![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bloomberg_richards_getty_810_500_75_s_c1.jpg\")
Former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a 2012 Planned Parenthood luncheon on March 13, 2012 in New York City.Mike Coppola \/ Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n
February 17, 2020 (LifeSiteNews<\/a>) \u2013 Not to be outdone by the rest of the Democrat presidential field, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg released his \u201cplan to expand and safeguard access to reproductive services\u201d last week, promising left-wing voters a litany of policies to keep abortion virtually unlimited and unregulated at taxpayers\u2019 expense.<\/p>\n \u201cAs president, I will fiercely protect a woman\u2019s right to choose, and I will appoint judges who will defend that right,\u201d Bloomberg declared February 12. \u201cOn my first day in office, I will reverse the damage President Trump has done to women\u2019s rights and ensure that every woman has access to reproductive health care.\u201d<\/p>\n His plan<\/a>\u00a0calls for undoing all current restrictions on direct abortion funding at home and abroad, writing\u00a0Roe v. Wade\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0legalization of abortion into federal law, appointing judges who would uphold\u00a0Roe<\/em>, covering abortion in health insurance plans, dismantling state-level abortion restrictions, allowing the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to approve over-the-counter sale of abortion pills, and reversing Trump administration rules that prevent Obamacare from forcing religious groups to dispense abortifacient birth control.<\/p>\n \u201cMike will also encourage states to expand the types of medical professionals permitted to perform abortions like physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives,\u201d the press release adds. Pro-lifers argue that letting non-doctors commit abortions puts abortion-seeking women in greater danger by subjecting them to abortionists with less training or experience, such as when Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell\u00a0delegated parts of the abortion process<\/a>\u00a0to non-physician employees, one of whom was only 15 years old.<\/p>\n The plan, which is largely indistinguishable from\u00a0those of the rest of the 2020 Democrat field<\/a>, is no surprise given Bloomberg\u2019s history. Planned Parenthood\u00a0awarded<\/a>\u00a0the mayor its Global Citizen Award in 2014 for his pro-abortion record, including investments to decriminalize abortion abroad and enacting a \u201cgag order\u201d against pro-life pregnancy centers in New York City.<\/p>\n While Bloomberg\u2019s pro-abortion plan is framed in terms of commitment to women\u2019s health, a 1997 sex discrimination lawsuit against the billionaire\u00a0paints a\u00a0decidedly less flattering picture<\/a> of Bloomberg\u2019s view of pregnancy. In it, former employee Sekiko Sakai Garrison alleged that Bloomberg made a number of disparaging comments about her pregnancy and preborn child, such as suggesting that she \u201ckill it.\u201d Bloomberg denied the abortion remarks but admitted to making inapprporiate comments about women more generally.<\/p>\n Bloomberg, who\u00a0donates heavily<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0left-wing causes<\/a>\u00a0such as gun control and climate change,\u00a0also boasts<\/a>\u00a0about his pro-LGBT record, from helping enact same-sex \u201cmarriage\u201d to having \u201cpresided over New York City\u2019s first official same-sex marriage [sic] the day it became legal.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, Bloomberg\u00a0has yet to win a single delegate<\/a>\u00a0for the Democrat nomination, but many expect his\u00a0significant wealth to keep him in the race<\/a>\u00a0for some time.<\/p>\n