Dear EternalVigilance,
"His abortion position, up until 'viability', makes him functionally pro-abortion."
Actually, his position is that he accepts abortion up until, I think central nervous or brain function, which is much earlier than viability, actually toward the end of the first trimester.
Thus, I don't think that he's "functionally pro-abortion" right now. I've talked to a lot of pro-lifers, and most seem to agree that a presidential nominee who agrees that Roe must go, all things be equal, is acceptable, even if not perfectly pro-life.
Sen. Allen has indicated that he believes abortion laws should be more restrictive than they are at this time, but more importantly, that states should have the ability to determine their own laws on abortion. This is in direct contradiction to the central holding of Roe and Doe.
Since the primary current legal obstacle to protecting unborn children is Roe and its machinery of murder, any presidential candidate who will appoint Supreme Court Justices who understand that Roe is bad constitutional law, and must go, is at least an acceptable presidential candidate.
Thus, Sen. Allen, for now, is a pro-life ally, if not a real pro-lifer himself.
Ironically, once Roe is overturned, folks like Sen. Allen will become adversaries to life.
But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I would vote for Sen. Allen in 2008 for President of the United States.
sitetest
The Republican National Coalition for Life says that 'the views George Allen expresses can only be described as pro-choice, not pro-life'.
It would also appear that he supports abortions up until VIABILITY!
George Allen on the Life Issues – U.S. Senator George Allen is the former Governor of Virginia. In that capacity, on March 22, 1997, he signed a parental notice bill before 1,500 supporters in a ceremony replete with families carrying “Thank you Governor Allen” signs. Since that time, Allen has given every indication that he is another politician who claims to be “pro-life” while endorsing measures to restrict or regulate the practice of abortion, but not make it illegal.
In 2000, Senator Allen responded to a Project Vote Smart questionnaire, saying abortions should be illegal when the fetus is viable, with or without life support. In other words, he supported abortion until viability, when 98% of the abortions are performed. He said abortions should be legal when pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, when the life of the woman is endangered, and he added that abortion should be legal for gross fetal abnormality. Of course, he supported the usual restrictions such as a partial-birth abortion ban, waiting periods, and opposed public funding of abortions. But the views he expressed can only be described as pro-choice, not pro-life.
On May 22, 2005, George Allen appeared with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday Morning Talk, and he was asked whether he supported Bush’s restriction on embryonic stem cell research, or if he favored the legislation that would expand the number of embryos to be used for experimentation. His response was, “I’m probably in between the both of them.” Later in the interview, Allen said, “I do not want to be creating embryos simply for harvesting, nor do I want to allow cloning.” Stephanopoulos replied, “But if they were left over from fertility treatments, it’s OK to do the research on them.” Allen responded, “Yes.”
Contact: Colleen Parro – Fax: 972/387-3830 – E-Mail: rnclife@swbell.net
Please visit our website at: http://www.rnclife.org.
2008 Looms Ahead – Will Pro-Life Conservatives Have a Horse in the Race?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1611126/posts
To reiterate: According to this article, the abortions George Allen supports include 98% of those that are being committed now!
Even if that were true, which the Republican National Coalition for Life information debunks, such a stance in itself completely undercuts the pro-life cause, and in fact supports my contention that he is 'functionally pro-abortion'.
You have to completely walk away from hard science about when human life begins...when the unique DNA of the individual human being comes into existence...to have a position anything like the phony so-called 'pro-life' position of George Allen.
Don't be taken in by the hype and the deception about the Senator.
Yes, life is best protected by state laws.