Murphy warns Connecticut abortion law could be at risk while GOP opponent says he's fearmongering

While the right to abortion has been codified in Connecticut law since 1990, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy warned Wednesday night how women in the state could still be at risk if Republicans impose a national ban.

“I know that doesn’t seem possible in Connecticut. But if the Republican Party platform is put into law, then no one in Connecticut is safe,” the two-term Democrat said during a televised debate.

Even though he is favored to win reelection, Murphy echoed a key talking point Democratic congressional incumbents and challengers in much tighter races across the country have been using to capitalize on the national debate over abortion rights. That prompted Murphy's Republican challenger, small business owner Matt Corey, to accuse Murphy of trying to scare voters.

“The state of Connecticut's law is what it is,” he said, calling it “settled law” and that he stands by the state's laws.

“So Senator Murphy wants to fear-monger in this election because that's what they do in Washington. They send fear through you," said Corey, adding how GOP leaders have said any bill that would enact a national ban on abortion would be vetoed.

But Murphy insisted that Connecticut law would be at risk if a fetus was considered a person in federal law.

“If that is indeed the law, that means that every abortion in this country would be illegal, regardless of whether you live in Connecticut, a blue state, or you live in Texas, a red state,” he said. “So I don’t think I’m fearmongering on this topic. I just think I’m reflecting what the actual Republican Party platform is.”

“I want to make sure that Connecticut families and Connecticut women get to make their own health care decisions,” he said.

Corey, who challenged Murphy six years ago and lost, then questioned Murphy's true support for women, criticizing him for not opposing efforts to allow transgender athletes to participate in girls' sports.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference currently has a policy of allowing transgender girls to compete in girls high school sports.

“When are men in this country going to start standing up for women’s rights? Why should women suffer?” Corey asked. “You see around the country, women are trying to stand up for what they believe in. Why should we wipe out the achievements, the scholarships, records?"

Murphy said he believes the issue of transgender student athletes should be left up to individual communities and local school boards and not the federal government. He also warned of a “campaign of fear underway in this country” to make people believe they should be scared of others with a different sexual orientation.

“There’s an epidemic of suicide and self-harm in this country amongst our gay students and transgender students," Murphy said. “And it often happens because they are made to feel ostracized by the communities in which they live.”