Or maybe not? In the first Republican debate, Rubio said that he opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest. Over the last 15 years, Americans’ support for abortion in some circumstances has held pretty steady, hovering between 75 percent and 80 percent. When The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos asked Rubio about it, the senator offered an elaborate double-negative to explain his deeply-held principles on the issue: “Look, I personally believe that all life is worthy of protection, and therefore I don’t ever require, nor have I ever advocated, that I won’t support a law unless it has exceptions.”
What that translates to, it seems, is that he would support any legislation that further restricts abortion, even if it’s not a full ban. Osnos writes, “After some more twists and turns, I sensed that we had reached the line he plans to use in a general election: ‘My goal is to save as many lives as possible, and I’ll support anything that does that. Even if it has exceptions.’”