2020 Democrats strongly defend abortion rights at forum

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Twenty Democratic presidential candidates attending a Planned Parenthood forum today vowed to defend abortion rights under nearly any circumstance while largely ignoring nuances around the issue that have already roiled their party heading into the 2020 election.

The event sponsored by Planned Parenthood Action Fund – the group's political arm – was the first of the election season centered on abortion. It came on the sidelines of the South Carolina Democratic Party's state convention, a pivotal gathering of the party faithful in the South's first primary state.

The candidates were united in decrying a series of tough, recent abortion restrictions approved by Republican-controlled legislatures around the country geared to ultimately provoke a Supreme Court case that could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

Those efforts have come alongside attempts to strip taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood, which abortion-rights advocates and some leading medical groups say would make it harder for low-income women to get access to basic health care, not only abortion.

"We've been on defense for 47 years and it's not working," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. Warren, who turned 70 today, said trying to restrict abortion usually boils down to sexism.

"You're not going to lock women back in the kitchen. You're not going to tell us what to do," she declared, eliciting a standing ovation from hundreds in the crowd, many sporting pink Planned Parenthood T-shirts.

Most Democratic voters support abortion rights, though the issue doesn't always energize the party's base in South Carolina and other conservative states. Despite that, the Democrats vying for the chance to try and unseat President Donald Trump next year were unwavering in their support for the procedure and in their defense of Planned Parenthood – showing just how far the party has moved compared to presidential races in recent memory.

"If President Trump wants a war on America's women, it's a war he's going to have and it's a war he's going to lose," declared New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

California Sen. Kamala Harris promised to create a federal system of "preclearance" mandating that states passing major abortion restrictions be subject to federal review, similar to how states with histories of racial discrimination long had their electoral rules scrutinized under the Voting Rights Act.

Even as the party's top candidates more openly embrace abortion rights, tensions around them have nonetheless already shaken up the 2020 Democratic field. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who leads in early polls, long supported the "Hyde Amendment," a congressional ban on using taxpayer money to pay for most abortions. But Biden dramatically reversed himself earlier this month amid intense criticism from his fellow Democrats.