Sen. Marco Rubio said it's his Democratic opponent, Val Demings, who holds an extreme view on abortion.
"I believe innocent human life is worthy of the protection of our laws, but I have voted and would vote for bills, if I were in the state legislature that had restrictions because I'm in support of any bill that saves lives," Rubio said.
"The overwhelming majority of abortions occur outside of some of these commonly discussed. I know it's not a majority position, many people probably don't agree with me, you probably couldn't pass it and that's why Florida did a four-month. But I certainly think what Florida passed, something I would have voted for while I was in the Legislature, is a very reasonable law, after four months. But people like Val Demings believe abortion should be paid by taxpayers, at any time, including potentially the day the child is due for delivery. That's an outrageous position because, and you have to have that position if you're endorsed by Planned Parenthood and NARAL the way she is."
The comments came as part of an interview with NBC 6's Jackie Nespral where he discussed a range of issues. The incumbent Republican made clear he plans to dig in on support for further regulating abortion in the wake of the Florida Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, even as Demings and Democrats make clear an intent to use the issue to energize their own base in the midterm elections.
For her part, Demings has said she supports the right to have an abortion "up to the time of viability of the fetus" based on consultation with a physician.
Rubio appeared to base his characterization on her vote in Congress in favor of the Women's Health Protection Act, which goes much farther in protecting a legal right to an abortion.
He also suggested while his position — Rubio recently said he supported restricting abortion even in cases of rape and incest — wasn't extreme, and that he favors the decision being handled different by each state at the moment.
"There's nothing in the Constitution about abortion and that's all the Supreme Court said," Rubio said.
"The Supreme Court said there's nothing in the Constitution about abortion. This is an issue that needs to be decided at the state legislative level just like anything else. In fact, before she passed away, Ruth Bader Ginsburg made the same argument in some ways. She argued had that process been allowed to continue, America would have found closure one way or the other on that issue. And Roe v. Wade sort of stepped in, invented a constitutional right that didn't exist, and created 40 years of division over that issue. So now states will decide. New York going to have different abortion laws. in Florida, abortions are illegal after four months."
