MR. RUSSERT: This is the 2004 Republican Party platform, and here it is: We say the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, we endorse legislation to make it clear that the Fourteenth Amendments protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions. Could you run as a candidate on that platform, promising a human life amendment banning all abortions?
MR. THOMPSON: No.
MR. RUSSERT: You would not?
MR. THOMPSON: No. I have alwaysand thats been my position the entire time Ive been in politics. I thought Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. I think this platform originally came out as a response to particularly Roe v. Wade because of that. Before Roe v. Wade, states made those decisions. I think people ought to be free at state and local levels to make decisions that even Fred Thompson disagrees with. Thats what freedom is all about.
MR. RUSSERT: And also with gay marriage, according to the Associated Press: Thompson favors a constitutional amendment that bars judges from legalizing gay marriage, but also leaves open the door for state legislatures to approve the practice. So if a state said, We want to have gay marriages in our state, you would be OK with that?
MR. THOMPSON: Yes. This, this, thisthemarriage is between a man and a woman. Nobody ever thought that that was contested until recently, and weve had a couple judges in a couple states decide to turn all that on its head. So weve, weve had, again, a judge-created problem. I would support a constitutional amendment that addresses this judge-created problem. But at the end ofand, and say judges cant do that. But, at the end of the day, if a state legislature and a governor decide that thats what they want to do, yes, they should have, they, they should have the freedom to do what Fred Thompson thinks is a very bad idea.
MR. RUSSERT: In March of 05, the Congress, the president signed legislation allowing a federal judge to intervene, to perhaps re-insert a feeding tube in the famous Terri Schiavo case.
MR. THOMPSON: Yeah.
MR. RUSSERT: Youve spoken about that, about the death of your own daughter. Your view is it is a familys decision to make whether to insert or remove a feeding tube.
MR. THOMPSON: Yes.
MR. RUSSERT: And that should...
MR. THOMPSON: And then, and then, obviously, in consultation with their doctor.
MR. RUSSERT: But there should be no laws involved?
MR. THOMPSON: No. Ive not said that. WhatI mean, you, you got to put your lawyer hat back on, you know, with this most personal, should be nonlegal consideration. If there is a family dispute, then therere courts in, in every state in the nation that you can take a dispute like that to. I said the federal government should not be involved.
MR. RUSSERT: But the government should not have gotten involved in Terri Schiavo?
MR. THOMPSON: No.
and based on your propensity to look to the Federal Government to enforce your views on others, you are one yourself.
Remember the definition of a liberal as someone who believes that "the problems of society are due mostly and mainly to the shorcomings of others." Fits you to a "Tee".
If you don't like being called a "liberal", then let's call you a "statist". But then, like you say:... a liberal is a liberal is a liberal ...
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But, at the end of the day, if a state legislature and a governor decide that thats what they want to do, yes, they should have, they, they should have the freedom to do what Fred Thompson thinks is a very bad idea.
Oh my gosh, he really is the next Bob Dole, he is even speaking about himself in the third person (\sarc)
MR. RUSSERT: Youve spoken about that, about the death of your own daughter. Your view is it is a familys decision to make whether to insert or remove a feeding tube.
MR. THOMPSON: Yes.
This is an issue I haven't followed real closely, because I tended to not like Congress intervening on this case, and I was flamed on this site for saying it.... But I thought that people here were saying that Freds daughters situation was different because of her being on a breathing machine, and not "starving her to death", yet here Fred clearly says that he agrees that removing a FEEDING TUBE is a family decision and not "murder".
Where are the Terry Shiavo people on this one? Is this OK?
There’s more to conservatism than social issues. There’s also the component of where government needs to be involved and where it doesn’t.
Finally...there’s the fact that overturning Roe has more likelihood of happening than passing any sort of Constitutional amendment banning abortion in this current political climate.
Those sound like well thought out answers, and I agree with every single one of them.