Posted on 02/10/2006 10:23:56 AM PST by presidio9
State Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, vowed Thursday to "do everything in my power" to preserve women's access to abortion in New York if the newly configured U.S. Supreme Court moves to reopen the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. He also spoke in favor of improving adoption services and prenatal care for pregnant women, and a better dialogue with abortion foes on how to curb unwanted pregnancies.
"There are people of good will with deep moral and religious beliefs who oppose abortion," Spitzer said in a speech at New York Law School. "They are honorable and thoughtful, and their position in the national debate should be respected."
Accepting the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, Spitzer reiterated his support for late-term abortion if the procedure were deemed necessary to preserve a pregnant woman's life or health. But he also called for abortions to be "safe, legal and rare," a standard first set by former President Bill Clinton and adopted recently by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
While not naming Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, a likely rival for the Democratic nomination who has offered a plan to reduce abortions, Spitzer said the abortion debate should not be "about tinkering with a point here or there or shading an argument to placate one crowd or another."
Tuesday, Suozzi announced a $1 million Common Sense for the Common Good Initiative, promoting birth control, adoption, housing for unwed mothers and abstinence. He awarded eight grants to groups across the abortion rights spectrum, from Planned Parenthood to Catholic Charities.
NARAL Pro-Choice New York immediately criticized the program because some of the grants went to anti-abortion groups that promote abstinence-only sex education.
Spitzer declined to comment directly on Suozzi's proposal, saying he had not had time to review it. But he said he would be willing to consider abstinence-based programs as one part of a larger effort to reduce abortions.
"Abstinence is an important part of it, but it's not sufficient," Spitzer said.
Suozzi has said he supports abortion rights and would support late-term abortions if a woman's life or health were at risk.
Rudy owes it to his state to take on this dangerous madman.
Why would this article make you think that. Rudy is pro abortion too.
Notice it's called "abortion rights" and not "anti life rights". The "rights" in the statement makes it sound like you're trying to deny something (dare I say) god given?
Abortion was legal in New York state before Roe v. Wade, and will remain legal in New York state even if Roe v. Wade is overturned. There are far too many people in favor of abortion in this state for that to change any time soon.
Because he can win and he is not militantly pro-choice like Spitzer. Name one openly pro-life Republican whom has a prayer in New York.
Thanks for the ping!
There are no competitve pro-life candidates in NY because the Republican party here is a joke that refuses to press this issue. The last pro-life governor of NY was Malcolm Wilson. BTW, the correct name for the Tappan Zee bridge is "The Malcolm Wilson Bridge."
I thought that New York had long ago voted to retain abortion rights if Roe-v-Wade were overturned. I guess he just wants to push the abortion thing to stir up the libs and fems in NY.
Sad to say, but my home state of New York is the most pro-abortion in the nation.
No California is, I think, and has the largest incidence of abortions. California is all about me.
I believe 40% of all pregnancies in New York City end in abortions.
Social conservatives are now all but extinct in New York state. The same can't be said of California (yet).
Who was it who said Hispanics can't assimilate again?
I'm sure Mexican Americans must be either third or fourth.
Blacks are diminishing in California as a percentage, and we don't have many of the Rican types. So somebody must be doing it.
I would also hazard a guess that California blacks might be close to the being most upscale in the nation now, after Maryland. Mexicans are driving the black underclass out. Watts is now a Mexican neighborhood. The most black neighborhoods in Socal are now middle class, around the Baldwin Hills area.
Which is why the Californicators on this site whine about Mexicans as the "thug group" the same way folks in the NE or upper midwest speak about blacks. That is why I am cynical when I hear all the comments on the Calipornia threads.
Re: Your statistics page. Its interesting, though not surprising, that Florida had such a high rate of abortion in the 1980s and 1990s (before the GOP took over the legislature and tightened the laws in the late 1990s). Miami was once filled with what amounted to store front abortion clinics, many of which catered to women from Latin America who flew in for the day simply for the procedure.
I guess the argument could be made that Dems kill babies---Repubs kill terrorists- think it'll play in 06 and 08?
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