Abortion activists challenge candidate

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 3/16/02 | Carla Marinucci

[TheAngryClam]

GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon Jr. has promised he will "change the topic" if asked about controversial issues like abortion in the coming campaign, but pro-choice activists defiantly signaled this week that he won't have an easy time of it.

[TheAngryClam]

Parsky is already pull out his "you have to follow what I say to broaden the party" bullshit on Simon. Having lost with his RINO (Riordan), he's set about trying to create another one.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Abortion activists challenge candidate

[nickcarraway]

But will he fail to support Simon vigorously if Simon doesn't Riordanize?

[Salvation]

Is this what Stinson needs to know?

[BibChr]

PING on whole thread, including very interesting responses.

[mustapha mond]

The evil NARAL hags have infiltrated Republican organisations, across the country, from the town committee level on up. They are as ruthless as they are well organised. They have a table at every high profile Republican event in Connecticut. Something needs to be done to counter their influence. --MM

[Zack Nguyen]

If Simon continues to run from the abortion issue, he might lose conservative votes. This concerns me. If he makes it clear that he will do little or nothing to advance the cause of life then he gives pro-lifers little motivation to vote for him.

I don't think very many pro-lifers expect him to mention abortion at every campaign stop (at least I wouldn't if I lived in California.) But simply saying that its "set in stone" at the state and federal level isn't good enough.

[Zack Nguyen]

However, the reality is that electing Simon to be governor of California will not have any impact on abortions in California while he is governor.

That is incorrect. There is a great deal that a Governor can do. He can sign parental notification (which caused a 20% drop in teen abortions in Texas in one year), he can sign parental consent. He can push for and sign informed consent and a 48-hour waiting period before an abortion can be obtained in non-emergency situations. He can de-fund Planned Parenthood completely, in fact he can pass legislation wiping out family-planning funding of any kind.

[Holden Magroin]

Most voters don't give a hoot about abortion. Any person who feels that strongly about this issue wouldn't vote for Simon in any event. Simon just needs to play a little jujitsu and say that Davis and his ilk just want to obscure the $17-billion deficit and the energy crisis.

[d14truth]

"If I were Bill Simon I would say, "Yes I am pro-life. To be pro-life means standing against any evil instituion that cheapens human life, including abortion. I know this will cost me some votes, but I would rather be right than be governor."

If I were Bill Simon I would say, "Kate, you can correctly say I am anti-abortion. However, I am just as much 'pro-choice as you are. I CHOOSE life! To be pro-life, as you call it, or a 'LIFE-choicer', as I call it, 'means standing against any evil instituion that cheapens human life, including abortion. I know this will cost me some votes, but I would rather be right than be governor.' And, you know what, Kate, I can understand your wanting your freedom of choice, what I can't understand is why those of us who would 'choose' differently are 'TAXED' because of your choice. I will never willingly be an 'accomplice to murder', which is what I 'choose' to call an abortion."

[He Rides A White Horse]

"We're not going to let him," said Kate Michelman, the nation's leading abortion rights activist who heads NARAL, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.

That's okay, Kate, because perhaps people should be reminded that you called abortion survivor Gianna Jesson a 'circus freak'..........kinda icy Kate, if you know what I mean.

[d14truth]

"I don't think very many pro-lifers expect him to mention abortion at every campaign stop (at least I wouldn't if I lived in California.) But simply saying that its "set in stone" at the state and federal level isn't good enough."

To reframe the debate and get away from stereotypical 'pro-life'/'pro-choice' hot buttons; the life choice advocates gain much in defeating the liberal argument by assuming the 'life' side of the 'choice' discussion. The other 'choice' is not pretty, nor easy to side with, unless you are a beneficiary of the 'federal funding' that accompanies 'Planned Parenthood' and the 'choice' programs it currently endorses.

[phil1750]

"Roe vs. Wade is hanging by a thread" ........................ This is great news. Hope she is right.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Simon's campaign yesterday dismissed the talk as partisan rhetoric.

Actually, I think the rantings of Michelman are those of some embittered feminazi.

[He Rides A White Horse]

It seems to me at times that these types are those unable to form stable relationships with those of the opposite sex. It's almost like, "I hate men, and have a personal vendetta that I want to take to a global scale. I'm not going to have children with any man ever, so I want all women to join me in my misery; you must go as far as to kill any offspring you produce with them."

Sick.

[He Rides A White Horse]

"Bill Simon has been very clear that he is anti-choice, . . . and he doesn't represent the interests of women on the issue of reproductive rights."

....just listen to this screeching; if somebody doesn't think kids should be killed, we're anti-woman, trying to suppress them, blah, blah, blah............go take a cold shower, Kate. You might feel better, I dunno.

[Zack Nguyen]

I think you're right. A great portion of the pro-abortion movement is made up of people that demand that the world join them in their misery. Subconsciously they are filled with rage that anyone should be happy if they are not.

[He Rides A White Horse]

bumpity bump, buddy.........

......"Misery loves company".......I think they are a most miserable lot.

[Gophack]

I think the point of Simon's position is that he has already stated -- emphatically -- that he is pro-life. But the election doesn't hinge on whether someone is pro-life or pro-abortion ... the election is going to be able the economy, education and energy ... three areas Gray Davis has failed miserably in.

Simon can't simply run his campaign on Life and nothing else ... his point is that Davis is trying to avoid his failures by throwing up the abortion issue each and every time.

Simon is pro-life. He is solidly conservative. You can see his conservatism also in his ideas on the issues that drive the voters ... this year, education, the economy, and energy. His solutions are conservative, his ideas grounded in science and sound economics and ideas.

Yes, he can't avoid the issue completely. But he shouldn't play their game. They want to make it THE ONLY issue, and I just think it's going to backfire on them.

[let freedom sing]

Abortion activists need to get a life-- Elect Bill Simon.