Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday accused liberals of “hypocrisy” for criticizing him as a climate-change denier while “conveniently” ignoring what he called a scientific consensus that human life begins at conception.
Appearing on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Rubio defended remarks he made Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that doubted scientists’ consensus that human activity is driving climate change. The senator reiterated that while he does believe the climate is changing, he doesn’t think cap and trade legislation will help the environment.
“Here’s what I always get a kick out of, and it shows you the hypocrisy. All these people always wag their finger at me about science and settled science. Let me give you a bit of settled science that they’ll never admit to,” Rubio told Hannity. “Science is settled, it’s not even a consensus, it is a unanimity, that human life beings at conception. So I hope the next time that someone wags their finger about science, they’ll ask one of these leaders on the left: ‘Do you agree with the consensus of scientists that say that human life begins at conception?’ I’d like to see someone ask that question.”
“That’s not even a debatable thing,” he added. “It’s a proven fact, and yet that’s a scientific consensus they conveniently choose to ignore.”
The debate over whether life begins at conception has been playing out in state legislatures where “personhood” amendments, which legally define a fertilized embryo as a person, have been introduced. Recently the GOP challenger to Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO), flipped his stance on personhood measures because it “restricts contraception.” The issue is likely to affect other Senate races this fall, too.
