Senator Richard Blumenthal was our guest this weekend on Face the State, and standard operating procedure for the broadcast means we finalize questions for the guests right before the taping. Obviously, we want to ask about any issue that happens to be in the news at that moment. Such was the case on Thursday, when the House of Representatives was taking up a controversial proposal by Republicans to ban gender selective abortions.
The bill, which died after the Blumenthal interview, would have made it illegal for a woman to terminate a pregnancy based on the gender of the baby she was carrying. Here is an excerpt of the conversation I had with Senator Blumenthal about it:
DH: If a pregnant woman with two daughters found out she was having another girl and wanted an abortion based on the gender, is that ok?
RB: Decisions about reproductive rights are private and should be private. The assault on planned parenthood has been about clinics, that overwhelmingly, more than 90 percent of the work they do is screening for disease like cancer.
DH: Do you think it is unethical to get an abortion based on gender?
RB: I believe abortion should be safe legal and rare, and I am not going to tell a woman what to do how to exercise her right…my view is Dennis, I may disapprove of that kind of measure, but it should not be imposed by a law.
I also asked Blumenthal about his recent solidarity with striking workers at the Coca-Cola plant in East Hartford, New York City’s proposal to ban certain sugary drinks, and what he thinks about convicted felon Ernie Newton running for his old state senate seat.
Blumenthal, the state’s most popular Democrat, could deal a big blow to Newton’s comeback by endorsing incumbent State Senator Ed Gomes.
We also talked about Blumenthal’s work for veterans.
You can watch the entire interview that aired on Face the State right here: http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7359681
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Dennis House blog 
No I do not think that a woman should be allow to terminate the baby based just on gender and the law should be there to protect the unborn.
So there I have to disagree with the senator and I hope Dennis that you press the Senator on that issue this week. One of the other issue that I hope you pressure the Senator on is the the online poker issue that is making its way through Congress.
The Governor has come out and said that he is in support of on line poker and would like to have the 2 state Casinos run the on line gaming sites. Problem is that its all talk until some type of legislation is submitted in Hartford or until the Federal Governmend decideds to take the lead on this issue.
This is an issue that the feds should lead on and stop allowing this patch work state by state laws to form around the country.
HR 2366 is not legislation just about on line poker, but also about our individual freedom that is also under attack with Poker, and the over reaching of the government into our personal lives.
I also hope Dennis that you push the Senator on the national debt issue along with the illegal immigration issue that is out of control in one of our CT cities (New Haven). WE should not be rewarding illegals for being here in the country illegally, and when Mayor Destefino comes out and says that illegal immigrants there in New Haven should be given City ID Cards so they can have access to city services is just to much.
Not only is he saying the city should be issuing the ID cards, he has been telling his administration to issue them and they have been doing so for the past 3 years.
To top it all off the Mayor says that undocumented people should also be allowed to vote in local city elections. Not sure what the Mayor definition of illegal is but it is clear that his definition is not the same as the rest of us and I don’t understand what he does not understand from the definition of that word.
Seems to me that the city of New Haven is breaking federal and state laws by using taxpayers money to issue ID cards to known illegal immigrants.
Ask the Senator about the illegal immigrgation problem and what the Congress is going to do to secure the boders.
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If the state was serious about raising revenue it would make ALL lottery winnings TAX FREE. No state or federal taxes paid on winnings. The upsurge in tickets bought would pay for repairs to all the roads.
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I think Mr. Blewy and the rest that killed this bill should be run out of office. Seriously, Abortion based on sex preference? Pretty damn sick if you ask me.
I always held the opinion( rightly or wrongly just mine alone) that abortion in cases of rape, insest or the welfare of the mothers life were exceptable and my opinion has never really changed in 40yrs.
For these Pols and Womens rights activists to get behind selective infanticide is beyond a resonable and just society.
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Based on gender? That’s just wrong……and selfish.
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Dennis ..
Thanks so much for holding Blumenthal’s feet to the fire regarding the gender/abortion issue. I think we all knew that the ‘snake in the grass’ would not answer ..but you were VERY persistent with him ..and in so doing further underscored the double talker we all know he is. Dennis, thanks again for a great job!
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Dennis, I think you were the best show on TV all morning when it came to dealing with D Blumenthal ..who always has his own agenda. You were amazing at digging for answers. Thanks for your efforts.
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