Senator Joe Manchin announced on Thursday night he would not support a West Virginian ballot initiative to end taxpayer dollars from funding abortions during his debate with his Republican challenger Patrick Morrisey.

WATCH:

“West Virginia voters are deciding whether to amend the state constitution to nullify the 1993 West Virginia Supreme Court decision that allowed state funding, taxpayer dollars, to be used to pay for elective abortions for women who qualify for Medicaid. Attorney General Morrisey supports that amendment, do you support or oppose that amendment?” the moderator asked.

According to “Vote YES On 1,” the website dedicated to supporting this initiative, “Over the years, West Virginia taxpayers have paid for nearly 35,000 abortions at almost $10 million dollars for elective abortions for the entire nine months of pregnancy for any reason or no reason at all.”

“I was born into a pro-life family, I was raised pro-life and I have always voted pro-life. My entire public career, with the exceptions of the life of the mother, rape and incensed. I have been pretty clear about that,” Manchin responded.

“The Republican legislature had a chance to fix this and make it right. They had a chance to fix it and basically put in case of the life of the mother, rape or incest. They decided to make it political with the help of Patrick Morrisey,” he added.

The moderator then pressed Sen. Manchin to definitively answer the question.

“If it does not have that in there, no,” he said. “Because it does not have the exceptions for incest, rape, and the life of the mother, which most pro-life West Virginians agree with.”

A MetroNews Dominion Post released Thursday put Manchin 5 percentage points ahead of Morrisey, 45 percent to 40 percent with the election only days away.

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