Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Abortion Foes Tap Governor (Texas)
San Antonio Express News ^ | Jan 15, 2005 | Peggy Fikac

Posted on 01/15/2005 9:58:29 AM PST by hocndoc

Abortion foes tap governor

Web Posted: 01/15/2005 12:00 AM CST

Peggy Fikac
Chief, Express-News Austin bureau

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, who may face a re-election challenge from within his party next year, plans to headline a Capitol rally next weekend on an issue of importance to GOP primary voters — abortion.

"Join pro-life Texas Gov. Rick Perry!" says a Web posting by the Texas Alliance for Life touting next Saturday's Texas Rally for Life.

"We've been putting it (the rally) on for about 15 years. This is the first time a governor has appeared. We're just ecstatic about that," said the alliance's Joe Pojman.

Pojman is among conservatives whose endorsements have been touted by Perry, who may face a challenge in next year's GOP primary from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Neither has announced.

The group invited Perry because his track record showed "this was something he was very interested in," Pojman said, and because it's a way to highlight abortion legislation that if passed by lawmakers will go to Perry for consideration.

Perry "is currently and always has been very strong on the life issue," Pojman said.

Pojman said the possibly contested primary was a consideration: "I thought we'd give him an opportunity to speak to a big part of his constituency that participates in the primary."

Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said by e-mail that the governor "has spoken to pro-life groups in years past" and that he over the years "has taken a consistent stand in advocating for the protection of human life."

Perry opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and when the pregnant woman's life is in danger. Strayhorn holds the same position.

Hutchison supports allowing a woman to make a choice about abortion until the unborn baby is viable outside the womb but supports states' ability to impose restrictions such as parental consent or notification for minors.

"His position is unchanged. You always evaluate appearances based on what's going on. If he is likely to face a primary opponent, it is a smart appearance. It's smart politics for him," said lobbyist and consultant Bill Miller. "In a Republican primary, the right-to-life faction is strong and active and they participate in a big way."

Republican consultant Royal Masset said, "It's a core issue. The abortion issue is 10 to 100 times more potent than even, say, the gay marriage issue."

In this legislative session, Pojman lists as a top priority a push to require parental consent before an underage girl can have a pregnancy terminated.

The move is one that Perry supports, although not all abortion opponents agree it is needed. Current law requires that parents be notified, but not that they give their consent.

Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, plans to file a bill to require parental consent and also plans to appear at next weekend's rally.

A Perry supporter, King said that in the GOP primary, the issue of abortion "has always been a very important issue. It's not the only issue. And you've got a number of people in the Republican Party it's not a big issue to at all."
pfikac@express-news.net

Online at: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA011505.1B.perry_abortion.bb79bb2.html


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: abortion; governorsrace; kay06; perry4sale; perrypandering; prolife; rallyforlife; republicans; rickperry; texas
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last
To: hocndoc; 2nd amendment mama; A2J; Agitate; Alouette; Annie03; aposiopetic; attagirl; axel f; ...

ProLife Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my ProLife Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

21 posted on 01/15/2005 1:37:05 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (Women need abortion like a fish needs a bicycle.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: zbigreddogz

There are no terms limits for any constitutional offices in TX. It is just a coincidence that few have ever served more than six years in the governorship. John B. Connally, Jr., the most successful in terms of state governance of modern TX governors, stepped down after three two-year terms.


22 posted on 01/15/2005 2:48:09 PM PST by Theodore R.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: sinkspur

Hutchison has a lot of independent and Democrat support for whatever office she may seek.


23 posted on 01/15/2005 2:49:24 PM PST by Theodore R.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: sinkspur

Hutchinson has the backing of the pro-abortion side, too. Including the WISH List
http://www.thewishlist.org/
Senator Hutchinson's page on the Wish List site:

http://www.thewishlist.org/Hutchison.htm


24 posted on 01/15/2005 3:59:28 PM PST by hocndoc (Choice is the # 1 killer in the US)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc; 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; ...


25 posted on 01/15/2005 4:43:26 PM PST by Coleus (Roe v. Wade and Endangered Species Act both passed in 1973, Murder Babies/save trees, birds, algae)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc

Good for him. He needs pro-lifers, too, to beat Hutchinson.


26 posted on 01/15/2005 5:39:25 PM PST by Zack Nguyen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cicero; Theodore R.
Interesting. Presumably he's making this announcement now not only because he believes in the pro-life position but because he thinks (as I do) that it's a WINNING ISSUE.

Ha, ha! Kay Bailey's chances just flew out the window!
27 posted on 01/15/2005 5:42:02 PM PST by demkicker (I'm Ra th er sick of Dan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc

Texans need to be very, very careful. Thanks in part to tacit support from the President, we now have a pro-abortion U.S. Senator (probably Senator-for-Life) from Georgia. I would hate to see Texans saddled with a pro-abortion governor, who could do even more harm.


28 posted on 01/15/2005 5:53:12 PM PST by madprof98
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc

Actually, a Catholic theological analysis of the life of the mother exception would be that the baby was unavoidably killed as a side-effect of saving the mother. That might be the case, for example, in an ectopic pregnancy.

Similarly, it would be illegitimate in traditional Catholic teaching for a married person to have an operation explicitly intended to render him or her sterile, in order to avoid having children while enjoying carefree sex; but it would be perfectly legitimate to have such an operation if necessary to remove a cancer, even though it had the further side effect of rendering the person sterile.

As another example, it would be wrong to remove your arm because you thought you looked better without it, but it would be legitimate to remove it because it was incurably infected with gangrene, so as to save your life.

Perhaps to some this sounds like hair-splitting, but I believe it's the right way to approach such questions.


29 posted on 01/15/2005 6:06:15 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

Also, what you have described here is really common sense!


30 posted on 01/16/2005 7:51:01 AM PST by Theodore R.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc

It's HUTCHISON, but hardly anyone can get it right.


31 posted on 01/16/2005 7:52:05 AM PST by Theodore R.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Theodore R.

Yes, I understand, and should be more careful, especially with the problems with my last name.


I hope the Senator can "get it right" when it comes to protecting human life.


32 posted on 01/16/2005 10:48:39 AM PST by hocndoc (Choice is the # 1 killer in the US)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc; Northern Yankee
"Perry opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and when the pregnant woman's life is in danger. Strayhorn holds the same position."

"Hutchison supports allowing a woman to make a choice about abortion until the unborn baby is viable outside the womb."

While I'm happy that Perry is somewhat involved in the movement, he is wrong about the exceptions. Each child is God's precious infant, why should the child suffer because of the sin of one of its parents? If the mother can't love her child because of rape or incest, adoption would be the best alternative. The child is also proof that the rape or incest took place, and a means of putting the perpetrator in jail. While the child is not viable at 10 weeks, it is fully formed from their toes to the hair on their head, the baby sucks its thumb, sleeps, dreams, moves around AND feels pain. The child is a child at conception, not at viability. The only time an abortion is morally acceptable, is if the mother's life is in danger, but this was the case even before Roe v. Wade.
33 posted on 01/17/2005 7:57:11 PM PST by Raquel (Abortion ruins lives.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Raquel

I discussed the "exceptions" in this post
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1320881/posts?page=48#48
The baby is her baby. He or she is just as much a possessor of the inalienable right not to be killed as she is. If the infant does not have the right not to be killed - an inalienable right not dependent on any circumstances - then how to justify the right not to be killed of any unborn child???

[The next bit sounds very unemotional and clinical, but that's the only way I can contemplate this question, by attempting to be "clinical." I base my discussion on comments by Gilbert Meilander in his book "Christian Bioethics, a Primer." I'm still opposed to the finality, the irreversibility of death and am convinced that we humans are more adaptable and able to survive horrible circumstances as long as there is life.]

The only exception would be is when a woman considers the pregnancy a continuation of the assault. This might happen in cases where the woman perceived that her life was actually at risk during the rape. Consider a woman beaten or injured, or one who is held at gunpoint, or one who is believes that she has been exposed to HIV. There are also the women who are truly endangered by pregnancy. And the ones whose husbands can't bear the fact that she has been raped, much less that she is carrying the rapist's child.

Back to what *I* believe: I'm afraid that the reason for the exception for rape is actually a response to those who want to forget that she was raped, possibly, especially, her husband and father. In the days where women belonged to their husbands or fathers (and in the parts of the world where this is true), the male reaction is to kill the child of the rapist who stole "their" property - the woman's sex, fertility, and offspring.


34 posted on 01/17/2005 8:12:56 PM PST by hocndoc (Choice is the # 1 killer in the US)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc
Thanks for your response. Rape is a sticky subject to say the least. But, for pro-lifers like ourselves, I feel there is no room to bend. Research after research is showing that abortion is harmful to women and indeed bad for society. What may be a horrible situation now (pregnant by rape) may be a blessing in disguise 20 years later. Or in other words, time heals all wounds, and the child no matter how conceived is innocent. In the event the mother (or her husband) cannot handle living with the child, adoption is the only alternative. Murder of an innocent child is never morally acceptable.
35 posted on 01/17/2005 8:38:13 PM PST by Raquel (Abortion ruins lives.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Raquel
Well said in your defense of rape.

All too often we want to take a look at the consequences of the woman when when something like rape takes place. (In other words the rape needs to be dealt with, and so lets destroy the baby...)

Rape is horrible no doubt about it, but to want to destroy the unborn for this despicable act, seems to make a grave problem even worse. You're right... lets look at adoption as the alternative.

36 posted on 01/18/2005 3:54:50 AM PST by Northern Yankee (Freedom Needs A Soldier!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: hocndoc

Did anybody at this rally bother asking Rick why he appointed abortionist Elizabeth Ames-Jones to the Texas Railroad Commission that week? Didn't think so...


37 posted on 01/25/2005 5:04:08 PM PST by GOPcapitalist ("Marxism finds it easy to ally with Islamic zealotism" - Ludwig von Mises)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-37 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson