Hillary Clinton sparked backlash among pro-life and pro-abortion advocates this past weekend after she identified the unborn as a "person."
Clinton told MSNBC’s Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd Sunday that "the unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights" during an interview discussing abortion restrictions.
"That doesn’t mean that we don’t do everything we possibly can, in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support," Clinton added.
Clinton also advocated "reasonable" restrictions on abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy.
Full @HillaryClinton on abortion on @meetthepress pic.twitter.com/4zeP9yL25x
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 3, 2016
Dianna Arellano, the manager of community engagement at Planned Parenthood Illinois, immediately took to twitter to hit Clinton for further "stigmatizing" abortion.
.@HillaryClinton further stigmatizes #abortion. She calls a fetus an 'unborn child' & calls for later term restrictions. #MeetThePress
— Diana Arellano (@diaarellano) April 3, 2016
Pro-life advocates meanwhile viewed the remarks as a concession from the left that the unborn are people and therefore deserve full protection under U.S. law.
Some people don’t have constitutional rights, says @HillaryClinton. The civil rights issue of our time. #Prolife https://t.co/QR5pHAR4s8
— Cong. Tim Huelskamp (@CongHuelskamp) April 4, 2016
RT to expose @HillaryClinton's hypocrisy - says unborn are people & denies they have constitutional rights! #ProLife pic.twitter.com/X5eUctXYmf
— Susan B Anthony List (@SBAList) April 4, 2016
Hillary Clinton hit by both sides of the abortion debate for calling the unborn a "person" https://t.co/gFYztX5Ic1 pic.twitter.com/iO3CYEesUV
— Alan Rappeport (@arappeport) April 4, 2016
So Hillary Clinton is on record saying the most vulnerable children in society have no constitutional rights. Truly sickening.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) April 3, 2016
.@HillaryClinton says unborn persons don't have Constitutional rights, yet is excitedly preparing for her 2nd grandchild. #discrimination
— Kimberly (@SouthernKeeks) April 3, 2016
The Washington Times noted that pro-abortion advocates have long been careful to avoid the term "person" when describing the unborn.
International Planned Parenthood Federation guidelines encourage pro-abortion advocates to use language that does not "stigmatize" abortion when discussing the controversial topic.
Pro-abortion advocates are discouraged from using the terms "baby" and "unborn child." The Planned Parenthood guidelines instead encourage the use of "more accurate/appropriate" terms, including "embryo" and "fetus."