Welcome to ASFN Fan Forums! We're glad to have you here. Please feel free to browse the forum. We'd like to invite you to join our community; doing so will enable you to view additional forums and post with our other members.
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
My Response to the McCain Campaign's Attacks on Planned Parenthood
John McCain's presidential campaign has taken a troubling turn. This week, the Los Angeles Times reported that John Weaver, a strategist for John McCain's presidential campaign, verbally attacked Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading reproductive health care advocate and provider. Weaver called the 90-year old provider of birth control, cancer screenings, sex education and abortion services "one of the most radical pro-abortion groups in the country."
For the record: Ninety seven percent of Planned Parenthood's services are focused on prevention, including family planning, contraception, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Three percent of Planned Parenthood services are abortion care. The remark was an attack driven by the McCain campaign's need to score political points. Just hours ago, I fired off a letter to Senator McCain in response to his campaign's incendiary remarks.
Quote:
May 9, 2007
The Honorable John McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
Dear Senator McCain:
I'm writing in response to recent comments about Planned Parenthood made by your campaign.
As you know, there was a time, not too long ago, when you and other Republican candidates for office reflected the beliefs of most Republicans: that individuals have the right to make personal, private and responsible decisions about their health, their families and their futures -- based on accurate, unbiased information and free from government intrusion and mandates.
In short, much of the Republican Party once shared the core principles of Planned Parenthood -- the nation's leading reproductive health care advocate and provider.
That is precisely why it's so very disappointing to see the troubling turn your campaign has taken -- particularly the recent incendiary remarks made by your key strategist John Weaver, who, according to The Los Angeles Times, called Planned Parenthood "one of the most radical pro-abortion groups in the country."
Millions of U.S. women, men and teens from the reddest of red states to the bluest of blue states -- including more than 80,000 Arizonans -- rely on Planned Parenthood every year for cancer screening, breast exams, family planning, medically accurate sex education, birth control and abortion services. We would hope that you and your advisers would recognize and respect Planned Parenthood's 90-year-old commitment to providing quality information and care.
In light of your most recent attack on Planned Parenthood's vital health care mission -- driven by the need to score political points for your campaign -- I feel compelled to point out that some of your most generous donors are also some of Planned Parenthood's strongest supporters. In fact, Planned Parenthood in Arizona was founded by Republicans, including Mrs. Barry Goldwater and Mrs. Maie Bartlett Heard.
Before your campaign lobs another attack on Planned Parenthood's trusted reproductive health care services, I strongly urge you to consider the health and well-being of the millions of individuals and families who support and benefit from Planned Parenthood services every day in communities nationwide.
Sincerely,
Cecile Richards
President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
May 10, 2007
Giuliani Plans to Publicly Embrace Abortion Rights
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MARC SANTORA
After months of conflicting signals on abortion, Rudolph W. Giuliani is planning to offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews in the coming days, despite the potential for bad consequences among some conservative voters already wary of his views, aides said yesterday.
At the same time, Mr. Giuliani’s campaign — seeking to accomplish the unusual task of persuading Republicans to nominate an abortion rights supporter — is eyeing a path to the nomination that would try to de-emphasize the early states in which abortion opponents wield a great deal of influence. Instead they would focus on the so-called mega-primary of Feb. 5, in which voters in states like California, New York and New Jersey are likely to be more receptive to Mr. Giuliani’s social views than voters in Iowa and South Carolina.
That approach, they said, became more appealing after the Legislature in Florida, another state they said would be receptive to Mr. Giuliani, voted last week to move the primary forward to the end of January.
The shift in emphasis comes as the Giuliani campaign has struggled to deal with the fallout from the first Republican presidential candidate debate, in which he gave halting and apparently contradictory responses to questions about his support for abortion rights.
Mr. Giuliani’s aides were concerned both because the responses opened him up to a new round of criticism from abortion critics, who have never been happy with the prospect of a Republican presidential candidate who supports abortion rights, while threatening to undercut his image as a tough-talking iconoclast who does not equivocate on tough issues.
The campaign’s approach would be a sharp departure from the traditional route to the Republican nomination in the last 20 years, in which Republicans have highlighted their antiabortion views.
Mr. Giuliani hinted at what aides said would be his uncompromising position on abortion rights yesterday in Huntsville, Ala., where he was besieged with questions about abortion and his donations to Planned Parenthood. “Ultimately, there has to be a right to chose,” he said.
Asked if Republicans would accept that, he said, “I guess we are going to find out.”
Mr. Giuliani acknowledged that his stance on abortion alone might disqualify him with some voters, but he said, “I am at peace with that.”
His aides said that in focusing on the Feb. 5 and Florida primaries, they were not writing off Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina, acknowledging the historic importance of those states and arguing that Mr. Giuliani could do well in South Carolina and New Hampshire. But they said the events of the past week had reinforced the notion that later states were more promising for a moderate Republican, particularly one who was a political celebrity with a big campaign bank account.
Along those lines, campaign aides said they were still debating whether Mr. Giuliani would participate in a nonbinding straw poll of Iowa Republicans. That huge Republican gathering this summer is a critical early test for anyone taking part in the caucuses next January.
At the same time, Republicans in New Hampshire said yesterday that Mr. Giuliani had been a notably infrequent visitor there, causing annoyance among party activists and speculation that he has given up on the state.
Giuliani advisers, describing their strategy in what has emerged as one of the most challenging weeks of his campaign, said Republican primary voters would forgive their concerns about him on abortion and other social issues if they concluded that his positions on those issues would actually appeal to Democratic voters and thus make him the strongest Republican presidential candidate in 2008.
From that perspective, Mr. Giuliani benefits from the fact that his major opponents, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, are also viewed by Republicans as flawed in some respects. It was revealed yesterday, for instance, that Mr. Romney’s wife had also donated to Planned Parenthood.
“We have so many candidates out there — and there is no one emerging candidate — that electability is clearly an issue, and people are judging that,” said Saul Anuzis, the Michigan Republican Party chairman. “There is a pretty big fear with respect to a President Hillary Clinton and even Barack Obama. And people saying we want to make sure we can beat them.”
Mr. Giuliani’s aides argued that Republican voters had been aware of his support for abortion rights before last Thursday’s debate. And they argued that abortion and other social issues were not as decisive for Republican primary voters in this election, providing Mr. Giuliani with an opportunity to break from a 30-year tradition and run as a Republican nominee who supports abortion rights.
His aides said polling had found a relatively small number of voters who would base their vote solely on abortion. They argued that Mr. Giuliani’s appeal was based on what many Americans see as a tough leadership style that helped turn New York City around in the 1990s, and carry it through the attacks of Sept. 11.
“Conventional wisdom says he can’t” win the nomination, said Mike DuHaime, Mr. Giuliani’s campaign manager, who then played down the significance of the discordance between Mr. Giuliani and much of his party on abortion and other social issues. “But we believe that based on his record in New York City, based on his leadership when America was tested on Sept. 11, that he can.”
The risks for Mr. Giuliani are clearly high. Polling continues to show abortion is a major concern of Republican primary voters. In a New York Times/CBS News poll in March, 41 percent of Republicans thought abortions should be prohibited, compared with 23 percent of Americans in general; in addition, 53 percent of Republicans said they wanted a Republican presidential nominee who would make abortions more difficult to get.
The first President Bush supported abortion rights early in his political career. He opposed abortion rights after he ran for vice president, with Ronald Reagan, and when he was elected president in 1988. Mr. Romney also moved from supporting abortion rights to opposing them as he approached the 2008 presidential election.
Some conservative Republicans said abortion alone was a major hurdle for Mr. Giuliani.
“I think it’s a big problem for him,” said Phyllis Schlafly, a longtime opponent of abortion. “The Republican Party has been pro-life in its platform ever since 1976, the first platform after Roe, and I think most of the Republicans understand they can’t afford to lose the pro-life constituency.”
Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, the conservative magazine, said, “You can’t win as a pro-choicer who is going to deliberately set on challenging the party’s orthodoxy on the issue.”
“It doesn’t have to take him down,” Mr. Lowry said of Mr. Giuliani and the abortion issue, “but if he continues to mishandle it, it’s going to be a real problem for him. One of the big ironies for him is he doesn’t care about abortion.”
Romney's Wife Gave Money to Planned Parenthood
Republican Abortion Opponent Accused of Shifting His Views
By RICK KLEIN
May 9, 2007—
Former Gov. Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, gave an $150 donation to the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood in 1994, at a time when Romney considered himself effectively "pro-choice," the Romney campaign confirmed today.
Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said Ann Romney had no recollection of the circumstances under which she donated the money.
He said an internal review of Romney's personal records has not turned up any instances in which Romney, a Massachusetts Republican, himself sent money to groups that supported expanded abortion rights.
"The governor has not donated to Planned Parenthood or abortion-rights groups," Madden said.
Madden said he did not know whether the former governor was aware of the donation, but he noted that Romney had been publicly committed to upholding a woman's right to an abortion until late 2004.
"This is an issue that the governor has changed his position on, that the governor was wrong on in the past and believes he is right on now," he said.
Giuliani Donated to Abortion-Rights Group
The issue of past donations to abortion-rights groups has exploded in the Republican presidential campaign in the past few days, with the revelation that former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gave six separate donations to Planned Parenthood during the 1990s.
That information -- obtained from tax returns that Giuliani released when he served as mayor -- has forced Giuliani to scramble to explain his statements that he has always been personally opposed to abortion.
Planned Parenthood is the nation's biggest abortion provider and lobbies actively to expand abortion rights.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his top aides have been particularly strong in denouncing Giuliani for making the donation, but the Romney camp has not entered the fray.
Romney Changed Mind
Madden said a search of Romney campaign records unearthed only one donation the former governor had made to an abortion-related group: His foundation gave $15,000 in 2005 to Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
Thursday, Romney is scheduled to deliver a speech before that organization's Pioneer Valley chapter -- the first speech of his presidential campaign to an anti-abortion rights group.
The speech is expected to draw protesters from both sides of the abortion debate, with both abortion rights activists and abortion righs opponents upset with Romney's position on abortion.
Romney has conceded that he changed positions on abortion in late 2004, after running twice in Massachusetts -- unsuccessfully for Senate in 1994, and successfully for governor in 2002 -- on a pledge to preserve a woman's right to choose.
"When I ran for office, I said I'd protect the law as it was, which is effectively a 'pro-choice' position," Romney said last week at a Republican presidential debate. "About two years ago, when we were studying cloning in our state, I said, 'Look, we have gone too far.' It's a brave new world mentality that Roe v. Wade has given us, and I changed my mind."
Romney has been dogged by questions about his previous position on abortion in recent months, with several clips of him talking about the issue in 1994 and 2002 getting wide circulation on the Internet.
"I will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard," Romney said in one of those debates, in October 2002.
In that same campaign, Romney completed a Planned Parenthood questionnaire in which he expressed support for Roe v. Wade, public funding of abortions, and access to "emergency contraception," such as the "morning-after pill."
WASHINGTON —
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Friday sought to clarify his support for abortion rights while fending off attacks from conservative wings of his own party.
Giuliani said he hoped voters would consider him as a candidate that could compete strongly in a general election against Democrats who would ruin other, broader parts of the Republican agenda.
Speaking at Houston Baptist University, Giuliani spoke for about an hour addressing broad issues on terrorism, federalism and social issues. He spent several minutes in his opening remarks discussing abortion before taking audience questions.
Giuliani has been in the crosshairs of fellow candidates over the abortion issue — especially Ariz. Sen. John McCain — who are staunchly anti-abortion and see Giuliani as weak on abortion. Giuliani also has acknowledged previously donating to a major abortion clinic provider, and he was fully in-line with a slate of abortion-rights issues during his 1997 campaign for mayor.
Friday, calling it a complex issue, Giuliani said there are two main pillars of his beliefs on abortion, even as some of his thoughts have shifted over the years.
"One, is I believe abortion is wrong. I think it is morally wrong. And if I were asked my advice by someone who was considering an abortion, I would tell them not to have the abortion, to have the child, and if nothing else, the adoption option exists," Giuliani said, adding that he would personally assist friends and relatives.
The second piller, he said, is "that in a country like ours, where people of good faith, people who are equally decent, equally moral, and equally religious, where they come to different conclusions about this, ... I believe you have to respect their viewpoint. ... I would grant women the right to make that choice" to have an abortion.
Before he spoke, Giuliani's aides said that his abortion remarks were intended to clear up any confusion the candidate's previous abortion statements may have caused in the last couple of weeks.
Specifically, during a debate last week, Giuliani said it would be "OK" if Roe v. Wade were overturned, but it would also be OK if it were upheld. The landmark Supreme Court decision established the right to legalized abortion.
On Friday, Giuliani said his answer to the Roe question is that he would appoint "strict, constructionist judges" who would not legislate from the bench, and would interpret the Constitution to the letter of the law. The former prosecutor added that there's no way to predict how a judge would rule, adding, "I've been surprised more than once in court."
Giuliani has hit a serious of road bumps related to his abortion stance. He recently acknowledged that he and his ex-wife also contributed to Planned Parenthood, an abortion-rights activist group as well as abortion clinic provider.
Giuliani also took a minor blow on Wednesday when Pope Benedict XVI, speaking to reporters during a trip to Brazil, suggested that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights shouldn't participate in holy Communion, one of the Church's major religious rites. Giuliani is Catholic.
And according to a questionnaire Giuliani submitted to the abortion-rights activist group NARAL in 1997, obtained by FOX News, Giuliani supported partial-birth abortion and agreed with all nine abortion-rights positions on questionnaire.
Today, however, Giuliani supports a number of restrictions that he opposed back then, including the ban on partial-birth abortion and parental notification, as long as there is a judicial work-around.
Responding to a question from a student reporter, Giuliani said that while he supported partial-birth abortion, the congressional debate over the procedure, which led to the 2003 federal ban, is what caused him to decide that the procedure was wrong. He said he also believes the ban does not reduce the right to choose because other alternatives are available.
Giuliani also said he supports the "Hyde amendment," which prohibits federal funding for nearly all abortions.
FOX News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report.
Re: Bolded - That is EXACTLY where I personally stand on abortion. Taking this position takes courage and I have to give a big to him even if I likely won't vote for him....
to him even if I likely won't vote for him....
Linear Mode
