Ultrasounds have become one of the “latest weapons” in the “battle” between abortion-rights opponents and advocates, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to the Monitor, six states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan and Mississippi — have passed legislation requiring that ultrasounds be offered to women seeking abortions, and four states — Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin — require physicians to notify women seeking abortions about the availability of ultrasounds. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 22 bills relating to ultrasounds were introduced in 15 states this year.
Abortion-rights opponents say ultrasounds are a “medical imperative” for women seeking abortions and they allow women access to all available information before deciding whether to undergo the procedure, according to the Monitor. However, abortion-rights supporters say that ultrasounds are not medically necessary and that laws requiring ultrasounds for women seeking abortions or requiring physicians to offer them are “constitutionally suspect” and a form of “emotional blackmail,” the Monitor reports. Harvey Kornberg, a political scientist at Rider University, said it is “obvious” that the measures are “attempt[s] to dissuade” women from having an abortion, adding that more similar measures are likely.
South Carolina Legislation
According to the Monitor, ultrasound legislation in South Carolina and other states is one of the “most hotly debated issues” this year (Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor, 5/15). The South Carolina House earlier this year approved a bill (H 3355) that would require women to view an ultrasound image before undergoing an abortion. State Attorney General Henry McMaster (R) in a letter read by a Senate committee earlier this month wrote that the House bill could be considered unconstitutional if it is interpreted as forcing an unwilling patient to see the images. McMaster previously told the Senate committee that he supports the bill and that it could hold up to a legal challenge. The Senate Medical Affairs Committee last month approved an amended version of a bill (S 84) that would allow but not require a pregnant woman seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound image (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 4/24). According to the Monitor, the state Senate was expected to vote on the legislation on Tuesday (Christian Science Monitor, 5/15).
“Reprinted with 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.
Republican presidential candidates on Tuesday in their second televised debate, held at the University of South Carolina, fielded questions about their views on abortion rights and other issues, the Washington Post reports. The 90-minute debate included Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Sam Brownback (Kan.); former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson; and Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Ron Paul (Texas) and Tom Tancredo (Colo.) (Shear, Washington Post, 5/16). The debate — which was sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party and moderated by Fox News host Brit Hume — was a “far more free-wheeling, and revealing session” than the first debate, held earlier in the month at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., the New York Times reports (Nagourney/Santora, New York Times, 5/16).
Giuliani Comments on Abortion Rights
According to the Post, the leading candidates “parried accusations from their rivals that they have strayed too far from their party’s conservative philosophies” on abortion and other issues (Washington Post, 5/16). Giuliani said, “I think we can agree … that we should seek reductions in abortion. I ultimately do believe in a woman’s right of choice, but I think that there are ways in which we can reduce abortions” (Finnegan/Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5/16).
Giuliani also was asked to respond to a statement by Huckabee that saying abortion is immoral but should remain legal is like saying, “I hate slavery, but people can go ahead and practice it.” Giuliani said, “Well, there is no circumstances under which I could possibly imagine anyone choosing slavery or supporting slavery. There are people, millions and millions of Americans, who are as of good conscience as we are, who make a different choice about abortion. … [Y]ou have to respect that.” Huckabee responded to Giuliani’s comments by applauding him for being “honest about his position,” but he added, “Now, if something is morally wrong, let’s oppose it” (New York Times, 5/16).
Other Comments on Abortion Rights
Tancredo said he had noticed throughout his campaign that candidates have moved to more conservative positions on abortion since deciding to run for the nomination (Thomma, McClatchy/Raleigh News & Observer, 5/16). Gilmore said that he believes some of the candidates were “very liberal in characterizing themselves as conservatives, particularly on the issues of abortion and taxes and health care” (New York Times, 5/16).
Romney said, “I’ve always been personally pro-life. … The question for me was what should government do in this kind of setting? And the Supreme Court stepped in and took a decision, and I said I’d support that decision. And then I watched the impact of that decision as I was governor of Massachusetts” (AP/Forbes, 5/16). McCain said that he had not “changed [his] position in even-numbered years because of the position that I may be running for.” According to USA Today, McCain’s comment was in reference to Romney’s shift from supporting to opposing abortion rights (Lawrence, USA Today, 5/16).
Brownback, when explaining why he disagrees with allowing an exception for abortion in the case of rape, said, “Will that make the woman in a better situation if that’s what takes place? I don’t think so, and I think we can explain it when we look at it for what it is, a beautiful child of a loving God that we ought to protect in all circumstances” (AP/Forbes, 5/16). The South Carolina primary is scheduled for Feb. 2, 2008 (USA Today, 5/16).
MSNBC video of the complete debate is available online.
NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Wednesday reported on the debate, including candidates’ comments on abortion rights. The segment includes comments from McCain, Giuliani, Huckabee, Romney and Tancredo (Liasson, “Morning Edition,” NPR, 5/16). Audio of the segment is available online.
“Reprinted with 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.
An increasing number of single women, including teenagers, in China are having abortions, according to Chinese health experts, the New York Times reports. Typically, abortion has been associated with married women complying with the country’s one-child-per-family policy, the Times reports. However, the majority of women having abortions in Shanghai and parts of Beijing are unmarried. According to the Times, many single, pregnant women — including migrant workers, students, commercial sex workers and urban professionals — face “enormous social stigma and shame” and have “few options beyond abortion.”
The increase in abortions among single women is caused by many factors, including the government’s lack of focus on educating the demographic about reproductive health and contraception, the Times reports. Millions of young women have moved to cities throughout the country since the 1980s for work that often “severs them from their families and more conservative rural values,” according to the Times. A study conducted in Shanghai found that 69% of single women had premarital sex. Seven other studies conducted in various cities in China found that between 20% and 55% of the single women surveyed had undergone at least one abortion, the Times reports.
While the number of single women having abortion is increasing, the number of abortions among married women is going down, according to family planning officials and health experts. The overall abortion rate is dropping because more than 80% of married women with a child are using long-term contraception, such as intrauterine devices, or have been sterilized to comply with the one-child policy, family planning officials said. According to China’s Ministry of Health, the number of abortions in the country peaked in 1990 at 14 million but decreased to 7.1 million in 2005. Some health experts said the official figures are probably incomplete because they do not include data from private hospitals or women who use abortion-inducing pills.
Comments
“More and more abortions are for unmarried women,” Gu Baochang, a leading scholar on family planning policy at Renmin University in Beijing, said, adding, “We can see [a trend] beginning in larger cities and the smaller cities, even down to the developing counties.” Ru Xiaomei, deputy director of China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission, said government efforts were “on the right path,” but more work remains on sex education. She added that the government was very concerned about the rise in the number of pregnancies and abortions among single women (Yardley, New York Times, 5/13).
Chinese Province Issues $77,000 Fine for One-Child Policy Violation
In related news, family planning officials in China’s Anhui province issued a record 600,000 yuan, or about $77,000, fine on a private businessman for breaking the country’s one-child policy, Reuters UK reports. Family planning officials in April warned that wealthy and famous people faced fines and a ban from future government awards for violating the policy. According to Reuters UK, previous violators of the policy usually were given a fine of a few thousand yuan. “Regardless of whether one is rich or poor, everyone should be equal before the law when family planning rules are implemented,” NPFPC Director Zhang Weiqing said. The name of the businessman was not given, Reuters UK reports (Reuters UK, 5/14).
“Reprinted with 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.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Friday in a speech to students at Houston Baptist University said his view about abortion is guided by “two pillars” of thinking, the New York Times reports.
“One is I believe abortion is wrong,” Giuliani said, adding, “I think it is morally wrong, and if I were asked my advice by someone who was considering abortion, I would tell them not to have the abortion.” However, he added that his personal opposition to the procedure does not allow him to force that position on people who disagree with him, adding, “So therefore I would grant women the right to make that choice” (Santora/Nagourney, New York Times, 5/11). He also said that he is “open to seeking ways of limiting abortion” and “open to decreasing abortion” (Balz/Moreno, Washington Post, 5/13).
Giuliani in an interview on Fox News Sunday said he does not have a “litmus test” for choosing future Supreme Court judges, adding that he would not rule out choosing a judge known to be an opponent of abortion rights if he “thought that on 20 other issues they would be terrific” (Gordon, Long Island Newsday, 5/14). Giuliani said his Supreme Court nominees would be “free to take a look” at the “limitations” of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans. He added, “But I believe I should leave it to them to decide that” (Schouten, USA Today, 5/14).
Giuliani’s advisers last week said that they believe Republican primary voters would forgive their concerns about him on abortion and other social issues if they concluded that his positions would appeal to Democratic voters and thus make him a stronger candidate. Giuliani’s campaign also is considering a strategy that would focus on primaries where his abortion-rights position is more likely to be accepted among voters, including a potential late January 2008 Florida primary and the Feb. 5, 2008, primaries in California, New York and New Jersey (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 5/11).
Comments
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Friday said that Giuliani’s support for abortion rights will make it difficult — but not impossible — for him to win the Republican presidential nomination, the Dallas Morning News reports. “Whether or not … Giuliani can navigate that zone, I don’t think we know yet,” he said, adding that the party “would like to find a very strong leader who would be acceptable to the party and at the same time would be capable of winning the election next year” (Slater, Dallas Morning News, 5/12).
Fran Reiter — who was New York’s deputy mayor for economic development and planning during Giuliani’s first administration and who supports abortion rights — said she is “ashamed” of Giuliani, adding, “I feel a certain betrayal.” Giuliani adviser Jim Dyke responded by saying that Giuliani’s “position doesn’t fit into a sound bite or on a bumper sticker,” adding that Saturday’s speech was designed “to let people have a clear understanding of where he stands and what this pro-choice Republican would mean as president” (Washington Post, 5/13).
Broadcast Coverage
Several broadcast programs recently reported on candidates’ stances on abortion. Summaries appear below.
“Reprinted with 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.
Eighteen House Democrats, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), on Monday in a statement responded to comments made by Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday about potential excommunication of Roman Catholic Mexico City legislators who voted for a law that allows pregnant women to obtain a legal abortion during the first three months’ gestation, The Hill reports (Kaplan, The Hill, 5/15). The pope during a news conference on Wednesday on a flight from Rome to Sao Paulo, Brazil, when asked whether he agreed with excommunication for the lawmakers replied, “Yes, this excommunication is not something arbitrary.”
The pope also said that Mexican bishops who supported excommunication of the legislators “simply announced publicly what is contained in the law of the church, … which expresses our appreciation for life and that human individuality, human personality is present from the first moment.” A Vatican spokesperson after the news conference said that neither the Mexican bishops nor the pope had excommunicated anyone and that the pope had not threatened any excommunications. Comments from the spokesperson, Father Federico Lombardi, led reporters to believe that the pope meant to say the legislators had excommunicated themselves and could not receive communion.
The Vatican’s official transcript of Benedict’s comments, released on Thursday, did not fully correspond to his original words. The official transcript eliminated the “Yes, this” in his initial response to whether he supported the excommunication, as well as references to the Mexican bishops. Lombardi said it is customary for the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to “review and clean up” the pope’s unprepared remarks prior to publication. The pope on Sunday in a speech to Latin American bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, said laws that permit abortion and contraception are “threatening the future of peoples” (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 5/14).
Statement, Reaction
The Democratic lawmakers in the statement said, “We are concerned with the pope’s recent statement warning Catholic elected officials that they risk excommunication and would not receive communion for their pro-choice views.” They added, “Advancing respect for life and for the dignity of every human being is, as our church has taught us, our own life’s mission.” The suggested penalty “offend(s) the very nature of the American experiment and do(es) a great disservice to the centuries of good work the church has done,” the statement said.
According to The Hill, the statement “mirrors” a Catholic “statement of principles” released last year that 55 Democrats — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — signed. The statement of principles says that the lawmakers agreed with the Catholic Church’s “undesirability of abortion” and that each member “is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term.” Reps. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), who oppose abortion rights, also signed the statement of principles.
Mary Ann Walsh, spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the decision to withhold sacraments is made by individual bishops. Jon O’Brien, executive director of Catholics for a Free Choice, said, the pope “is still putting dogma ahead of the lived reality of the Catholic laity; … it will only push Catholic politicians further form the institutional church” (The Hill, 5/15).
“Reprinted with 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.
Comments made by Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday about potential excommunication of Catholic Mexico City legislators who voted for a law that allows pregnant women to obtain a legal abortion during the first three months’ gestation have “caused a stir” in the Roman Catholic Church, Reuters reports (Pullella, Reuters, 5/10). The pope during a news conference on Wednesday on a plane trip from Rome to Sao Paulo, Brazil, when asked whether he agreed with excommunication for the lawmakers replied, “Yes, this excommunication is not something arbitrary” (Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 5/11).
The pope also said that Mexican bishops who supported excommunication of the legislators “simply announced publicly what is contained in the law of the church, … which expresses our appreciation for life and that human individuality, human personality is present from the first moment” (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 5/10). According to the Reuters, the Vatican spokesperson after the news conference said that neither the Mexican bishops nor the pope had excommunicated anyone and that the pope had not threatened any excommunications (Reuters, 5/10). According to the Los Angeles Times, the comments from the spokesperson, Father Federico Lombardi, led reporters to believe that the pope meant to say the legislators had excommunicated themselves and could not receive communion.
The Vatican’s official transcript of Benedict’s comments, released on Thursday, did not fully correspond to his original words, the Los Angeles Times reports. (Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 5/11). The official transcript eliminated the “Yes, this” in his initial response to whether he supported the excommunication, as well as references to the Mexican bishops. Lombardi said it is customary for the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to “review and clean up” the pope’s unprepared remarks prior to publication (Reuters, 5/10). The pope on Sunday in a speech to Latin American bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, said laws that permit abortion and contraception are “threatening the future of peoples” (Fisher/Rohter, New York Times, 5/14).
Reaction
“What seems to be clear is that the pope personally thinks that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should not receive communion,” John Allen, author of several books on the Catholic Church, said. He added, “This clearly emboldens bishops who have taken a hard line against Catholic pro-choice politicians, but it remains to be seen if there will be a disciplinary follow-through or whether individual bishops still decide who can receive communion.” George Weigel — senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., and leading U.S. Catholic theologian — said, “Catholic politicians who think they can remain part of the church after supporting abortion are putting a lie on top of the original offense against justice” (Reuters, 5/10).
NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Friday reported on Benedict’s speech in Sao Paulo. The segment includes excerpts of the speech and comments from audience members (McCarthy, “Morning Edition,” NPR, 5/11). Audio of the segment is available online.
“Reprinted with 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.
The Dublin High Court on Wednesday ruled that a 17-year-old girl who is 18 weeks’ pregnant with a fetus that would not live more than three days after delivery could travel to the United Kingdom to undergo an abortion, the Irish Times reports (Carolan/O’Brien, Irish Times, 5/10). According to the AP/Guardian, physicians last month found that the fetus of the girl, identified as “Miss D,” has a rare condition known as anencephaly, in which it would be born without a part of its skull and would die soon after birth. After learning of the abnormality, Miss D sought an abortion. Abortion is illegal in Ireland except to save the life of the woman, but voters in 1992 amended the Irish constitution to make it legal for women to receive information about foreign abortion services and to travel to England to undergo an abortion, where the procedure has been legal since 1967. About 7,000 Irish women annually travel to England to receive an abortion, the AP/Guardian reports (Pogatchnik, AP/Guardian, 5/9).
The Irish Health Service Executive had told Miss D that she could not travel to have an abortion without its consent and that it could restrain her using force, if necessary (Irish Times, 5/10). Justice Liam McKechnie ruled that there is no law preventing Miss D from leaving the country to receive an abortion. McKechnie added that the case is not about abortion or the fetus’ right to live but about Miss D’s right to travel (McKittrick, Independent, 5/10). The HSE will be required to pay Miss D’s legal fees, which are estimated to be 1 million euros, or about $1.3 million.
Reaction
The HSE on Wednesday accepted the ruling but said it took what it believed to be the correct course of action. An HSE spokesperson said the agency “regrets any distress arising for Miss D and her family. The matters at issue were not straightforward or simple in ascertaining this girl’s best interests.” The agency “will continue to offer Miss D all the care and support which it is in a position to make available,” the spokesperson said. According to the Times, the agency has not ruled out an appeal of part of the ruling.
Abortion-rights supporters and opponents both demonstrated outside the court on Wednesday. According to the Times, the Irish Family Planning Association and the Alliance for Choice both supported the decision (Irish Times, 5/10). The IFPA said it was unacceptable that there is no legal framework on abortion in the country. The antiabortion group Pro-Life Campaign said the controversy surrounding the case is a sign that people in Ireland “recognize the importance of discussing [abortion] openly,” adding that the case also highlighted a need to put into place a support system “so that no woman feels abortion is the only option open to her” (Independent, 5/10).
“Reprinted with 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.
Safe abortions should be available to women in cases of rape or incest or when the health or life of a pregnant woman is at risk, according to a policy announced Wednesday by the human rights group Amnesty International, Reuters India reports. Amnesty Senior Policy and Campaigns Director Widney Brown said, “Where women have unwanted pregnancies as a result of sexual violence, including incest, they should have access to abortions and those abortions should be safe.” She also said that when a woman has a pregnancy that “may be wanted but there’s a threat to her life or a grave threat to her health, then again she should have access to safe abortion.” Brown said the policy is part of Amnesty’s global campaign to stop violence against women. Amnesty also is calling for the procedure to be decriminalized. “No women should suffer imprisonment or any criminal penalties as a result of seeking or having an abortion,” Brown said.
According to Reuters India, Brown emphasized that Amnesty’s policy does not acknowledge abortion as a “fundamental right” for women because that approach is not supported by international human rights laws. She also said that Amnesty supports the right of states to put “reasonable limitations” on abortion providers and to prosecute those who risk women’s lives by performing unsafe abortions, Reuters India reports.
According to Brown, Amnesty’s board of directors agreed on the policy in April after two years of consultations with experts and the group’s more than 2.2 million members. More than 70 House members last year urged Amnesty to reject the procedure. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also said that Amnesty would risk its “excellent record as a champion of human rights” if it publicly took a side on the issue, Reuters India reports. Brown disputed allegations made on some antiabortion-rights blogs that Amnesty was trying to keep its policy confidential for fear of causing controversy (Nichols, Reuters India, 5/9).
“Reprinted with 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.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R), who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to offer an affirmation of his support for abortion rights in television appearances, public forums and interviews in the coming days, Giuliani’s aides said on Wednesday, the New York Times reports.
Giuliani’s advisers said Republican primary voters would forgive their concerns about him on abortion and other social issues if they concluded that his positions would appeal to Democratic voters and thus make him a stronger candidate. According to his aides, polling has found that a relatively small number of voters would base their vote solely on the issue of abortion. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in March found that 41% of Republicans thought abortions should be prohibited, compared with 23% of U.S. residents in general. The poll also found that 53% of Republicans said they wanted a Republican presidential nominee who would make attaining abortions more difficult.
According to the Times, Giuliani’s campaign also is considering a strategy that would focus on primaries where his abortion-rights position is more likely to be accepted among voters, including a potential late January Florida primary and the Feb. 5 primaries in California, New York and New Jersey. Giuliani’s advisers said that they will not abandon efforts in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina but added that recent events have shown that states with later primaries are better suited for a moderate Republican, the Times reports.
Comments
“Conventional wisdom says he can’t” win the Republican nomination, Mike DuHaime, Giuliani’s campaign manager, said, adding, “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.” Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, said, “You can’t win [the Republican nomination] as a pro-choicer who is going to deliberately set on challenging the party’s orthodoxy on the issue.” He added that Giuliani’s stance “doesn’t have to take him down, but if he continues to mishandle it, it’s going to be a real problem for him” (Nagourney/Santora, New York Times, 5/10).
John Weaver, strategist for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who also is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said in a telephone interview that Giuliani is “well outside the mainstream of rank-and-file Republicans on [abortion], not only as someone who is pro-abortion, but someone who has supported one of the most radical pro-abortion groups in the country” (Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 5/9).
Giuliani in Huntsville, Ala., on Wednesday said, “Ultimately, there has to be a right to choose,” adding that he is “at peace” with the knowledge that some Republican voters will not vote for him based on his abortion-rights position (New York Times, 5/10).
Romney Receives Award From Antiabortion Group; Discusses Wife’s Planned Parenthood Donation
In other news, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who also is seeking the Republican nomination, on Thursday after receiving an award from Massachusetts Citizens for Life, which opposes abortion rights, declared himself among the “converts” of the movement to outlaw abortion, the Boston Globe reports. “I am evidence that your work, that your relentless campaign to promote the sanctity of human life, bears fruit,” Romney said at the ceremony, adding, “I do follow … a long line of converts.” Kevin Jourdain — council member of Holyoke City, Mass., and chair of the Pioneer Valley chapter of Massachusetts Citizens for Life — said antiabortion groups should rally around Romney. “The whole purpose of the pro-life movement is education and conversion,” Jourdain said, adding that Romney is “part of the conversion. We should applaud him. We should celebrate him” (Mishra, Boston Globe, 5/11).
A coalition of conservative advocates — including the leaders of the Pro-life Federation of Michigan, the Michigan Conservative Union and Massachusetts Resistance — in a statement released on Thursday criticized Romney’s previous position on abortion rights, his wife’s 1994 donation Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and a universal health care bill he signed into law that provides taxpayer-funded abortions in Massachusetts. The group in a statement said, “His commitment to the pro-life cause has been called into question because of his frequently changing position on the issue of abortion and his signing into law a bill that provides taxpayer-funded abortion in Massachusetts” (Johnson, AP/Foster’s Daily Democrat, 5/11).
Romney on Wednesday said reports that his wife donated $150 to PPLM in 1994 are true and not surprising given his position on abortion at the time, the AP/Northwest Florida Daily News reports. “I was effectively pro-choice at that time,” Romney said, adding that he had changed his view on abortion during the debate over human embryonic stem cell research and human cloning (Glover, AP/Northwest Florida Daily News, 5/10).
Spokesperson for PPLM Angus McQuilken declined to comment on the donation (Helman, Boston Globe, 5/10). Lisa Dacey, spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund, said, “There’s no shortage of irony here,” adding that Romney “is somebody who will say anything and change his mind a great deal to get elected. He did that here in Massachusetts, and we have no doubt he will do that in the presidential race as well.” Romney spokesperson Kevin Madden said the former governor’s “position has changed in the right direction” on the issue (Johnson, AP/Boston Herald, 5/9).
NPR’s “All Things Considered” on Thursday reported on Giuliani’s position on abortion rights. The segment includes comments from Giuliani; Republican strategist Whit Ayers; and radio host Laura Ingraham (Liasson, “All Things Considered,” NPR, 5/10). Audio of the segment is available online.
“Reprinted with 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.
U.S. District Judge David Coar on Tuesday issued a final judgment reiterating a February 2006 Supreme Court ruling that abortion clinics cannot use federal extortion and racketeering laws to block antiabortion protests, the Chicago Tribune reports (Chicago Tribune, 5/8). The case — Scheidler v. The National Organization for Women — stems from a lawsuit filed in 1986 by the National Organization for Women and other women’s rights groups against several individuals and groups that oppose abortion rights, including Operation Rescue/Operation Save America and the Pro-Life Action League, alleging the abortion-rights opponents used aggressive and illegal means to protest against and attempt to close abortion clinics.
In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of NOW, saying that women’s rights groups and abortion clinics could sue antiabortion protesters under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act even if the advocates did not have an economic motive for their protests. The Supreme Court in February 2003 reversed its previous decision, ruling that the RICO Act could not be applied because the protesters’ actions did not qualify as extortion or racketeering.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago renewed the case in 2004 when it did not dismiss the lawsuit on different grounds, saying threats of violence and violent acts might have qualified NOW to sue antiabortion protesters under RICO. Joseph Scheidler, national director of the Pro-Life Action League, appealed the case to the Supreme Court, saying the appeals court misread the Supreme Court’s 2003 opinion and that the entire case should have been thrown out. The Supreme Court in February 2006 upheld its 2003 ruling (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 3/1/06).
Ruling, Reaction
Coar’s ruling also lifted injunctions for the Pro-Life Action League and Operation Rescue, as well as for defendants Andrew Scholberg and Timothy Murphy. Fay Clayton, an attorney for NOW, said injunctions are not as necessary now as when the case was first filed because the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act prohibits interfering with women’s access to clinics. Scheidler in a statement said he was satisfied that his right to free speech was upheld (Chicago Tribune, 5/8). He added the Pro-Life Action League is “very happy” the case is finished (Hawkins, AP/Chicago Sun-Times, 5/8).
“Reprinted with 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.