Jesse Ventura on Abortion

Former Independent MN Governor

Keep abortion legal on privacy grounds

It’s not so much that I think abortion should be legal as it is that I don’t think it can be made illegal without abusing the Constitution. Unless the government barged in at the precise moment the woman was there in the operating room with her feet in the stirrups, how would the government know she was getting an abortion? How could they even know she is pregnant without infringing upon her rights? Ultimately, I have to support keeping it legal. The government has to stay out of this one. Source: Do I Stand Alone, by Jesse Ventura, p.150 Jul 2, 2000

Doesn’t support abortion, but leave them legal

I don’t support abortion. I could never participate in one. But I think it would be a mistake to make them illegal again. What criminalization will do is force women into garages and back alleys, and then you’re going to have two lives in jeopardy. My mom, who was a nurse, used to talk about the messes that would come in after back-alley abortions went wrong. The way to stop abortion is to deal, philosophically & spiritually, with the people who get them. And that’s not something government can touc Source: Ain’t Got Time To Bleed, p. 42-3 Jan 1, 1999

Abortion decision belongs with the woman and who she chooses

The decision of whether or not to have an abortion does not belong in politics. It belongs with the woman, her family, her physician and possibly her clergy. The choice is personal, not political, and should stay that way. We have too much governmental intrusion into peoples’ lives, we should decrease that intrusion, not impose it upon something that should be so personal. Source: 1998 campaign web site, jesseVentura.org/98campaign Nov 1, 1998

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Page last updated: Dec 02, 2008