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Jay Dardenne on Abortion |
The three major Republican candidates--Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and US Sen. David Vitter--describe their opposition to abortion as they campaign. Vitter criticized Dardenne in a recent debate, saying Dardenne has voted `six times for abortion and against life.` Vitter's campaign has hit Dardenne on the subject several times.
In response, Dardenne said he didn't vote to support abortion rights, but was scored poorly by Louisiana Right to Life because of votes as a state senator on several bills involving cloning & stem cell research. He said concerns were raised that the bills, which sought to ban human cloning, were too sweeping and could harm medical research. `I think it's a little misleading, not on the part of the scorers, but on Vitter's part, to not characterize me as pro-life,` Dardenne said.
Another difference of opinion involves term-limited Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, which doesn't provide abortions in Louisiana. All three Republicans say they support Jindal's decision. Edwards said there should be more investigation of claims that the organization was illegally profiting from fetal tissue sales, which Planned Parenthood denies. He also said Louisiana must make sure other health care locations are available to provide services before blocking Planned Parenthood from Medicaid.
