SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee John Fetterman greets supporters during a rally on September 11, 2022 at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images)
At Packed Rally, Fetterman Vows to 'Be That Vote to Scrap the Filibuster and Codify Roe'
"Women are the reason we can win," said the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. "Don't piss women off."
Sep 12, 2022
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman told a packed Pennsylvania gymnasium Sunday that he will support eliminating the filibuster to protect abortion rights if elected in November, drawing a sharp contrast with Republican opponent Mehmet Oz and clearly laying out the stakes in the critical battleground with the midterms just weeks away.
"Should this decision be made by Dr. Oz?" Fetterman asked the roughly 3,000-strong and enthusiastic crowd, which replied with a forceful "no!"
"It should be left to a woman and a real doctor," said Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, one of a handful of states where Democrats hope to flip Senate seats in November. "Send me to D.C. and you will know I will be there to be that vote to scrap the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade."
\u201cFetterman takes the stage in Montgomery county to a packed gym of over 2750 people. Not including the 300 people who could not get in due to being at capacity.\u201d— Joe Calvello (@Joe Calvello) 1662926739
\u201cHUGE line in Montco today \ud83e\udd29\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1662921317
Fetterman's campaign, which is currently leading in the polls, has sought in recent weeks to highlight Oz's position on abortion, particularly in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision overturning Roe and imperiling reproductive rights across much of the country.
That ruling has angered and galvanized people nationwide, with abortion rights groups taking coordinated legal action to protect fundamental freedoms and demanding urgent action from legislators who have thus far failed to codify abortion rights at the federal level, blocked by Republicans and right-wing Democrats. Groups in Pennsylvania say they've seen a jump in registered voters since June, many of them young women.
"Women are the reason we can win," Fetterman said during Sunday's rally at Montgomery County Community College. "Don't piss women off."
During a virtual campaign event in May, shortly before the Pennsylvania primaries, Oz characterized abortion at any stage of pregnancy as "murder." After audio of the event was published last month by The Daily Beast, Oz--an ultra-millionaire and former television personality--said he is "strongly pro-life" and only supports allowing abortion in the case of rape, incest, or life-threatening danger to the patient.
Fetterman and other speakers at Sunday's rally, including Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO Dayle Steinberg, condemned Oz's stance and warned his election to the U.S. Senate would further threaten abortion rights as the GOP sets its sights on a federal ban.
"Despite the Hippocratic Oath that Dr. Oz took to do no harm, he was caught calling abortion at any stage of a pregnancy 'murder,'" Steinberg said. "To hear Oz's real opinion on abortion, you need a hot mic."
McGill Johnson, for her part, called Oz a "charlatan" and said his election "would cost women their lives."
Oz, McGill Johnson added, would be a mere "rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman told a packed Pennsylvania gymnasium Sunday that he will support eliminating the filibuster to protect abortion rights if elected in November, drawing a sharp contrast with Republican opponent Mehmet Oz and clearly laying out the stakes in the critical battleground with the midterms just weeks away.
"Should this decision be made by Dr. Oz?" Fetterman asked the roughly 3,000-strong and enthusiastic crowd, which replied with a forceful "no!"
"It should be left to a woman and a real doctor," said Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, one of a handful of states where Democrats hope to flip Senate seats in November. "Send me to D.C. and you will know I will be there to be that vote to scrap the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade."
\u201cFetterman takes the stage in Montgomery county to a packed gym of over 2750 people. Not including the 300 people who could not get in due to being at capacity.\u201d— Joe Calvello (@Joe Calvello) 1662926739
\u201cHUGE line in Montco today \ud83e\udd29\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1662921317
Fetterman's campaign, which is currently leading in the polls, has sought in recent weeks to highlight Oz's position on abortion, particularly in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision overturning Roe and imperiling reproductive rights across much of the country.
That ruling has angered and galvanized people nationwide, with abortion rights groups taking coordinated legal action to protect fundamental freedoms and demanding urgent action from legislators who have thus far failed to codify abortion rights at the federal level, blocked by Republicans and right-wing Democrats. Groups in Pennsylvania say they've seen a jump in registered voters since June, many of them young women.
"Women are the reason we can win," Fetterman said during Sunday's rally at Montgomery County Community College. "Don't piss women off."
During a virtual campaign event in May, shortly before the Pennsylvania primaries, Oz characterized abortion at any stage of pregnancy as "murder." After audio of the event was published last month by The Daily Beast, Oz--an ultra-millionaire and former television personality--said he is "strongly pro-life" and only supports allowing abortion in the case of rape, incest, or life-threatening danger to the patient.
Fetterman and other speakers at Sunday's rally, including Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO Dayle Steinberg, condemned Oz's stance and warned his election to the U.S. Senate would further threaten abortion rights as the GOP sets its sights on a federal ban.
"Despite the Hippocratic Oath that Dr. Oz took to do no harm, he was caught calling abortion at any stage of a pregnancy 'murder,'" Steinberg said. "To hear Oz's real opinion on abortion, you need a hot mic."
McGill Johnson, for her part, called Oz a "charlatan" and said his election "would cost women their lives."
Oz, McGill Johnson added, would be a mere "rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell."
From Your Site Articles
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman told a packed Pennsylvania gymnasium Sunday that he will support eliminating the filibuster to protect abortion rights if elected in November, drawing a sharp contrast with Republican opponent Mehmet Oz and clearly laying out the stakes in the critical battleground with the midterms just weeks away.
"Should this decision be made by Dr. Oz?" Fetterman asked the roughly 3,000-strong and enthusiastic crowd, which replied with a forceful "no!"
"It should be left to a woman and a real doctor," said Fetterman, the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, one of a handful of states where Democrats hope to flip Senate seats in November. "Send me to D.C. and you will know I will be there to be that vote to scrap the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade."
\u201cFetterman takes the stage in Montgomery county to a packed gym of over 2750 people. Not including the 300 people who could not get in due to being at capacity.\u201d— Joe Calvello (@Joe Calvello) 1662926739
\u201cHUGE line in Montco today \ud83e\udd29\u201d— John Fetterman (@John Fetterman) 1662921317
Fetterman's campaign, which is currently leading in the polls, has sought in recent weeks to highlight Oz's position on abortion, particularly in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision overturning Roe and imperiling reproductive rights across much of the country.
That ruling has angered and galvanized people nationwide, with abortion rights groups taking coordinated legal action to protect fundamental freedoms and demanding urgent action from legislators who have thus far failed to codify abortion rights at the federal level, blocked by Republicans and right-wing Democrats. Groups in Pennsylvania say they've seen a jump in registered voters since June, many of them young women.
"Women are the reason we can win," Fetterman said during Sunday's rally at Montgomery County Community College. "Don't piss women off."
During a virtual campaign event in May, shortly before the Pennsylvania primaries, Oz characterized abortion at any stage of pregnancy as "murder." After audio of the event was published last month by The Daily Beast, Oz--an ultra-millionaire and former television personality--said he is "strongly pro-life" and only supports allowing abortion in the case of rape, incest, or life-threatening danger to the patient.
Fetterman and other speakers at Sunday's rally, including Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania CEO Dayle Steinberg, condemned Oz's stance and warned his election to the U.S. Senate would further threaten abortion rights as the GOP sets its sights on a federal ban.
"Despite the Hippocratic Oath that Dr. Oz took to do no harm, he was caught calling abortion at any stage of a pregnancy 'murder,'" Steinberg said. "To hear Oz's real opinion on abortion, you need a hot mic."
McGill Johnson, for her part, called Oz a "charlatan" and said his election "would cost women their lives."
Oz, McGill Johnson added, would be a mere "rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell."
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.