Nice liberal take on things, you even dragged in Reagan.
While not radically and passionately pro-abortion like Mitt Romney, Ford was believed to have only played pro-life for politics, even in the 1976 campaign they portrayed his wife as openly pro-abortion, he eventually went public with a pro-abortion position, he just didn’t promote it like Romney.
Carter ran as pro-life and anti-abortion in a contrast with Gerald Ford.
Stephen F. Hayward, PhD., who last year wrote a book on Carter noted Carter’s political exploitationÂof abortion in the past. In an interview with National Review, Hayward recalled of Carter’s abortion stand: “The 1976 campaign was the first national election after the Roe decision, and the politics of the issue were still sorting themselves out. Remember that Gerald Ford was pro-abortion, while many Democrats, including Sargent Shriver, one of Carter’s rivals, were pro-life.
September 17, 1976: The U.S Congress approves the Hyde Amendment, barring the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk. The Amendment is attached as a rider to the Health & Welfare appropriations bill, subsequently vetoed by President Gerald Ford.
Reagan promoted a Federal ban on abortion, Ford came out for abortion.
Read that over again. The Hyde Amendment was attached to the Democrats' Labor-HEW appropriations bill. Here's what Ford said when he vetoed that bill:
“I agree with the restriction on the use of Federal funds for abortion. My objection to this legislation is based purely and simply on fiscal integrity.”
Pretty straightforward. Ford may have been wrong or had the wrong priorities. He may have been lying or playing politics. But do him the decency of quoting his actual words and presenting the position he claimed to represent.
Reagan promoted a Federal ban on abortion, Ford came out for abortion.
About Reagan: sure, knowing that that would never happen in his lifetime. About Ford: maybe, after he left office. That wasn't his position when he was president.
There were certainly differences in the two men and their positions on abortion. I think Reagan was the better president and better on abortion. But the two men weren't polar opposites in everything or in their thinking on abortion. Ford's view was more complicated than you have said.