Posted on 01/24/2005 5:30:54 PM PST by nj26
Proposing new political language about abortion rights for the Democratic Party, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said today that friends and foes on the issue should come together on "common ground" to reduce the number of "unwanted pregnancies" and ultimately abortions, which she called a "sad, even tragic choice to many, many women."
Mrs. Clinton, in a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters at the state Capitol, firmly restated her support for the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, Roe v. Wade. But then she quickly shifted gears, offering warm words to opponents of abortion - particularly members of religious groups - asserting that there was "common ground" to be found after three decades of emotional and political warfare over abortion.
Mrs. Clinton is widely seen as a possible candidate for the party's presidential nomination in 2008, and her remarks signaled that she could be recalibrating her strong identification with the abortion-rights movement as the Democratic Party engages in its own re-examination of its handling of the issue in the wake of Senator John Kerry's loss in the 2004 presidential race.
Ms. Clinton has been a visible and very public defender of abortion rights, appearing at a huge rally in Washington last spring and denouncing what she called Republican efforts to demonize the abortion rights movement.
While she acknowledged in her address today that Americans have "deeply held differences" over abortion rights, Mrs. Clinton told the annual conference of the Family Planning Advocates of New York State, "I for one respect those who believe with all their heart and conscience that there are no circumstances under which abortion should be available."
In addition to her description of abortion as a "tragic choice" for many," Mrs. Clinton said that faith and organized religion were the "primary" reasons that teenagers abstain from sexual relations, and reminded the audience that during the 1990's, she promoted "teen celibacy" as a way to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
"The fact is, the best way to reduce the number of abortions is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place," Mrs. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton also called today for the Bush administration, religious groups, supporters and opponents of abortion rights and others to look beyond the abortion rights divide and form a broad alliance on other issues that she suggested as less incendiary: sex-education programs for teenagers that included abstinence education, emergency contraception for women who have recently had unprotected intercourse, and family planning.
The speech was also notable for a stream of statistics and data that, Mrs. Clinton's aides said afterward, were included to underscore her view that the reduction of "unwanted pregnancies" could be a unifying issue for supporters and opponents of abortion rights.
At one point, for instance, she drew gasps from some in the audience by mentioning that 7 percent of American women who do not use contraception account for 53 percent of all unintended pregnancies.
Several women in the audience reacted positively to Mrs. Clinton, whose remarks were interrupted by applause several times and ended with a standing ovation. But they also said her language and themes seemed politically calculated to deal with the abortion "freak-out" among Democrats, as one audience member put it, and reach out to independent and conservative voters in hopes of broadening her base of support for a possible 2008 presidential run.
Pray for W and The Women of Abortion
Tell that to the b*tch who created a T SHIRT that proudly proclaimed........I HAD AN ABORTION
She is a formidable foe only because the media supports her every breath and does not question all her inconsistencies, lies, "not remembering," etc.
But, what will stop her in the end are her spectacular and clear negatives (remember the firemen and cops booing here in Madisn Sq Garden?)
When you're Queen Hillary, there is no need to explain anything to us lowly serfs!! She never sits for a real interview and most Republicans don't have the nads to take her on. People will continue to go to jail (like that moron Susan MacDougal)and the media will continue to give her a pass. She truly is the devil!
"Mrs. Clinton, in a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters at the state Capitol, firmly restated her support for the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, Roe v. Wade."
The only important sentence in the article. The rest is just the Democrats new attempt at decieving people with "new political language'".
Imagine Hillary in a bathing suit. Now, return to your keyboard once done vomitting.
It's sooo her.
Slowly we are changing the hearts and minds of decent people.
A big part of that change is due to our President.
Easy now, pardner...
You're just beggin' for a Helen Thomas pic posting.
Serious question: what the hell does she mean? Is it a sad, tragic choice to women who are having the abortions, but have them any way, or sad or tragic to women, and men, who oppose women having abortions?
It's really not intended to say much of anything, IMHO, other than to have Hillary, in some way, shape or form, throw around the words "sad and tragic" in the same sentence as abortion, to fool people into thinking she is something other than what she is: a pro-abortion absolutist.
Of course, Hillary doesn't mention that abortion is saddest and most tragic for the baby who is killed.
Do we know what Bush's position on Roe v Wade is?
i'm dying for any and all info wrt the March For Life that took place in DC today. Very little media coverage other than transcripting W's message to the group.
Can't wait to see pictures of the event.
Click on Drudge and read the story about Hitlery's comments to pro abort people today.
She's going to be on all sides of every issue, in other words, a female kerry.
"The fact is, the best way to reduce the number of abortions is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place," Mrs. Clinton said.
No, the best way to reduce the number of abortions is to outlaw them!
She must have figured out that the fact that Liberals/Democrats are killing their own children is probably a bad thing for them long term. Well, it's taken the L/Ds what - 30 years - to figure that out? As usual, the foundation of liberalism is always a position that is untenable.
Liberalism: A mental disorder (with acknowledgement to M. Savage).
Could she be anymore transparent? Trying to appease the majority of "values" voters, without alienating her leftist base, to set herself up for 2008. She has calculated that her "conversion" to the right side cannot include a pro-life/anti-abortion stance, so she's trotting out the old "can't we all get along" canard in an effort to shore up a very fat achilles heel.
Is the defeat Hillary 527 up yet ? Where do I contribute to ?
don't underestimate her, she is moving to the center on a whole host of issues, the media and the entrenched left will say nothing as she is their "stealth candidate".
we need 527 ads running against her, very early, so there is some rebuttal as she redefines herself.
yes. I also remember that their boos were edited out of the DVD of the concert (that's why I didn't buy it) by the entertainment industry that produced it.
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