--- title: Democratic Candidates Answer Abortion Question at Town Hall description: The Democratic presidential candidates were finally asked about abortion at a town hall hosted by Fox News on Monday canonical: https://time.com/4250876/democratic-presidential-debate-town-hall-abortion-question/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-08T16:29:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:24.674Z article:section: Politics og:title: Moderators Finally Asked Democrats an Abortion Question og:description: Seven debates had passed without a question on the issue. og:url: https://time.com/4250876/democratic-presidential-debate-town-hall-abortion-question/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1e3bd93e486f13f/69888a1bf887dc1caae94f27/dem-town-hall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2481 og:image:height: 1396 og:image:alt: Clinton And Sanders Attend Presidential Town Hall In Detroit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Moderators Finally Asked Democrats an Abortion Question twitter:description: Seven debates had passed without a question on the issue. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1e3bd93e486f13f/69888a1bf887dc1caae94f27/dem-town-hall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Moderators Finally Asked Democrats an Abortion Question > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 8, 2016 4:29 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in a Fox News Democratic Town Hall with host Brett Baier on March 7 in Detroit. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton participates in a Fox News Democratic Town Hall with host Brett Baier on March 7 in Detroit. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 8, 2016 4:29 PM UTC The Democratic presidential candidates were finally asked about abortion at a town hall hosted by Fox News on Monday—a question whose absence from previous debates had angered many activists, prompting the hashtag #AskAboutAbortion. Seven Democratic debates had passed without a question about abortion, the [Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/08/clinton-sanders-asked-about-abortion-at-fox-news-town-hall/). “Can you name a single circumstance at any point in a pregnancy in which you would be OK with abortion being illegal?” Fox moderator Bret Baier asked Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. --- > “” --- Baier later posed the same question to Hillary Clinton. “Do you think a child should have any legal rights or protections before its born?” he said. “Or do you think there should not be any restrictions on any abortions at any stage in a pregnancy?” --- > “” --- Many on social media had wondered about the absence of abortion questions, given its recent relevance in the news. In November, a [gunman targeted a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado](http://time.com/4128390/planned-parenthood-shooting-colorado-springs/), leaving three people dead. Last week, the [Supreme Court temporarily blocked the enforcement of a Louisiana law](http://time.com/4248443/supreme-court-abortion-louisiana/) that would have restricted access to abortions in the state, and the high court is also [considering a separate case](http://time.com/4240336/supreme-court-abortion-texas-whole-womens-health/) about a Texas law. Sanders posted on Twitter on Monday about how long it had taken for the question to come up at a Democratic debate, noting that it was conservative outlet Fox that [asked the first question](https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/706987689451655169?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw). The two candidates, both of whom support abortion rights, had alluded to the topic in previous debates. Clinton touted her endorsement from Planned Parenthood and argued that women should be able to make their own health care decisions. Sanders described it as a woman’s personal choice and criticized Republicans who “want the government to make that choice for every woman in America.” At the [Republican debate in Detroit](http://time.com/4247496/republican-debate-transcript-eleventh-detroit-fox-news/) on Thursday, the lack of questions about the water crisis plaguing Flint, Mich., had also agitated some viewers, but Baier [posed one question on the subject](http://time.com/4247414/rubio-defends-michigan-governor-flint-water-crisis-republican-debate/) to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, asking how Republicans plan to solve such problems. Rubio called it a “systemic breakdown at every level of government” but said he disagreed with people who were “politicizing” the issue. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4250876/democratic-presidential-debate-town-hall-abortion-question/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4250876/democratic-presidential-debate-town-hall-abortion-question/"},"headline":"Moderators Finally Asked Democrats an Abortion Question","datePublished":"2016-03-08T16:29:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:24.674Z","description":"Seven debates had passed without a question on the issue","url":"https://time.com/4250876/democratic-presidential-debate-town-hall-abortion-question/","keywords":["Debates","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Sen. 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