Posted on 04/06/2007 8:24:56 AM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R), who has formed a presidential exploratory committee, on Wednesday said he favors government funding for some abortions but added in a statement that he "will not seek to change current law," Long Island Newsday reports (Gordon, Long Island Newsday, 4/4).
"Ultimately, [abortion is] a constitutional right, and therefore, if it's a constitutional right, ... you have to make sure people are protected," Giuliani said in an interview with Dana Bash of CNN (Saltonstall, New York Daily News, 4/5).
Giuliani's campaign later issued a statement that he will not seek to change the law known as the Hyde amendment (Long Island Newsday, 4/4). The Hyde amendment, passed in 1976, forbids the use of federal funds to pay for the cost of an abortion except in cases of rape or incest or when a woman's life is in danger (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/19/05).
In response to reporters' questions on Thursday in South Carolina, Giuliani said, "The best way to handle funding is to follow the law," adding, "Federal funds are used only in very limited cases for abortion, and it is left for a state-by-state decision. I have expressed previously that I am very comfortable with that" (Santora, New York Times, 4/6). Giuliani on Tuesday reiterated his support for abortion rights but said, "I don't know that I'd do anything as president to try to preserve that. That's a decision for the court" (Balz, Washington Post, 4/5). Earlier this year, Giuliani said he would appoint "strict constructionist" judges to the Supreme Court.
In a February interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, he also said that a law (S 3) being reviewed by the Supreme Court that bans so-called "partial-birth abortion" should be upheld and that he supports parental notification requirements with a judicial bypass provision for minors seeking abortions (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/14). On Thursday, he said that his comments about judicial appointments were not an indication that he would like to see Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans, from being overturned, the AP/Forbes reports (Davenport, AP/Forbes, 4/5). "I'm against abortion," Giuliani said, adding, "I hate it. I wish there never was an abortion, and I would counsel a woman to have an adoption instead of an abortion. ... But, ultimately, I believe it is an individual right, and the woman can make that choice" (Saltonstall, New York Daily News, 4/6).
Here’s the recap.
...proudly rejected Rudy’s nomination from day one!
DOH! He’s going to regret saying that.
Still on the fence if he wins the primary whether I stay home or not.
This was his ‘Howard Dean Scream’ moment.
“DOH! He’s going to regret saying that.”
He won’t for awhile. His boosters are lapping it up, doing all they can to spin it into a positive.
I will NEVER knowingly vote for a child killer. He will not get my vote even if Hillary is the only other candidate. (Of course, she won’t get my vote, either.)
And that is what they did with their clarification.
SPIN LIKE A TOP.
Here’s the You Tube CNN interview.
Rudy supporters:
Rudy started his campaign with great name recognition and some promises to pretend to be a conservative. As time goes on, these promises are being challenged.
As Rudy fails these challenges, so should your support for him.
Taxpayer funded abortion is one of them.
Then where is my constitionally-mandated, federally-funded firearms voucher?
Sorry, you have to be poor to qualify for the federal firearms voucher. /s
There is no language mentioning abortion at all.
He later told Sean Hannity that he had misspoken and that he supported the Hyde Amendment, which bars most federal abortion funding.
I’m all in favor of government funding in cases of rape or incest or to save a mother’s life. I hope that’s what Rudy meant.
I’m with you. I’m disappointed he made such a statement. I thought he wanted the Republican nomination!
Rudy reiterated his previous position, and therefore such comments are not surprising. However, if he had changed his position, he would have been assailed as a flip-flopper who simply cannot be trusted.
IOW, a no-win situation, as there are some who are determined to use whatever he says to tear him apart.
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