Fetterman: 'Women Are the Reason We Can Win'

Senate candidate in Pennsylvania goes after Oz on abortion rights
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 12, 2022 1:51 PM CDT
Fetterman Goes After Oz on Abortion Rights
Pa. Lt. Gov. and senatorial candidate John Fetterman speaks to a crowd gathered at a United Steel Workers of America Labor Day event with President Joe Biden in West Mifflin, Pa., Monday, Sept. 5, 2022.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

"The dream of Republicans here in Pennsylvania is to turn us into Texas," John Fetterman said at a raucous rally in a Philadelphia suburb Sunday, targeting Dr. Mehmet Oz, his rival in the state's Senate race, on abortion rights. "Women are the reason we can win. Don't piss off women," the Democrat told the crowd, which included many women in pink "Fetterwoman" T-shirts, at Montgomery County Community College, per the Guardian. "Oz believes abortion is murder," Fetterman said. "If every abortion is murder, that means Oz thinks every woman who had to choose an abortion is a killer. Think about that."

Fetterman, in a dig at Oz's celebrity doctor status, said the "decision is between a woman and a real doctor." During the GOP primary, Oz said abortion early in a pregnancy is "still murder" because "life begins at conception," CNN reports. In response to Fetterman's remarks, Oz's communications director said the Republican "supports exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother." Fetterman, the state's lieutenant governor, is leading Oz in the polls and analysts believe the abortion issue could help bring out the Democratic vote in areas like the Philadelphia suburbs.

"I feel so motivated and, honestly, angry," Fetterman supporter Tracey Gale, 53, told the Philadelphia Inquirer at the rally. "I had rights over my body my whole life, and I don’t want to live under a Christian Taliban." The Inquirer notes that Fetterman has been having auditory processing issues since his May 13 stroke, but he didn't stumble over many words in his 10-minute speech Sunday. (Fetterman recently agreed to debate Oz, but no date has been set.)

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