John Edwards on Abortion 2004 Democratic Nominee for Vice President; Former Jr Senator (NC)

Gov’t should not decide for women on partial-birth abortion

A: This decision by the Supreme Court is a perfect example of what’s at stake in this election. The kind of people that will be appointed to the US Supreme Court by the next president will control whether a woman’s freedom, freedom to choose, make her own health care decisions will be made by her or will be made by the government or by some men sitting on the US Supreme Court. Now, on the issue of abortion, I believe in a woman’s right to choose, but I think this is an extraordinarily difficult issue for America. I think it is very important for the president of the United States to recognize--while I believe the government should not make these health-care decisions for women--I believe they should have the freedom to make them themselves--this is a very difficult issue for many people. And I think we have to show respect for people who have different views about this.

Ad: compassion, truth, and hope over fear-mongering

EDWARDS: We are going to build an America where we say no to kids going to bed hungry. No to kids not having the clothes to keep them warm.

GRAPHIC: Trust

EDWARDS: Every child in America will be safer and more secure if they grow up in a world where we are once more looked up to and respected.

GRAPHIC: Hope

EDWARDS: We don’t believe in tearing people apart. We believe in bringing them together!

GRAPHIC: Fear

CHENEY: In this period of extraordinary danger we came to recognize our vulnerability to the threats of the new era... the ultimate nightmare... the beginning of the end of America

ANNOUNCER: Choose compassion, truth, hope. Choose Kerry/Edwards.

ANALYSIS: ThisÿInternet ad by the anti-Bush group MoveOn PACÿpaints Cheney as a fear-monger. It uses snippets from speeches by each of the candidates. Viewers could getÿthe false idea that Cheneyÿwas predicting “the end of America” when in fact he was quotingÿan al Qaeda operative-and scornfully at that

Right to abortion is constitutionally protected

Voted NO on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime.

Voted NO on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions.

Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions.

Rated 100% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record.

For over thirty years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has been the political arm of the pro-choice movement and a strong advocate of reproductive freedom and choice. NARAL Pro-Choice America's mission is to protect and preserve the right to choose while promoting policies and programs that improve women's health and make abortion less necessary. NARAL Pro-Choice America works to educate Americans and officeholders about reproductive rights and health issues and elect pro-choice candidates at all levels of government. The NARAL ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.

Expand embryonic stem cell research.

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to expand the current federal policy concerning embryonic stem cell research.

Embryonic stem cells have the potential to be used to treat and better understand deadly and disabling diseases and conditions that affect more than 100 million Americans, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and many others.

We appreciate your words of support for the enormous potential of this research, and we know that you intended your policy to help promote this research to its fullest. As you know, the Administration's policy limits federal funding only to embryonic stem cells that were derived by August 9, 2001.

However, scientists have told us that since the policy went into effect more than two years ago, we have learned that the embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal funding will not be suitable to effectively promote this research. We therefore feel it is essential to relax the restrictions in the current policy for this research to be fully explored.

Among the difficult challenges with the current policy are the following:

• While it originally appeared that 78 embryonic stem cell lines would be available for research, only 19 are available to researchers.
• All available stem cell lines are contaminated with mouse feeder cells, making their therapeutic use for humans uncertain.
• It is increasingly difficult to attract new scientists to this area of research because of concerns that funding restrictions will keep this research from being successful.
• Despite the fact that U.S. scientists were the first to derive human embryonic stem cells, leadership in this area of research is shifting to other countries.