Tulsi Gabbard And Abortion

Gabbard Was Initially Anti-Abortion

Gabbard Opposed Abortion When She First Entered Politics

Gabbard Opposed Abortion When She First Entered Politics. According to the New Yorker, “When Gabbard entered politics, she was only twenty-one, and in those early years she was a social conservative, pro-life and active in the fight against same-sex marriage.” [New Yorker, 11/6/17]

Gabbard Opposed A Michigan Ballot Measure To Create A Right To Reproductive Freedom

Gabbard Urged Michiganders To Reject Proposal 3

Gabbard Said Michiganders Should Vote Against Proposal 3. According to Gabbard’s Twitter, “I urge Michigan residents to protect women, parental rights & children by voting against Proposal 3 that includes loopholes to allow late-term/partial birth abortion (which is really infanticide) & overturns law to inform parents of a child pursuing abortion/hormone therapies.” [Twitter – @TulsiGabbard, 11/6/22]

Proposal 3 Created A Right To Reproductive Freedom in The Michigan State Constitution

Michigan’s Proposal 3 Created A “Right To Reproductive Freedom” In The State Constitution. According to NPR, “A year ago, Michigan Democrats celebrated the same kind of victory Ohio notched this week. Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3, a ballot measure proponents said would ‘#RestoreRoe’ by creating a ‘new individual right to reproductive freedom’ in the state constitution.” [NPR, 11/8/23]

Gabbard Said There Should Be “Some Restrictions” On Abortion

Gabbard Called For “Some Restrictions” On Abortion

Gabbard Said There Should Be “Some Restrictions” On Abortion. According to the Washington Examiner, “‘I take a more libertarian position on this issue that government really shouldn’t be in that place of dictating to a woman the choice that she should make,’ Gabbard began. ‘I think there should be some restrictions, though.’” [Washington Examiner, 9/9/19]

Tulsi Gabbard And LGBTQ+ Rights

Gabbard Had A History Of Anti-Gay Beliefs, Dating Back To Her Time As A Hawaii State Legislator

2004: Gabbard Advocated Against Legislation That Would Have Given Same-Sex Couples The Opportunity For Civil Unions In Hawaii

2004: Gabbard Was A Leading Opponent Against A Bill That Would Have Given Same-Sex Couples The Opportunity For Civil Unions In Hawaii. According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “A bill that would give gay couples the opportunity to receive the same rights and privileges as married couples through civil unions appears to be dead at the Legislature this year, despite more than three hours of impassioned testimony last night from both sides of the debate. […] Opponents, led by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, ‘Ewa), also held signs in protest outside the third-floor committee room. ‘The point is, they have brought this up for many years in a row,’ Tamayo said.” [Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2/20/04]

Gabbard Led A Protest Against A Bill That Would Have Legalized Civil Unions For Same-Sex Couples. According to the New Yorker, “Six years later, Tulsi Gabbard led a protest against a bill that would have legalized civil unions for same-sex couples. That same year, in the Hawaii State House, she delivered a long, fierce speech against a proposed resolution meant to target anti-gay bullying in public schools. She objected to the idea of students being taught that homosexuality is ‘normal and natural,’ and worried that passing the resolution would have the effect of ‘inviting homosexual-advocacy organizations into our schools to promote their agenda to our vulnerable youth.’” [New Yorker, 11/6/17]

2004: Gabbard: “To Try To Act As If There Is A Difference Between ‘Civil Unions’ And Same-Sex Marriage Is Dishonest, Cowardly And Extremely Disrespectful To The People Of Hawaii.” According to CNN, “Shortly after Gabbard announced her presidential ambitions Friday, her testimony at a hearing opposing a civil unions bill in 2004 resurfaced. ‘To try to act as if there is a difference between ‘civil unions’ and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii,’ Gabbard said at the time. ‘As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists.’” [CNN, 1/13/19]

2004: Gabbard Spoke Out Against Legislation That Targeted Anti-Gay Bullying

2004: Gabbard Delivered A Speech Against A Proposed Resolution Targeting Anti-Gay Bullying, And Objected To The Idea Of Students Being Taught That Being Gay Was “Normal And Natural.” According to the New Yorker, “Six years later, Tulsi Gabbard led a protest against a bill that would have legalized civil unions for same-sex couples. That same year, in the Hawaii State House, she delivered a long, fierce speech against a proposed resolution meant to target anti-gay bullying in public schools. She objected to the idea of students being taught that homosexuality is ‘normal and natural,’ and worried that passing the resolution would have the effect of ‘inviting homosexual-advocacy organizations into our schools to promote their agenda to our vulnerable youth.’” [New Yorker, 11/6/17]

Gabbard Worked For The Alliance For Traditional Marriage, An Anti-Gay Organization 

Gabbard Worked For The Alliance For Traditional Marriage

Gabbard Worked For Her Father’s Anti-Gay Organization, The Alliance For Traditional Marriage. According to NBC News, “Gabbard came under fire when CNN reported Sunday that she worked for her father’s anti-gay organization, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, in the late ’90s and early 2000s. In her video apology, Gabbard described her father as ‘activist who was fighting against gay rights’ and acknowledged the role both she and her dad played in fighting against same-sex marriage in Hawaii.’ ‘I grew up in socially conservative household where I was raised to believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman,’ she explained. The Alliance for Traditional Marriage also supported so-called gay conversion therapy.” [NBC News, 1/17/19]

Gabbard’s Father Ran The Alliance For Traditional Marriage

Gabbard’s Father Ran The Alliance For Traditional Marriage, A Political Action Committee Aimed At Opposing Pro-Gay Lawmakers And Legislation. According to CNN, “Gabbard’s father ran The Alliance for Traditional Marriage, a political action committee aimed at opposing pro-gay lawmakers and legislation that organized and spent more than $100,000 to pass an amendment in 1998 that gave the Hawaii state legislature power to ‘reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.’ The amendment to the state’s constitution passed.” [CNN, 1/13/19]

Mike Gabbard, Father Of Tulsi Gabbard, Was A Prominent Anti-Gay Activist In Hawaii. According to CNN, “Gabbard’s father Mike was a prominent anti-gay activist in Hawaii. He was also the director of Stop Promoting Homosexuality and also served on the steering committees of the National Campaign to Protect Marriage and the Hawaii-based coalition, Save Traditional Marriage. He also once hosted an anti-gay radio show, Let’s Talk Straight Hawaii.” [CNN, 1/13/19]

The Alliance For Traditional Marriage Supported Conversion Therapy

The Alliance For Traditional Marriage Supported Conversion Therapy. According to CNN, “A CNN KFile review of the organization’s website, which is archived on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, uncovers the organization [The Alliance For Traditional Marriage] supported controversial gay conversion therapy, which treats homosexuality as a mental illness that can be fixed. The practice is opposed by the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association and has been banned for use on minors in 14 states and D.C., including Hawaii in 2018.” [CNN, 1/13/19]

Tulsi Gabbard And Bashar Al-Assad

2017: Gabbard Met With Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad In Syria

2017: Gabbard Went To Syria And Met With Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad

2017: Gabbard Went To Syria And Met With Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. According to the Washington Post, “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) just did something few members of Congress dare to do these days: Go to Syria and meet with the man the United States has actively been trying to oust, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Besides the fact a sitting member of Congress met with the leader of a nation that Washington has no diplomatic relations with — a man whom former president Barack Obama described as the main roadblock to peace in Syria — the timing of Gabbard’s trip is perplexing.” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]

Gabbard Went On The Trip To Syria With Dennis Kucinich. According to the Washington Post, “Gabbard returned this week and said the seven-day trip — which also featured former Ohio congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich — was led and paid for by the Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services in Ohio.” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]

Gabbard Said The Meeting With Assad Was Unplanned But That She Could Not Pass Up The Opportunity

Gabbard Said The Meeting With Assad Was Unplanned But That She Could Not Pass Up The Opportunity. According to the Washington Post, “Gabbard said the meeting with Assad was unplanned but that she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. In an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Jake Tapper, she elaborated: ‘When the opportunity arose to meet with him, I did so because I felt it was important that if we profess to indeed care about the Syrian people … then we’ve got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there’s a possibility we could achieve peace. And that’s exactly what we talked about.’” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]

Gabbard Said She Went To Syria To See And Hear Directly From The Syrian People Affected By The Conflict

Gabbard Said She Went To Syria To See And Hear Directly From The Syrian People Affected By The Conflict. According to the Washington Post, “‘The lives of millions of Syrians have been destroyed by a horrific war that has killed hundreds of thousands and forced millions to flee their homeland,’ she [Gabbard] wrote in an op-ed in the Honolulu Star Advertiser. ‘I went there last week to see and hear directly from the Syrian people.’” [Washington Post, 1/26/17]

2019: Gabbard Said She Did Not Regret Meeting With Assad

2019: Gabbard Said She Did Not Regret Meeting With Assad, Who Was Accused Of Using Chemical Weapons On Civilians. According to the Washington Post, “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) said Sunday that she does not regret her 2017 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of using chemical weapons to attack civilians in the country’s years-long civil war. Gabbard, a 2020 presidential candidate, has previously drawn criticism for voicing skepticism that the Assad regime was behind the chemical weapons attacks. Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether she regrets the meeting, Gabbard said she did not, drawing a comparison between her sit-down with Assad and President Trump’s summit last year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. ‘I have seen this cost of war firsthand, which is why I fight so hard for peace,’ said Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran. ‘And that’s the reality of the situation that we’re facing here. It’s why I have urged and continue to urge President Trump to meet with people like Kim Jong Un in North Korea because we understand what’s at stake here. The only alternative to having these kinds of conversations is more war.’” [Washington Post, 1/20/19]

Gabbard Refused To Condemn Assad As An Enemy Of The United States

Gabbard Said She Was “Skeptical” That Assad’s Government Perpetrated A Chemical Weapons Attack In April 2017

Gabbard Said She Was “Skeptical” That Assad’s Government Perpetrated An April 2017 Chemical Weapons Attack. According to POLITICO, “Gabbard previously said she was ‘skeptical’ that Assad’s government perpetrated a chemical weapons attack in April 2017 that killed dozens of Syrians, although the Defense Department and the United Nations found that his regime was responsible for the slaughter.” [POLITICO, 3/10/19]

• The Syrian Regime Was Found Responsible For The 2017 Chemical Attack. According to the Guardian, “Investigators from the global chemical weapons agency have found the Syrian regime responsible for a poison gas attack that killed 43 people in a suburb of Damascus in 2018, leaving victims choking to death in the basement of a home. In a report nearly five years in the making, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found the canisters carrying poison gas had been dropped by a Syrian air force helicopter over Douma – then one of the last opposition strongholds near the Syrian capital.” [Guardian, 1/27/23]

Gabbard Said Assad Was Not The Enemy Of The United States

Gabbard Said Assad Was Not The Enemy Of The United States Because Syria Did Not Pose A Direct Threat To The United States. According to CNN, “Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not the enemy of the United States, standing by her opposition to US involvement in that country’s civil war two years after she met personally with the accused war criminal. ‘Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States,’ Gabbard said Wednesday morning on MSNBC.” [CNN, 2/6/19]

Gabbard Would Not Answer When Asked If She Viewed Assad As An “Adversary” Of The United States. According to CNN, “Asked if she viewed Assad as an ‘adversary’ of the US, Gabbard demurred and said it was important to look at who posed a threat to the US and how the interests of other nations compare to those of the US. Pressed on the point, she said, ‘You can describe it however you want to describe it.’” [CNN, 2/6/19]

Gabbard Called Those Who Criticized Her Meeting With Assad “Warmongers”

Gabbard Called Those Who Criticized Her Meeting With Assad “Warmongers.” According to CNN, “‘We heard attacks from warmongers in politics/media before. Those opposed to Iraq/Libya/Syria regime change wars are called ‘dicatator-lovers’ or ‘cozy’ with evil regimes. Rather than defend their position, they resort to name-calling & smears. American people wont fall for this,’ read Gabbard’s tweet.” [CNN, 2/6/19]