Trump: "I do not want to say that because I want to show unpredictability. You have to. You can't just go around and say that. But Planned Parenthood should absolutely be defunded. I mean if you look at what's going on with that, it's terrible. And many of the things should be defunded and many things should be cut."; "I would look at the individual things that they do and maybe some of the things are good," Trump said. "We have to take care of women. We have to absolutely take care of women. The abortion aspect of Planned Parenthood should not--absolutely should not--be funded."
Clinton: "I have seen excerpts from [the anti-Planned Parenthood videos]. And I have certainly read about them. And what I am troubled by are the misleading, inaccurate allegations about them that we heard from Republicans at their debate."
Clinton: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning members of the U.S. House that she will personally urge pro-abortion President Barack Obama to veto a State Department funding bill over cuts to groups that perform and promote abortions. Clinton said, "I have seen excerpts from [the anti-Planned Parenthood videos]. And I have certainly read about them. And what I am troubled by are the misleading, inaccurate allegations about them that we heard from Republicans at their debate. This is really an attack on Planned Parenthood, which provides a lot of health services, from cancer screenings, to contraceptive services, to so many other of the needs women have."
Trump: "Planned Parenthood should absolutely be defunded. I mean if you look at what's going on with that, it's terrible. We have to take care of women. The abortion aspect of Planned Parenthood should not--absolutely should not--be funded."
Tim Kaine's answer: Pro-choice, but ban after the first three months
Mike Pence's answer: Pro-life
Q: Should the government continue to fund Planned Parenthood?
Evan McMullin's answer: No
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
Mike Pence's answer: Pro-life
Evan McMullin's answer: Pro-life
Q: Should the government continue to fund Planned Parenthood?
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
Evan McMullin's answer: No
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
A: Pro-life
DC: In the first 100 days I would move the United States to withdraw from the United Nations so that we could be a free and independent country able to make our way in the world with leaders accountable to the American people. I would explain to the American people why I think that action is necessary.
I would move Congress to repeal the Federal Reserve Act and take back control of our monetary policy and I would explain that to the American people as well. That would be a necessary start to a growing, dynamic economy. The debt needs to be addressed quickly and I would do that in conjunction with ending the Federal Reserve.
At the same time I would be starting the process of defunding Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. Life needs to be recognized for the God given gift that it is.
And remember what happened under Richard Nixon, one of the most oppressive, regressive, dishonest presidents out there. Remember what we got because we had a movement in the streets. The power is ours. We got women's right to choose by pushing the Supreme Court, which is an institution that's amenable to public pressure. We brought the troops home from Vietnam. We got the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act and OSHA, and established workers' health and safety.
People have been systematically disempowered by our media. We're fed this corporate brainwashing many times a day that we are powerless. And therefore we have to choose between two oppressors. And it's really important to reject that lesser evil-ism and stand up and fight for the greater good. The greater good here has been lost in the battle between the evils.
CARSON: There is no question that hateful rhetoric, no matter which side it comes from, is something that is detrimental to our society. Our strength in this country has traditionally been in our unity and we are allowing all kinds of circumstances to divide us and make us hateful toward each other. When you have outside forces, global Islamic radical jihadists who want to destroy us, why would we be doing that to ourselves? We at some point have got to become more mature. No question the hateful rhetoric exacerbates the situation, and we should be doing all we can to engage an intelligence, civil discussion about our differences.
Q: Should those who oppose abortion rights tone down their rhetoric?
CARSON: I think both sides should tone down their rhetoric and engage in civil discussion.
HUCKABEE: We don't know fully what the facts are. But regardless of why he did it, what he did is absolutely abominable, especially to those of us in the pro-life movement, because none of us would condone something like this.There is no legitimizing. There is no rationalizing. It was mass murder. So, I think that's a little bit disingenuous on the part of Planned Parenthood to blame people who have a strong philosophical disagreement with the dismembering of human babies to say that we would like to retaliate by sending some madman into a clinic to kill people.
HUCKABEE: Well, there wouldn't be a criminal penalty against a woman. I have often said that there are two victims with every abortion. One is the unborn child who loses its life, and the other is often that woman who is talked into the abortion, pressured into it, maybe feels she has no other option. There's no reason to criminalize her. I personally think that that would be a useless and, frankly, a harsh and unnecessary kind of attack on a woman who needs love and support and assistance, not criminalization.
TRUMP: I do not want to say that because I want to show unpredictability. You have to. You can't just go around and say that. But Planned Parenthood should absolutely be defunded. I mean if you look at what's going on with that, it's terrible. And many of the things should be defunded and many things should be cut.
TRUMP: I hate the concept of abortion. I hate anything about abortion, and yet, I'm totally for choice. I think you have no alternative.
BUSH: I'm against a government shutdown. That's not how democracy works. But I defunded Planned Parenthood when I was governor. And I think it's abhorrent that 330,000 or 340,000 abortions take place through these clinics. I'm a pro-life governor and I'd be a pro-life president. But it will have no effect on funding for Planned Parenthood. That's the problem in Washington right now. It's so dysfunctional that that's considered a victory. Continue to fund Planned Parenthood, shut down the government and then cost the taxpayers more. It is better to elect a conservative president that will pledge to do it and work with Congress.
The other is to say what I would do with a long list of specific proposals. That's the bit I meant by a trustee for the VP--to decide things that make the next administration as effective and successful as it can be--except to the extent it interferes with the task of passing the CEA or is something I could not morally do.
E.g., Congress passes a law defunding planned parenthood. I'm against it. I'm sure the VP is against it. I exercise my power to veto it.
FIORINA: Well, of course not. All of those things are important. Of course we should be funding those things. But I find it fascinating that Democrats will never support taxpayer funding, for example, for a women's health center right next door to a Planned Parenthood that would provide all those same services and also provide women an alternative to abortion.
A: Something very important has changed since the last government shutdown. What's changed is the Republican Party has historic majorities in the House and we now control the majority in the Senate. A lot of people worked really hard out there in the nation to make that happen. I think people worked hard because they expected a change based on that majority.
[plays clip] Q: would you support a shutdown?Q: Have you changed your heart on this? Should Republicans force defunding Planned Parenthood by threatening a shutdown?
A: I said that you shouldn't be throwing around threats--you should take action and that's what I have done as governor of New Jersey, to defund Planned Parenthood six years ago. You should put the defunding of Planned Parenthood on the president's desk. If he's going to veto it, let the American people see that he stands with the folds who believe that the systematic murder of children in the womb, in a way that preserves the body parts to be sold on the open market, is something that he stands for.
KASICH: I think Planned Parenthood ought to be defunded, no question about it. We're doing everything we can in Ohio to figure out how to get that done. Although, if you're going to shut the government down, you're never going to get anything signed by the president because he's in total opposition. So you'd shut the government down, and then over time you'd have to open it back up again and you wouldn't have achieved much. So I think there other ways for Congress to deal with this. In this case, the President's made it clear that he's not going to sign it. Now I'm willing to fight all day long, but you've got to have a good prospect of being able to be successful because if you're not successful, you haven't achieved anything, you're going to have people shake their heads and wonder what your thinking was.
CHRISTIE: In New Jersey, six years ago, I defunded Planned Parenthood. And I made it stick. We've viewed it 8 different times in New Jersey, and we've made that veto stick each and every time, despite veto override attempts.
Q: But here you've got a Democratic executive who would veto if Congress were somehow to pass a budget that defunded Planned Parenthood.
CHRISTIE: Maybe we should test the president, because in the end, we haven't done anything yet in Congress to test him. I think we should be putting it on his desk. I think we should be passing repeal and replacement of ObamaCare and putting it one his desk. Let the United States people see who is the real obstructionist in Washington DC.
A: I made no bones about the fact that I used to be a Democrat. Over the course of time, my views have changed dramatically. In 1992, I personally was against abortion, but I was not for causing anybody else to do anything. I changed because I began to think about, if abolitionists a long time ago had said, "I don't believe in slavery, but anybody else can do it if they want to," where would we be today?
CARSON: Well, you have to go back to the beginnings of the organization. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger believed that certain people, including blacks, were inferior and that the way you strengthen the society is you get rid of them. She basically believed in eugenics.
CARSON: I think that when conception occurs, life occurs. But I do believe in contraception. So let's say someone has been raped and they are administered that drug, it can prevent ovulation which allows that egg to come down, because a healthy sperm can live for up to five or six days, but if ovulation doesn't occur, then you're not going to have conception.
TRUMP:I don't know--but it's possible. I give to so many organizations over the years. Hundreds of millions of dollars, so I really don't know. But look, Planned Parenthood has to stop with the abortions. A lot of people consider it an abortion clinic. I think those tapes that I saw were outrageous and disgusting by any standpoint. And they have to stop.
Q: So you would not shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding?
TRUMP: I wouldn't fund it if they have abortion going on. Now, you hear all different numbers. They say it's 3%, other people say it's 85%. That's a big difference. So I'd certainly look into it.
Q: But would you shut down the government over this dispute?
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Aug 16, 2015
A: Right.
Q: Should there be exceptions?
A: Yes, I have always been for exceptions.
Q: Which ones?
A: For rape, incest, and life of the mother.
Q: Two of your competitors, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker, said they're for no exceptions. Does that make you more electable?
A: No matter what your position is on the issue, you have to have respect for people. And I do. And it's an issue that people have a right to have a different point of view.
Q: Do you think that they would be electable against a Democrat, if they support no exceptions?
A: Well, I think that it's an important issue, but I think there's many other issues that are really critical, early childhood, infant mortality, the environment, education. I think we focus too much on just one issue.
Q: But it's one that matters in a lot of people's lives.
A: To a lot of people on both sides.
Q: Why are exceptions part of your belief?
A: Because I think it's reasonable.
A: Does it solve a problem by taking the life of an innocent child? And that's really the issue. So when I think about one horror, I also think about the possibilities that exist. And I just don't want to think that somehow we discount human life. I realize there are some people that will be very different in their view of this than me, and I respect that.
In cases such as those, Carson said you have to "look at the individual situation," but called the "life of the mother" question "largely a spurious argument" because advances in medicine have made it so "that situation rarely occurs."
While abortions performed solely to save the life of the mother are rare, doctors have asserted that they can be medically necessary. And even the National Right to Life Committee has stated its position is "to allow abortion if necessary to prevent the death of the mother."
RUBIO: That's why this issue is so hard. There is no doubt that a woman has a right to her own body, has a right to make decisions about her own health and her own future. There's no doubt. And then, there's this other right. And that's the right of a human being to live. And these rights come into conflict when it comes to this issue. And, so, you have to make a decision.
Q: And that decision is.
RUBIO: Listen, you're 15 years old and you become pregnant and you're scared and you have your whole life ahead of you and you're facing this, that is a hard situation. I tell people all the time, "Don't pretend this is easy." This is a difficult question. But when asked to make a decision between two very hard circumstances, I've personally reached the conclusion if I'm going to err, I'm going to err on the side of life. I'll support any legislation that reduces the number of abortions.
A: I think most Americans don't want their tax dollars going to this. I think most people do want to defund this. We have 9,000 community health centers that do everything Planned Parenthood does, but they don't get into abortions. So it would be much less emotional for everyone if we just funded community health centers.
Q: Do you support continued funding for community health centers?
A: I do support a role for government in community health centers. The specific bill, including it in ObamaCare, obviously would make it such that I can't support that particular bill.
Q: Ted Cruz said he's prepared to shut down the government, if that's what it takes to defund Planned Parenthood. Do you support that?
A: I support any legislation that will defund Planned Parenthood. But I don't think you can start out with your objective to shut down the government.
PAUL: I've submitted a discharge petition--this is highly unusual for a non-leadership position to submit a discharge petition. This means that I'm going to try to force a vote on this. I really think that the time has come in our country to debate whether people want their taxpayer dollars going to this kind of procedure.
Q: And it looks like you're not going to get a vote on the Senate floor?
PAUL: They may block me today on this bill, but I'm trying to file for a discharge position to have a separate bill. If I have 16 senators to sign a bill saying they think we should defund Planned Parenthood, and I guarantee you that people across America who are outraged by this are going to call their senators and say, "Have you signed Rand Paul's discharge petition?"
Walker said in last year's campaign he opposed abortion, but refused to say whether he supported banning the procedure after 20 weeks. In a Tuesday letter, he addressed specific legislation head on: "As the Wisconsin legislature moves forward in the coming session, further protections for mother and child are likely to come to my desk in the form of a bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks," his letter said. "I will sign that bill when it gets to my desk and support similar legislation on the federal level. I was raised to believe in the sanctity of life and I will always fight to protect it."
Michael Schiavo called Jeb Bush a vindictive, untrustworthy coward. For years, the self-described "average Joe" felt harassed, targeted and tormented by the most important person in the state. "It was a living hell," he said, "and I blame him."
Seen in thousands of pages of court records, was Jeb the converted Catholic, Jeb the pro-life conservative, Jeb the hands-on workaholic, Jeb the all-hours emailer.
The case showed he "will pursue whatever he thinks is right, virtually forever," said one pundit: "It's a theme of Jeb's governorship: He really pushed executive power to the limits."
"A lot of Republicans, particularly in the establishment and those who live on the either 'left coast' or those who live up in the bubbles of New York and Washington, are convinced that if we don't capitulate and just accept the inevitable, then we're going to be losers. It is the absolute opposite of that," Huckabee said.
Huckabee described same-sex marriage and "the sanctity of life" as "non-negotiable issues of principle" for Republicans. "If the GOP 'leaders' capitulate on these issues, they will lose voters like me," he said. "When the GOP puts up a candidate that's moderate on those issues we lose; when we put up a candidate with clarity on those issues, we win."
A number of social conservatives--plenty of them in Iowa--have condemned the morning-after pill as an on-demand abortion drug, sometimes confusing the contraceptive with RU-486, which can be used to induce abortion.
Noticeably uncomfortable with the question, Paul first gave a terse answer: "I am not opposed to birth control," he said. After a pause, he elaborated. "That's basically what Plan B is. Plan B is taking two birth control pills in the morning and two in the evening, and I am not opposed to that."
Jindal's comments echoed much of what he said during last week's Iowa Republican convention, where he assailed the administration's Affordable Care Act mandate to offer contraception as "one of the most dangerous overreaches of federal government power."
The debate, however, isn't nearly as clear-cut as Rubio claims. So-called personhood bills have sparked debate on when a fetus should be considered an individual with full legal rights.
WALKER: I'm not backing away from my positions. I'm proudly pro-life, but for me the reason I was elected in 2010, the reason I was elected again in 2012, the reason I hope I'll be eventually elected yet again in 2014 like other governors across the country, is because we focused obsessively on helping fix the economy and the private sector and helping put in place a balanced budget that can sustain us at both the state and local level. I think people want us to do that. It's not just politically popular, it's what people elect us to do. I got to the point in the 2010 election where I was so focused on fixing our economic and fiscal crisis [because regular voters] care about my plan to get the economy going again and to keep our balanced budget.
PERRY: I don't agree with her premise and I don't agree with her numbers. This gets back to the issue of should the states be able to make these decisions or should we allow this big cumbersome federal government to decide? I believe that the federal government should allow the states to make these decisions. We put some substantial amount of money into women's health programs over the last two years. Partly because the Obama administration pulled our funding because they disagreed with Texas restrictions on these abortions. And most people in Texas certainly believe that six months is too late to be deciding whether or not these babies should be aborted or not and we put the limit at 5 months in this bill.
[FROM LIBRARY OF CONGRESS]: S.583 & H.R.1091:
Life at Conception Act
Sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul along with 132 House members. Introduced 3/12/2013
Declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being beginning at the moment of fertilization, cloning,
or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Prohibits construing this Act to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
| |||
| 2020 Presidential contenders on Abortion: | |||
|
Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) 2020 Third Party Candidates: Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) |
Republicans running for President:
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) 2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates: Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA) | ||
|
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org!
Click for details -- or send donations to: 1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140 E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org (We rely on your support!) | |||