MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman continued his return to the campaign trail following a stroke suffered earlier this year.
Fetterman’s Sunday rally focused on abortion rights with the Democrat nominee standing in front of a “Women for Fetterman” sign and holding a pink Fetterman shirt. He introduced himself at the start of his speech as “John Fetterwoman.”
“Should this decision be made by Dr. Oz?” Fetterman asked the crowd. “It should be left to a woman and a real doctor.”
“Don’t piss women off,” Fetterman added.
The Fetterman campaign says approximately 3,000 supporters attended the rally, making it one of his largest events since returning to the campaign trail.
The campaign says during the event Fetterman pledged to “scrap the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade.”
Fetterman’s push for the female vote in Pennsylvania comes amid reports of a surge in women registering to vote after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court. A number of Republican candidates in battleground states have sought to soften their abortion stances ahead of November.
“Oz believes abortion is murder… No exceptions: rape or incest… If every abortion is a murder, that means Dr. Oz considers every woman who had to choose abortion is a killer,” Fetterman said, referring to audio of Oz critiquing abortion procedures.
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The Republican’s camp has said he does support exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
A poll released by Emerson College Polling in late August has Fetterman leading Oz 48% to 44% with 5% undecided and 3% supporting another candidate.
Oz and Fetterman have spent months largely locked in social media spats. Fetterman announced last week that he plans to debate his opponent after Oz and retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R), whose seat the two candidates are trying to fill, criticized him for not engaging in in-person debate.
Fetterman on Sunday also mocked Toomey for being a “miracle” of politics, due to being “despised” by both Democrats and Republicans.