The Evolution of Senator Kerry on Abortion: 1972-2004

Various | 10-14-04 (compiled) | John Kerry

[cgk]

The Evolution of John Kerry's Litmus Test: Personal, Political.. and in his own words.

How a man went from opposing abortion in personal "belief", to disagreeing, but respecting those "views."

John Kerry, 1972: Lowell Sun, MA newspaper interview.
Washington Post: Kerry: "Between a woman, her conscience and her doctor"

"On abortion, I myself, by belief and upbringing, am opposed to abortion but as a legislator, as one who is called on to pass a law, I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth. . . . And I think, therefore, with a sense of justice in mind that one has to leave the question of abortion between a woman and her conscience and her doctor,"

---

John Kerry, 1975: Lowell, Sun MA newspaper interview.
Talon News: Kerry: more important than abortion: "how to put people back to work, how to reduce crime and how to keep institutions from breaking down." "I think liberals spend too much time pushing issues which just aren't relevant to the mass of people, including among such issues abortion, the death penalty and amnesty".

---

August 2, 1994: Congressional Record
Factcheck.org: Yes, the quote is right

Kerry: "Mr. President, if this Constitutionally protected right is to be preserved, and if women are to be treated decently and with respect, abortions need to be moved out of the fringes of medicine and into the mainstream of medical practice."

---

July 5, 2004: Interview with Dubuque, IA's Telegraph Herald

Washington Post: Kerry: "Life Begins at Conception"

Kerry told the paper, "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception."

---

July 22, 2004: ABC News Interview with Peter Jennings.
Kerry: "it's not the form of life that takes personhood in the terms that we have judged it to be in the past. It's the beginning of life"
(interview only available in Google's cache, ABC removed it)

Jennings: You told an Iowa newspaper recently that life begins at conception. What makes you think that?

Kerry: My personal belief about what happens in the fertilization process is a human being is first formed and created, and that's when life begins. Something begins to happen. There's a transformation. There's an evolution. Within weeks, you look and see the development of it, but that's not a person yet, and it's certainly not what somebody, in my judgment, ought to have the government of the United States intervening in.

.......

Jennings: Could you explain again to me what do you mean when you say "life begins at conception"?

Kerry: Well, that's what the Supreme Court has established is a test of viability as to whether or not you're permitted to terminate a pregnancy, and I support that. That is my test. And I, you know, you have all kinds of different evolutions of life, as we know, and very different beliefs about birth, the process of the development of a fetus. That's the standard that's been established in Roe v. Wade. And I adhere to that standard.

Jennings: If you believe that life begins at conception, is even a first-trimester abortion not murder?

Kerry: No, because it's not the form of life that takes personhood in the terms that we have judged it to be in the past. It's the beginning of life. Does life begin? Yes, it begins.

.....

Jennings: If I were really skeptical, Senator, I would say that when you use the phrase "life begins at conception," you're attempting to speak to those people for whom that is a slogan, making them totally opposed to abortion.

Kerry: Not in the least. It's a belief that is a belief of mine. It's consistent with everything I've always said over 35 years of public life. It is not a new statement, but it is consistent with my personal belief system about who chooses and what happens.

---

October 8, 2004: Second Presidential Debate.
Washington Post: Kerry: "I can talk reasonably about life and about responsibility."

First of all, I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins. I'm a Catholic, raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy. Religion has been a huge part of my life. It helped lead me through a war, leads me today.

But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that.

---

October 13, 2004: Third Presidential Debate.
San Diego Union Tribune: Kerry: "It's between a woman, God and her doctor."
I respect their views. I completely respect their views. I am a Catholic. And I grew up learning how to respect those views. But I disagree with them, as do many. All of those things come out of that fundamental teaching and belief of faith.

---

[cgk]

There are many many cliches to adequately describe Kerry's "evolution" on abortion, but I believe they've all been applied. His own words speak better than any cliche or label.

[cgk]

Ping. Input appreciated.

Pro-life and pro-baby.

[austinaero]

",,,difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth"

Spoken by the King of Clarity

[trublu]

"I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth."

It's God's fault!!

[trublu]

"I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth.

It's God's fault!!

[cpforlife.org]

PING

My DSL is still out! (Since Saturday aarrrrgggg!!! Bell South be DAMNED!!!
LOL)

I do not have my list on this PC. Please PING ya'll's lists.

[mountaineer]

Excellent. I'm printing this and sticking it on windshields at the local Catholic churches - there are too many Catholic Dems in these parts who will vote as their unions tell them, and not as their consciences would.

[Christian4Bush]

"I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth.

Hmmm...how about:

"Thou shalt not kill" (Ten Commandments)

Hmmm...pretty unclear to me. /extreme sarcasm

[browardchad]

"I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth."

I think He has John, in one short unequivocal phrase that might have escaped your search for nuance:

"Thou Shalt Not Kill."

[eastsider]

And I think, therefore, with a sense of justice in mind that one has to leave the question of abortion between a woman and her conscience and her doctor.

Justice and abortion are mutually exclusive, Senator.

[Siobhan]

I believe that some have it right when they say, he simply has no soul left.

[Wings-n-Wind]

I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth.

How about these thoughts?....

Exodus 20:13

You shall not murder.

Psalm 139:13-16

For you [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
(Emphasis added)

Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these

I think it has been made quite clear....

Regards

[DrewsDad]

Let's change this a little bit...

First of all, I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief [that rape and murder are wrong]...

But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith

I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth.

[NYer]

I would find it very difficult to legislate on something God himself has not seen fit to make clear to all the people on this earth...

Thous Shalt Not Kill!

Seems clear to me ... and I was never an altar boy.

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[vox_freedom]

Kerry is not only wrong on his positions but his so-called profession of faith and that he was once an altar boy statements affirm that he is promoting scandal, another Roman Catholic sin. He will answer to God for what he wrongly proclaims and the sin he causes among others.

[TheSpottedOwl]

It's just another Kerry flip flop. He has no beliefs that go beyond dipping into rich women's wallets.

Al Gore did the same switcheroo...

[WOSG]

Thanks so much for the summary... I am adding it to these, which I got from a pro-life email.

Now what about his record of votes?



Senator Kerry:

"I believe that choice [abortion] is a woman's choice. It's between a woman, God, and her doctor. And that's why I support that. Now, I will not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v. Wade. The president has never said whether or not he would do that. But we know from the people he's tried to appoint to the court he wants to. I will not. I will defend the right of Roe v. Wade."

President Bush:

"I think it's important to promote a culture of life. I think a hospitable society is a society where every being counts and every person matters. I believe the ideal world is one in which every child is protected in law and welcomed to life. I understand there's great differences on this issue of abortion, but I believe reasonable people can come together and put good law in place that will help reduce the number of abortions.

Take, for example, the ban on partial-birth abortion. It's a brutal practice. People from both political parties came together in the halls of Congress and voted overwhelmingly to ban that practice. It made a lot of sense. My opponent, in that he's out of the mainstream, voted against that law.

What I'm saying is is that as we promote life and promote a culture of life, surely there are ways we can work together to reduce the number of abortions: continue to promote adoption laws -- it's a great alternative to abortion -- continue to fund and promote maternity group homes; I will continue to promote abstinence programs."

[satchmodog9]

So, he's another Gephardt. Another Rat without any real convictions. He changes his stance to fit the ideals of the kook base in his party.

[WOSG]

HUman Events: The Case Against Kerry - Reason #5: Kerry is a Pro-Abortion Extremist

"Nothing is more important to NARAL Pro-Choice America, nothing is more important to me, between now and November, than seeing John Kerry place his hand on George Washington's Bible next January" - Kate Michelman

The presidential election of 2004 may be just as close as the presidential election of 2000. Once again, the outcome could be determined by a handful of votes in a single state.

Yet, the stakes in this election are enormous. While the vote margin between President Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry may turn out to be small, the differences in where they intend to take the country are vast.

Kerry is the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate. But he has labored in this campaign--and especially at the Democratic National Convention in Boston--to hide his true beliefs and obscure his record.

In "The Case Against Kerry," HUMAN EVENTS sets the record straight, unmasking the plain truth of what John Kerry has done in two decades in the U.S. Senate.

Click here to get the complete special report for FREE.

Kerry is a Pro-Abortion Extremist

Pro-lifers need not look far to find conclusive evidence that John Kerry would be the most extreme pro-abortion President America has ever had. The pro-abortion movement is loudly proclaiming it.

Speaking at an April 23, 2004 Kerry for President rally, then-NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman (who now heads the Democratic National Committee's so-called "Campaign to Save the Court") defined the campaign through the eyes of the pro-abortion movement. "There has never, not in my life, not in NARAL Pro-Choice America's life, never, never been a more important presidential election for the women of this nation and the women of the world," said Michelman. "We have never, ever before in our nation's history had a President whose attitudes toward women are more wrongheaded and more dangerous than those of our current President, George W. Bush. Nor has there been any leader in America today more courageous, more compassionate, more caring, whose beliefs about women are more progressive, thoughtful, and more forward-looking than our next President, John Kerry."

At the rally, Michelman made Kerry a pledge. "We're going to spread the word on doorsteps and in cyberspace, on television and over the telephone, over the airwaves and at the grassroots," she said, "and, John, here's a guaranteed result for your plan to restore America's economy, we're going to wear out so many pro-choice leather soles in so many pro-choice shoes, that come November, our national shoe leather industry will be in the throes of an historic boom. We're going to march all over this country. We will not rest, and I will not rest. Nothing is more important to NARAL Pro-Choice America, nothing is more important to me, between now and November, than seeing John Kerry place his hand on George Washington's Bible next January, and swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America."

Michelman's confidence in Kerry's commitment to the pro-abortion cause is amply born out by Kerry's record. His votes and statements indicate he has been a strong and consistent supporter of everything from keeping partial-birth abortion legal, to providing foreign aid to promote abortion, to pledging to filibuster pro-life judges.

A Perfect Pro-Abortion Record

PROPOSAL	VOTE
Roe v. Wade	FOR:Voted Yes on Harkin Amendment to S 3, Vote #48, 3/12/03, and to S 1692, Vote #337, 10/21/99 stating: 'Roe v. Wade was an appropriate decision and secures an important constitutional right; and such decision should not be overturned.'
Partial Birth Abortion Ban	AGAINST:Voted No on S 3, Vote #402, 10/21/03; Voted No on S 1692, Vote #340, 10/21/99; Voted No on HR 1122, Vote #277, 9/18/98; Voted No on HR 1122, Vote #71, 5/20/97.
International Planned Parenthood Funding	FOR:Voted Yes on HJ RES 36, Vote #13, 2/25/97.
Evading Parental Notification Laws By Allowing Minors to be Taken Across State Lines For Abortions	FOR:Voted No on cloture for HR 3682, Vote #282, 9/22/98.
Federal Funding for Federal Employees' Abortions	FOR:Voted Yes on tabling S 1282, Vote #197, 7/1/99; Voted No on DeWine Amendment, Vote #190, 7/22/97.
Abortion at U.S. Military Bases	FOR:Voted No on tabling amendment to S 2549, Vote #134, 6/20/00; Voted Yes on S 2514, Vote #160, 6/21/02; Voted No on S 1059, Vote #158, 5/26/99; Voted Yes on S 2057, Vote #176, 6/25/98; Voted Yes on S 936, Vote #167, 7/10/97.
Unborn Victims of Violence Act	AGAINST:Voted no on passage of HR 1997, 'Lacie and Connor's Law,' Vote #63, 3/25/04.

Pledges Made to Pro-Abortion Activists

"I am prepared to filibuster, if necessary, any Supreme Court nominee who would turn back the clock on a woman's right to choose or the constitutional right to privacy."

--JOHN KERRY
Associated Press,
June 20, 2003

"As President, I will only appoint Supreme Court justices who will uphold a woman's right to choose."

--JOHN KERRY
www.johnkerry.com/issues/women
March 8, 2003

"I cannot, however, support this bill [S. 46, Unborn Children's Civil Rights Act of 1985] because it is based on the premise that the fetus is a living human being. This is a religious, not scientific belief, and as such, I cannot support any legislation which imposes any one religious view on all people."

--JOHN KERRY
in a letter to a Massachusetts constituent,
as reported by the National
Right to Life Committee,
July 30, 1985

"[My first executive order would be to] Reverse the Mexico City policy on the gag rule [which stops U.S. foreign aid from going to organizations that promote abortion overseas] so that we take a responsible position globally on family planning."

--JOHN KERRY
Democratic debate,
Feb. 26, 2004

"President Bush has signed legislation [the Partial Birth Abortion Ban] that takes a step backwards for women as his stealth agenda to roll back the right to choose is pushed forward."

--JOHN KERRY
Press Release
Nov. 3, 2003

"I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist...who doesn't share it. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America."

--JOHN KERRY
The Dubuque Telegraph Herald
July 5, 2004

"The right to choose abortion is a fundamental right, based on each woman's right to privacy. Neither the government nor any person has the right to infringe on that freedom."

--JOHN KERRY
Congressional Record, S 453
Jan. 22, 1985

"We're not going to let you turn back the clock. No overturning Row v. Wade. No packing the courts with justices hostile to choice. No denial of choice to poor women."

--JOHN KERRY, delivering a public
rebuke to President Bush,
NARAL 30th Anniversary Banquet
Jan. 21, 2003

"We need to energize a new generation of citizens that care about freedom [to] stand up and make clear that we can't go back....We will never let this right [to abortion on demand] be taken away."

--JOHN KERRY
Press release on the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Jan. 22, 2004

Ten Reasons John Kerry Should Not Be President