half since 1968 (2.08%), which is understandable given that population growth at the 1968 rate continuing for the next millenium would mean the mass of human bodies would expand from the center of the earth at the speed of light – not likely.

        There are infinite ways in which populations balance with their environments. And they always do, sooner or later. My concern is that any one individual or organization would pretend to know how best someone else should act in that regard. I prefer free market economies – individuals reacting, choosing their fate and accepting responsibility for their choices – prevail…not government oligarchies picking winners and losers.

  6. “The funny thing about people who advocate reducing the population to save the planet is that they always want to start by killing babies. They never seem to see themselves as members of the surplus population in need of extermination. What a strange coincidence.” Matt Walsh

    True…yes. Funny…not.

    • Jay,
      My program is pro active.
      No one gets pregnant in the first place.
      No one gets killed.
      Local young woman would be a lot richer in their countries
      No reason to leave.
      Fewer refugees.
      All is private, people to people.
      Government is not involved.

      • Willem, Vermont’s demographic is already child challenged with less than 25% of its population under the age of 18 and K-12 school enrollments declining 30% over the last 20 years? And who is to say that a child born to a low income parent won’t one day become the next Abraham Lincoln or one of the dozen or so other low income people who became President? Who is to say that a child born into a wealthy family isn’t going to become ward of the State?

        Not me.

          • I’m not changing the subject, Willem. Be it Vermont or the rest of the world – who defines whether or not a country, state or individual is ‘poor’ and who ponies up the $2500? What if we (payer and payee) choose poorly? How do you address ‘buyers remorse’? Who is ultimately responsible?…tobacco companies, drug companies, gun manufacturers, …God…you?

            You’re opening the proverbial Pandora’s Box, Willem…the road to hell is lined with good intentions.

  7. Since the only good commie is a dead commie I would suggest burnee abort himself and his family of moochers which have contributed NOTHING to society as a whole.
    His life has revolved around leaching off taxpayers since his fake brooklyn accent hit the airwaves..A snake oil salesman selling fear based on LIES and offering salvation at a mere 16 trillion price tag… The putrid commie don’t deserve to be breathing the same air as Patriots of America..Maybe instead of the Pol Pot method of human removal burnee should ban private air travel of which he’s a major offender.

    [EDITOR’S WARNING: Keep it civil. Comments with profane language or grave personal insults will start being flagged by the board’s spam filter.]

  8. Sanders is right.
    However, it would be better to act BEFORE the fact.

    We should reduce the guilty human population by a factor of ten to reduce human impact on climate.
    One way to do that, and have an anti-poverty program as well, is to give $2500 to a young woman in a poor country to have a minor operation FOR FREE, so she can no longer have children.
    About $20 billion per year would treat 8 million young women each year.
    They likely would live in countries with per capita incomes of about $500/y or less.
    They would be rich in their countries.
    All is voluntary.

    • Voluntary or not….governmental eugenics (as if it were ‘wiser than God’) is a scary prospect. Why would a low-income woman take part in the program in the first place, when our government welfare programs make having more children a revenue enhancement?

      It seems to me government is failing in every aspect of its charge and the more it takes charge, the greater society’s dysfunction.

      “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” Thomas Paine

      • Jay,
        Your knee jerk reaction is government, etc.
        I want this to be a private effort.
        People would get a tax deduction, if they contributed to PRIVATE funds.
        Keep the government out of it.
        Make it a grassroots people to people program.

          • Jay,
            The rich get their tax deductions anyway.
            This time it would be for a good cause.
            Helping young women in poor countries become relatively well off.

Comments are closed.