2006 Missouri Senate Debate: on Abortion


Claire McCaskill: Support embryonic stem cell research but not cloning

My faith directs me to heal the sick. God gave us the miracle of human intelligence to find cures. Our country has never turned its back on medical research and we shouldn’t in Missouri. We should strictly prohibit human cloning and provide a framework of ethical conduct and laws that are going to restrict the kinds of things that no one wants. I respect people who disagree with me on this issue, I understand there are differences. I come down on the side of hope, hope for cures and supporting science.
Source: 2006 MO Senate Debate on NBC Meet The Press with Tim Russert Oct 8, 2006

Claire McCaskill: Support a ban on partial-birth abortion

Q: Do you support a ban on partial-birth abortion? A: I do, within the constitutional framework that we currently have, with the exception for the life of the mother. I also support parental notification. On the whole issue of abortion, I certainly believe that abortion should remain safe, legal and rare in the early term, but why don’t we concentrate on prevention? and do the right thing to drop the number of abortions instead of making health care more unavailable to poor women, which in fact drives up the number of abortions in this country.
Source: 2006 MO Senate Debate on NBC Meet The Press with Tim Russert Oct 8, 2006

Jim Talent: Oppose embryonic stem cell research that involves cloning

I’m opposed to human cloning and the ballot issue would create an unqualified constitutional right, to clone the earliest stages of human life, which I can’t support. I support stem cell research, and the problem was that there was one particular kind of stem cell that science believed it could only get by cloning a human embryo. There are alternatives that science is developing which will allow us to get all the stem cells that we want without having to clone or destroy an embryo.
Source: 2006 MO Senate Debate on NBC Meet The Press with Tim Russert Oct 8, 2006

Jim Talent: Favor exemptions in abortion law but not stem cell research

Q: Why do you favor exemptions in abortion law for rape-exceptions for race-rape, incest or, or life of mother? A: Whatever it is that makes a person a person attaches at the time the genetic code is complete. This is a personal judgment I’ve made. All these things involve personal moral judgments. And I’ve said to people in Missouri, “Look, go back, look at it, look at the technology, try and understand the underlying science and then make a decision on your own.”
Source: 2006 MO Senate Debate on NBC Meet The Press with Tim Russert Oct 8, 2006

  • The above quotations are from Sen. Jim Talent (R) debates Claire McCaskill (D), in the Missouri Senate Debate on Meet the Press, moderated by Tim Russert, Oct. 8, 2006.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Abortion.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Jim Talent on Abortion.
  • Click here for more quotes by Claire McCaskill on Abortion.
Candidates and political leaders on Abortion:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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!)

Page last updated: Feb 18, 2019