The Unforgettable Moment Hillary Clinton Stood Up For Women Against a Dangerous Man

Hillary Clinton's shining moment came early on during the presidential debate when host Chris Wallace brought up the third topic: abortion. "Finally," we thought. It was the first time the women's rights issue had been mentioned in all three of the debates — and Clinton's answer on the subject was powerful because, for the first time, we had a female presidential candidate speaking about an issue that impacts women.

The discussion began when Wallace asked Donald Trump whether he wanted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the historic case that protects a woman's right to have an abortion. The GOP nominee didn't directly answer the question, but instead said he would appoint conservative Supreme Court judges who might overturn it. "Well, if that would happen, because I am prolife, and I will be appointing prolife judges, I would think that that will go back to the individual states."

In direct contrast, Clinton's response was clear, poignant, and all too real for the millions of women who have either had an abortion or know someone — a friend, sister, co-worker, cousin — who has.

"I strongly support Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a constitutional right to a woman to make the most intimate, most difficult in many cases, decisions about her health care that one can imagine," Clinton said. "And in this case it's not only about Roe v. Wade. It is about what's happening right now in America. So many states are putting very stringent regulations on women that block them from exercising that choice to the extent that they are defunding Planned Parenthood, which, of course, provides all kinds of cancer screenings and other benefits for women in our country."

Clinton is right. Since the Roe v. Wade case in 1973, antiabortion groups and conservative lawmakers throughout the US — mostly men, by the way — have been engaged in a calculated plan to limit women's rights by passing nonsensical abortion restrictions like doctor admitting privileges that shut down clinics. The Supreme Court's recent decision in June to strike down one of the strictest laws, HB2 in Texas, helped stop the damage, but it's still not enough when we have states with only one abortion clinic remaining, when doctors' opinions about the importance of abortion are considered irrelevant, and when women must travel to Mexico for the procedure.

The first female presidential nominee, calm and clad in a white power suit, championed these women on Wednesday night. "I will defend Planned Parenthood, I will defend Roe v. Wade, and I will defend women's rights to make their own healthcare decisions," she said. "We have come too far to have that turn back now, and indeed he said women should be punished, that there should be some form of punishment for women who obtain abortions. And I could just not be more opposed to that kind of thinking."

The GOP nominee received major backlash in March for an interview with MSNBC's Chis Matthews where he said there "has to be some form" of punishment for women who have abortions. Trump once again made his ignorance about the topic apparent during Wednesday night's debate when he responded to Clinton's assertion that she supports late-term abortions.

"If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby," he said. As OBGYN Jenn Gunter wrote on her website, there is no such thing as ninth-month abortions and Trump's language is deeply troubling.

"First of all, we don't rip anything in OB/GYN. In surgery we use sharp dissection and blunt dissection, but we don't rip," she wrote. "There are no ninth-month abortions. Really. A ninth-month abortion is a unicorn and so it's ridiculous to even discuss it," she added, noting that terminations after 24 weeks are typically for severe fetal anomalies and, at that point, the woman is induced into labor. It's "simply called a delivery," Gunter said.

Clinton was quick to check Trump on the debate stage, too. "Well, that is not what happens in these cases. And using that kind of scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate," she said. "You should meet with some of the women that I have met with, women I have known over the course of my life. This is one of the worst possible choices that any woman and her family has to make. And I do not believe the government should be making it."

Hearing a female candidate discuss abortion so eloquently and so personally was a profound moment. It perfectly captured why we need more women in politics and leadership positions. Clinton understands the realities facing women across the country and will stand up for our rights, even in the face of a man who constantly belittles and demeans us. But we shouldn't be surprised — she's done it her entire adult life, after all.