While the political debate over abortion will continue for a very long time, the federal government can and should be doing more to support programs and services that provide women with better options.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The Supreme Court has in place a legal structure which protects abortion rights in this country, and something has got to be done to change that before we can put in place truly meaningful protection for the unborn.
For almost twenty years, abortion policy in America has been controlled by the courts.
The national Democratic Party has embraced abortion on demand. I believe this position is wrong in principle and out of the mainstream of our party's historic commitment to protecting the powerless.
Reproductive choice has to be straightened out. There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that changed their abortion laws before Roe are not going to change back. So we have a policy that only affects poor women, and it can never be otherwise.
In short, I'm not sure that the abortion problem can be solved by legislation. I think it can only be solved through moral persuasion.
We believe the Senate language provides for federal subsidies for abortions. Plus there's a language in there where you have to pay one dollar per month, every enrollee, to pay for a fund for reproductive rights which include abortion. And that's totally against federal law. So we are saying take that out.
Expanding eligibility of family planning services to low-income women will maximize cost-savings to both federal and state governments, reduce the disparities in access to family planning services for low-income women, and decrease the incidence of abortion in the U.S.
Together, we will protect the sanctity of life, ensuring early next Congress that no federal funds are used for abortion.
What we need to do is have empathy and that ultimately, at the end of the day, it's a woman's private choice... I don't support federal funding for abortions, nor do I support late-term abortions.
Abortion's a private decision. But I just think it shouldn't be federalized.