for eMaxHealthAbortion Rights
Two newspapers on Wednesday published an editorial and an opinion piece about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's(R) support for abortion rights and religious conservative leaders'reaction to his candidacy. Giuliani, who is running for the Republicanpresidential nomination, on Saturday at the "Values Voter" summithosted by the Family Research Councilin Washington, D.C., called on religious and social conservatives tooverlook differences on abortion and other issues. "People of goodconscience come to different conclusions about whether abortions shouldbe legal in some circumstances," Giuliani said, adding that he believes"all Americans share the same goal. A country without abortions" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/22). Summaries appear below.
- Los Angeles Times:Some religious conservative leaders are considering supporting athird-party candidate if both Democrats and Republicans nominatecandidates who support abortion rights, but they should take Giuliani's"advice and resist subjecting candidates to a litmus test on abortionor any other single issue," a Times editorial says. Eventhough Giuliani supports abortion rights, he might "be responsive tothe religious right" by appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices likelyto "reconsider or limit the reach" of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans, the editorial says. According to the Times, ifGiuliani's positions "driv[e]" the religious conservative "movementinto the wilderness of third-party politics," then the leaders willhave "diminish[ed]" influence in Washington, D.C. (Los Angeles Times, 10/24).
- Michael Medved, USA Today:It is a "major distortion" to label Giuliani as "pro-abortion" and"indistinguishable" from the Democratic candidates for president,Medved, a USA Today contributor and nationally syndicatedtalk show host, writes in an opinion piece. According to Medved,Giuliani "stands in the middle" of the abortion debate by supporting"policies designed to discourage or even sharply limit abortion,"opposing the use of public funding for abortions and "leaving the finaldecisions to women and their doctors in most circumstances." Medvedconcludes that Giuliani's position on abortion rights "actuallycorrelates with the American majority" (Medved, USA Today, 10/24).
Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view theentire Kaiser DailyWomen's Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up for emaildelivery at kaisernetwork.org/email. The Kaiser Daily Women'sHealth Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of TheHenry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
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