GOP Senate Candidate Pushes Unhinged Conspiracy Theory on Abortion

A Pennsylvania Senate candidate is siding with the conspiracy theorists regarding abortion access within the Keystone State.

GOP Senate candidate David McCormick agreed with an outrageous claim during an interview on the Dawn Stensland Show, purporting that the fight to secure abortion access is not actually about women’s healthcare, but rather an elaborate ruse to cover up a Democratic money laundering operation.

“I always say the abortion issue is not about women’s reproductive rights, it’s not,” said Stensland on her radio show Monday. “It’s really, to me, personally, look at the money… that goes from Democrat administrations to Planned Parenthood. Look at how much they have donated to elections across the nation, and here in Pennsylvania, even the last primary, a lot of money.”

“Yeah, and [Senator] Bob Casey’s position… is this federal funding, which I am opposed to,” said McCormick, referring to the Democratic senator he’s gunning to replace. “I agree with you, but we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about it on the campaign trail.”

McCormick, a former combat veteran, has also gone after Casey on a string of GOP hot topics, including the U.S.-Mexico border, foreign policy, and the state of the economy.

Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania until 24 weeks—or the end of the second trimester—unless the pregnancy endangers the life of the patient. In that case, abortions can be performed after 24 weeks under an emergency provision.

But the state’s access to the medical procedure is still considered restrictive, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Extensive regulations around the procedure, including requiring clinics to “obtain and maintain burdensome and unnecessary expensive structural modifications” such as widening hallways and procedure rooms, have shuttered all but 17 abortion clinics across the state.