Two Newspapers Publish Opinion Pieces On Giuliani's Abortion Rights Position, Religious Conservative Reaction

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 25 Oct 2007 - 8:00 PDT

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Two newspapers on Wednesday published an editorial and an opinion piece about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) support for abortion rights and religious conservative leaders' reaction to his candidacy. Giuliani, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Saturday at the "Values Voter" summit hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., called on religious and social conservatives to overlook differences on abortion and other issues. "People of good conscience come to different conclusions about whether abortions should be legal in some circumstances," Giuliani said, adding that he believes "all Americans share the same goal. A country without abortions" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/22). Summaries appear below.

• Los Angeles Times: Some religious conservative leaders are considering supporting a third-party candidate if both Democrats and Republicans nominate candidates who support abortion rights, but they should take Giuliani's "advice and resist subjecting candidates to a litmus test on abortion or any other single issue," a Times editorial says. Even though Giuliani supports abortion rights, he might "be responsive to the religious right" by appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices likely to "reconsider or limit the reach" of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans, the editorial says. According to the Times, if Giuliani's positions "driv[e]" the religious conservative "movement into the wilderness of third-party politics," then the leaders will have "diminish[ed]" influence in Washington, D.C. (Los Angeles Times, 10/24).
  
  
• Michael Medved, USA Today: It is a "major distortion" to label Giuliani as "pro-abortion" and "indistinguishable" from the Democratic candidates for president, Medved, a USA Today contributor and nationally syndicated talk show host, writes in an opinion piece. According to Medved, Giuliani "stands in the middle" of the abortion debate by supporting "policies designed to discourage or even sharply limit abortion," opposing the use of public funding for abortions and "leaving the final decisions to women and their doctors in most circumstances." Medved concludes that Giuliani's position on abortion rights "actually correlates with the American majority" (Medved, USA Today, 10/24).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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