Thompson has been tripped up by news events himself. In September, he said he was not aware that the Supreme Court had decided to hear arguments on the constitutionality of lethal injection as a means of execution. And early in his campaign, Thompson sidestepped a question about the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case, saying he didn't remember the details.
Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail
8mm
The pro-life movement is divided in two between pragmatists who embrace incremental regulation, and radicals who reject incremental regulation in favor of full prohibition. The hostility between these factions is in some ways greater than the hostility between the pro-life and pro-choice movements.
Because 1990s clinic violence has put radicals in a difficult position, pragmatism is ascendant within the movement. Meanwhile, that same clinic violence, coupled with the Terri Schiavo debacle, has greatly reduced the influence of the pro-life movement as a whole within the Republican Party. One need only ask: How likely would it have been that pro-choice Rudy Giuliani would be leading the Republican pack ten years ago, regardless of his other credentials?
The Future of Abortion Rights in America
8mm