Pro-choice Dem senator calls abortion a 'life-and-death' decision. Huh?

Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) just called abortion a "life-and-death" decision — which may get one wondering which life the rabidly pro-choice politician is talking about.

"This is nothing short of an all-out assault on women's reproductive freedom," Gillibrand said during a CBS "Face the Nation" interview Sunday. "An effort to take away our basic human rights and civil rights. And make no mistake: The 30 states that are trying to unwind abortion rights are trying to get rid of Roe v. Wade — it's nothing more complex than that. And they do not believe that women should have the right to make the most intimate, personal, life-and-death decisions. And I think it's untenable. And I hope America's women are paying attention. Because President Trump has started a war on America's women. And if it's a fight he wants to have, it's a fight he's gonna have, and he's going to lose."

NewsBusters noted that Gillibrand likely was thinking of the mother's life when she made the "life-and-death" reference — as opposed to the other life at stake in the womb — except that bills and laws restricting abortion typically make exceptions when the mother's life is in danger.

And while CBS host Margaret Brennan didn't ask follow-up questions regarding Gillibrand's "life-and-death" characterization of abortion, she did ask Gillibrand if there's room in the Democratic Party for those "who have a moral objection to abortion."

Gillibrand said "there's nothing wrong with having a religious perspective on this issue. But what I do not accept is any Democratic leader or candidate to not believe in full civil rights and human rights for women. We cannot have Democrats who are running for office who do not believe in basic health care and civil rights for women. It's just untenable, and it's unacceptable. And I will not support a candidate, and I do not believe any candidate running for president should be undermining women's reproductive freedom and our basic human rights."

What else has Gillibrand said about abortion?

• Last week, she threatened "action" against "radical" Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch if they don't back Roe v. Wade.
• Speaking about Georgia's recent abortion ban, Gillibrand last week attempted to use Christianity to justify abortion, saying that "one of the tenets of our faith is free will. One of the tenets of our democracy is that we have a separation of church and state, and under no circumstances are we supposed to be imposing our faith on other people. And I think this is an example of that effort."
• She also repeated last week her uncompromising pro-choice stance in regard to the Democratic Party: "We should be 100 percent pro-choice, and it should be non-negotiable. We should not settle for less, and if our party cannot support women's basic human rights, their fundamental freedoms to make decisions about their bodies and their futures, then we are not the party of women."