Politico.com: on Abortion


Barack Obama: 1990: Wrote law article that fetus cannot sue mother

As president of the Harvard Law Review and a law professor in Chicago, Barack Obama refined his legal thinking, but left a scant paper trail. His name doesn’t appear on any legal scholarship. But an unsigned--and previously unattributed-- 1990 article unearthed by Politico offers a glimpse at Obama’s views on abortion policy and the law during his student days, and provides a rare addition to his body of work.

The six-page summary considers the charged, if peripheral, question of whether fetuses should be able to file lawsuits against their mothers. Obama’s answer, like most courts’: No. He wrote approvingly of an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that the unborn cannot sue their mothers for negligence, and he suggested that allowing fetuses to sue would violate the mother’s rights and could, perversely, cause her to take more risks with her pregnancy.

Obama’s article, which begins on pg.823 of Vol.103 of the Harvard Law Review, is available in libraries.

Source: Politico.com, “Obama’s lost law review article” Aug 22, 2008

Bruce Rauner: Pro-choice Republican torn if Roe overturned

He announced he'll veto abortion legislation HB40. The measure keeps abortion legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned, calling for expanding abortion coverage under Medicaid and in state worker health plans. Illinois has "trigger" language on the books that threatens to automatically make abortion illegal if the high court overturns Roe. So if the governor vetoes the measure, it opens him to criticism that he isn't a committed supporter of abortion rights.
Source: Politico.com on 2018 Illinois gubernatorial race May 5, 2017

Chris Larson: Voted No on abortion ban after 20 weeks

SB179: An Act requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by Politico.com (7/20/15)Abortion after 20 weeks is now illegal in Wisconsin--with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The only way abortions after 20 weeks are allowed is if the mother is likely to die or be severely injured. Anti-abortion activists have coalesced around 20 weeks because, they say, that's when fetuses begin to feel pain.

Legislative Outcome: Passed Senate 19-14-0 on Jun/9/15; State Sen. Chris Larson voted NO; Passed Assembly 61-34-2 on Jul/8/15; Signed by Governor Scott Walker on Jul/20/15

Source: Politico.com on 2022 Wisconsin SB179 voting records Jul 8, 2015

Cory Gardner: Sell contraceptives over-the-counter to avoid Hobby Lobby

[Virginia GOP Senate candidate Ed] Gillespie advocated for over-the-counter sale of contraception: Speaking about the Hobby Lobby case involving employer-sponsored contraception, Gillespie said he thinks the issue can be skirted if women are just allowed to buy birth-control medication on their own without a prescription--a position that Colorado GOP Senate candidate Cory Gardner also staked out recently.
Source: Politico.com weblog on 2014 Colorado Senate debate Jul 26, 2014

Don Blankenship: AdWatch: Positions himself as anti-abortion and pro-Trump

Blankenship has used the ads to paint his rivals as insufficiently conservative, blasting [GOP primary opponent Evan] Jenkins over his positions on ObamaCare and climate change and [GOP primary opponent Patrick] Morrisey on abortion. He's positioned himself as an unshakable ally of President Donald Trump, who received 68 percent of the vote in the state.
Source: Politico.com AdWatch on 2018 West Virginia Senatorial race Mar 20, 2018

Ed Gillespie: I never supported a Personhood amendment

Gillespie does not have a long paper trail on abortion issues, and he pushed back when Warner said he would overturn Roe vs. Wade or push a Personhood amendment, which would say life begins at conception. "Please provide the documentation for my support of any of those things," Gillespie said.

Warner countered: "If you are in the Senate, would you vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade? Did you not also support a personhood amendment?"

"No," Gillespie replied. "When did I support a Personhood amendment? There's not going to be a vote to overturn Roe v. Wade," Gillespie said. "That's a Supreme Court decision. I'm running for the United States Senate."

The Warner campaign's evidence that Gillespie supports Personhood is thin. They point to the platform passed by the Republican National Committee in 2004, when Gillespie was party chairman. "Gillespie chose the platform director and said the platform reflects the 'beliefs of our party,'" Warner's campaign emailed after.

Source: Politico.com weblog on 2014 Virginia Senate debate Jul 26, 2014

Ed Gillespie: Sell contraceptives over-the-counter to avoid Hobby Lobby

Gillespie advocated for over-the-counter sale of contraception: Speaking about the Hobby Lobby case involving employer-sponsored contraception, Gillespie said he thinks the issue can be skirted if women are just allowed to buy birth-control medication on their own without a prescription--a position that Colorado GOP Senate candidate Cory Gardner also staked out recently.
Source: Politico.com weblog on 2014 Virginia Senate debate Jul 26, 2014

Elena Kagan: Compromise on abortion if core rights & exceptions upheld

Some progressives worry that Elena Kagan would shift the Supreme Court to the right. Several Democrats on the Hill said they're confident that her background working in the Clinton and Obama administrations--and for left-leaning judges--means she'd be a strong liberal voice on the bench.

Some abortion-rights activists are worried about a memo Kagan authored in 1997 urging President Bill Clinton to support a compromise ban on late-term abortions to avoid a standoff with Republicans in Congress. But Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), a leader in Congress for abortion rights, said that the compromise included an exception in cases where a mother's health was in danger. "That was definitely something that everybody had supported at that time," Boxer said.

Asked what gave her assurances that Kagan would uphold Roe v. Wade, Boxer said: "I have no reason to think anything else except that she would be a very strong supporter of privacy rights because everyone she worked for held that view."

Source: Politico.com, "Democrat's Democrat", on 2010 SCOTUS hearings May 11, 2010

Gavin Newsom: Welcome women to CA from states without abortion

As the most populous state and the country's biggest economy, Newsom's actions carry outsize weight--and are guaranteed outsize publicity.

Consider the national attention it garnered when Newsom signed an executive order in March halting executions-- sparing 737 people on California's death row. Witness the proclamation his office wrote last month "welcoming women to California to fully exercise their reproductive rights" after a wave of conservative states took steps to limit abortion. Newsom is outspoken on immigration, traveling to El Salvador earlier this year in his first international trip as governor.

"We're going to get it,'' Newsom insists. "We're committed to universal health care. Universal health care means everybody--We will lead a massive expansion of health care, and that's a major deviation from the past.''

Source: Politico.com on 2018 California Gubernatorial race Jun 17, 2019

Jeb Bush: Husband of Terri Schiavo blames Bush for harassment

Michael Schiavo was the husband of Terri Schiavo, the brain-dead woman from the Tampa Bay area who ended up at the center of one of the most contentious, drawn-out conflicts in the history of America's culture wars. The fight over her death lasted almost a decade. But it never would have become what it became if not for the dogged intervention of the governor of Florida at the time, Jeb Bush.

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."

Source: Politico.com 2015 article on 2016 presidential hopefuls Jan 18, 2015

Joni Ernst: Personhood amendment is a statement of pro-life principle

Ernst, a state senator since 2010, was prodded to explain several positions she staked out on her way to winning the Republican primary in June, such as supporting a Personhood amendment.

Ernst defended her support for a Personhood amendment to the Iowa Constitution. Braley attacked Ernst for supporting the measure in the state legislature, which he said would allow doctors to be prosecuted for terminating pregnancies. That amendment is simply a statement that I support life." She added that she supports "a woman's right to contraception."

Source: Politico.com e-zine on 2014 Iowa Senate debate Sep 28, 2014

Kirsten Gillibrand: Debate is about women's rights, not infanticide

[In a Fox News Town Hall, Gillibrand said], "The debate about whether or not women should have reproductive freedom has turned into a red herring debate." Gillibrand continued, "What happens on Fox News is relevant because they talked about infanticide for six and a half hours, right before President Trump's State of the Union. That is not the debate of what access to reproductive care is in this country," she added.

Gillibrand's most explicit pitch went to female voters: "I am the leading presidential candidate on women's rights today," she said. In the last month, Gillibrand rolled out a slate of policies around reproductive rights and women's health. She waded into a congressional Democratic primary, endorsing the challenger to an anti-abortion-rights Democratic House member in Illinois. She was also the first presidential candidate to commit to a litmus test for judicial nominees by pledging only to nominate judges who consider Roe v. Wade as settled precedent.

Source: Politico.com on Fox News Town Halls with Chris Wallace Jun 2, 2019

Larry Pressler: Supports abortion law allowing first trimester terminations

Pressler's views on social issues would limit his appeal to many conservatives. He supports South Dakota's abortion law, which allows women to terminate pregnancies in the first trimester. He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, but he now supports gay marriage.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 South Dakota Senate race Nov 14, 2013

Leah Vukmir: Ban abortion except for life of mother after 20 weeks

SB179: An Act requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by Politico.com (7/20/15)Abortion after 20 weeks is now illegal in Wisconsin--with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The only way abortions after 20 weeks are allowed is if the mother is likely to die or be severely injured. Anti-abortion activists have coalesced around 20 weeks because, they say, that's when fetuses begin to feel pain.

Legislative Outcome:Passed Senate 19-14-0 on Jun/9/15; State Sen. Leah Vukmir voted YES; Passed Assembly 61-34-2 on Jul/8/15; Signed by Governor Scott Walker on Jul/20/15.

Source: Politico.com on 2022 Wisconsin SB179 voting records Jun 9, 2015

Mandela Barnes: Voted No on abortion ban after 20 weeks

SB179: An Act requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by Politico.com (7/20/15)Abortion after 20 weeks is now illegal in Wisconsin--with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The only way abortions after 20 weeks are allowed is if the mother is likely to die or be severely injured. Anti-abortion activists have coalesced around 20 weeks because, they say, that's when fetuses begin to feel pain.

Legislative Outcome:Passed Senate 19-14-0 on Jun/9/15; Passed Assembly 61-34-2 on Jul/8/15; Rep. Barnes voted NO; Signed by Governor Scott Walker on Jul/20/15

Source: Politico.com on 2022 Wisconsin SB179 voting records Jul 8, 2015

Paul Ryan: Life begins at conception, so protect unborn children

Social conservatives were skeptical of Romney's moderate record on abortion and family planning, but they see the young Wisconsin Republican running mate, a Catholic, as one of their own.

"Congressman Ryan has a deep, abiding respect for all human life, including unborn children and their mothers, the disabled, and the elderly," said the president of National Right to Life.

Ryan himself has said, "I support the rights of the unborn child. Personally, I believe that life begins at conception, and it is for that reason that I feel we need to protect that life as we would protect other children."

The National Right to Live Committee scores him as "a 100% pro-life voting record" ever since he entered the House in 1999. Abortion rights groups don't quibble with that assessment. "Rep. Ryan has cast 59 votes on reproductive rights while in Congress and not one has been pro-choice," said the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America

Source: Joanne Kenen on Politico.com Aug 12, 2012

Rudy Giuliani: Giuliani donated to Planned Parenthood throughout 1990s

Rudy Giuliani has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose. But records show that in the ‘90s he contributed money at least six times to Planned Parenthood, one of the country's leading abortion rights groups and its top provider of abortions.

Federal tax returns show that he and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, made personal donations to national, state and city chapters of Planned Parenthood totaling $900 in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999. The returns have been on the public record for years, but the detail about Giuliani's support for Planned Parenthood was provided to The Politico by aides to a rival campaign, who insisted on not being identified.

Planned Parenthood was founded in NYC in 1916. They performed 264,943 abortions in 2005. In addition to providing abortions, the organization also provides birth control, emergency contraception, testing for STDs and other gynecological services.

Source: Jonathan Martin on Politico.com May 7, 2007

Scott Fitzgerald: Ban abortion except for life of mother after 20 weeks

SB179: An Act requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by Politico.com (7/20/15)Abortion after 20 weeks is now illegal in Wisconsin--with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The only way abortions after 20 weeks are allowed is if the mother is likely to die or be severely injured. Anti-abortion activists have coalesced around 20 weeks because, they say, that's when fetuses begin to feel pain.

Legislative Outcome:Passed Senate 19-14-0 on Jun/9/15; State Sen. Fitzgerald voted YES; Passed Assembly 61-34-2 on Jul/8/15; Signed by Governor Scott Walker on Jul/20/15.

Source: Politico.com on 2022 Wisconsin SB179 voting records Jun 9, 2015

Scott Pruitt: Double headline - Already Done

Scott Pruitt lamented that "minority religions" were pushing Christianity out of "the public square" and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005.

Throughout the programs, Pruitt suggested that states might need to call a constitutional convention to propose amendments that would allow expression of religion in government, declare abortion illegal and bar same-sex marriage.

Pruitt acknowledged some trepidation about holding a constitutional convention, which could make wholesale changes to the nation's founding charter.

"It scares me to a large degree to go into something like a constitutional convention, 'cause that means that we're going to have to really be educated, and informed, and debate," he said. "But you know what? Maybe it's time."

Source: Politico.com, "Pruitt tapes," on 2018 Trump Cabinet Mar 2, 2018

Scott Walker: Ban abortion except for life of mother after 20 weeks

SB179: An Act requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by Politico.com (7/20/15)Abortion after 20 weeks is now illegal in Wisconsin--with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The only way abortions after 20 weeks are allowed is if the mother is likely to die or be severely injured. Anti-abortion activists have coalesced around 20 weeks because, they say, that's when fetuses begin to feel pain.

Legislative Outcome:Passed Senate 19-14-0 on Jun/9/15; Passed Assembly 61-34-2 on Jul/8/15; Signed by Governor Scott Walker on Jul/20/15

Source: Politico.com on 2022 Wisconsin SB179 voting records Jul 20, 2015

Tom Tiffany: Ban abortion except for life of mother after 20 weeks

SB179: An Act requiring a determination of probable postfertilization age of an unborn child before abortion, prohibiting abortion of an unborn child considered capable of experiencing pain, informed consent, abortion reporting, and providing a criminal penalty.

Analysis by Politico.com (7/20/15)Abortion after 20 weeks is now illegal in Wisconsin--with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to three and a half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The only way abortions after 20 weeks are allowed is if the mother is likely to die or be severely injured. Anti-abortion activists have coalesced around 20 weeks because, they say, that's when fetuses begin to feel pain.

Legislative Outcome:Passed Senate 19-14-0 on Jun/9/15; State Sen. Tom Tiffany voted YES; Passed Assembly 61-34-2 on Jul/8/15; Signed by Governor Scott Walker on Jul/20/15.

Source: Politico.com on 2022 Wisconsin SB179 voting records Jun 9, 2015

Donald Trump: Crowning achievement is overturning Roe; but it's divisive

Overturning Roe is one of the crowning achievements of Donald Trump's presidency. No one at the Republican National Convention is talking about it.

Heading into the final day of the Republican Party's first national gathering since the Supreme Court's landmark decision, which has allowed more than a third of states to ban nearly all abortions, the issue has barely received a passing mention. Main-stage speakers have instead leaned into economic populism, and isolationism.

But most GOP delegates are fine with abortion not taking center stage, saying they have little interest in divisive social issues that could damage the nominee at a moment when Trump appears on a glidepath to victory. While Democrats and abortion-rights groups stage press conferences outside the convention and attempt to use GOP vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance's past statements to bring abortion back into the political spotlight, the GOP is choosing not to engage.

Source: Politico.com on 2024 Presidential hopefuls Jul 18, 2024

JD Vance: As pro-life as anyone, but supports abortion pills

Most GOP delegates [at the Republican Convention] are fine with abortion not taking center stage, saying they have little interest in divisive social issues that could damage the nominee. While abortion-rights groups stage press conferences outside the convention and attempt to use GOP vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance's past statements to bring abortion back into the political spotlight, the GOP is choosing not to engage.

Vance, who last year described himself "as pro life as anyone," didn't mention, or allude to, abortion in his [GOP Convention] address.

Some social conservatives were hopeful that Vance, who has in the past equated abortion to murder, would nudge Trump to the right on the issue. Instead, Vance has alarmed anti-abortion advocates by voicing support for mifepristone, the widely used abortion pill. They fear that Vance's brand of "New Right'' conservatism, which they hoped would give them a seat again at the GOP table, is falling prey to electoral calculations.

Source: Politico.com on 2024 Presidential hopefuls Jul 18, 2024

Tim Walz: Has two children, both conceived by IVF

Source: Politico.com on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls Aug 6, 2024

  • The above quotations are from Columns and news articles on Politico.com.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Abortion:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI)
Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Aug 15, 2024