Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told CNN’s climate change town hall attendees Wednesday night that he is willing to talk about population control, suggesting that abortion is key to addressing the climate crisis.
“Human population growth has more than doubled in the last 50 years,” an attendee told Sanders, adding that the planet cannot sustain such growth.
“I realize this is a poisonous topic for politicians but it’s crucial to face. Empowering women and educating everyone on the need to curb population growth seems a reasonable campaign to enact,” the attendee continued.
“Would you be courageous enough to discuss this issue and make it a key feature of a plan to address climate catastrophe?” she asked.
“The answer is yes,” Sanders said, arguing that population control – in the form of abortion and birth control, specifically – is something he “very, very strongly” supports.
“The answer has everything to do with the fact that women in the United States of America, by the way, have a right to control their own bodies and make reproductive decisions,” Sanders said.
“And the Mexico City agreement, which denies American aid to those organizations around the world that are – that allow women to have abortions or even get involved in birth control is totally absurd,” he continued.
“So I think especially in poor countries around the world, where women do not necessarily want to have large numbers of babies and where they can have the opportunity to birth control to control the number of kids they have is something I very, very strongly support,” he added.