Candidate Giuliani's Abortion Contortions
Columnist Cal Thomas writes on Rudy Giuliani's latest abortion comments:
ARLINGTON, Va. // Rudolph W. Giuliani is playing the role of a contortionist in his attempts to persuade enough pro-life voters to support his presidential candidacy.My Comments:
After an unblemished record as a pro-choice mayor of New York City (if you don't count the "blemish" of babies not allowed to live), Mr. Giuliani surprised a lot of people when he said if he is elected president he would name only "strict constructionists" to the Supreme Court. That sounded pretty good to some, until Mr. Giuliani added last week during a CNN interview that he thinks a person who believes the Constitution should be interpreted as written could also vote to uphold Roe v. Wade and that he supports public financing of abortions for poor women who want them. Twisting himself even further, Mr. Giuliani said denying a poor woman tax dollars to pay for an abortion would deprive her of a "constitutional right."
Why would Mr. Giuliani, as a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade, name judges who oppose it? Would a pro-life candidate be credible if he promised to name only judges who read into the Constitution whatever he or she wished?
Mr. Giuliani claims that Roe v. Wade established a "constitutional right" to abortion. The Supreme Court, unable to find that "right" clearly stated anywhere in the Constitution, finally concluded that it was implied in either the 14th Amendment, which protects one's right to privacy, or in the "penumbra" of the Bill of Rights.
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... In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney had to misread the Constitution in order to assert such a "right" [to own slaves], which is what the court did in Roe v. Wade a century later.
If Mr. Giuliani believes in a strict construction interpretation of the Constitution, he could not support abortion, because a strict constructionist does not find language permitting it. For him to take the position he does on abortion and then to say he would nominate strict constructionists to the bench twists him and the law into a pretzel.
Mr. Giuliani says people who don't like his position do not have to vote for him. Many social conservatives who view abortion as a make or break issue are likely to follow his advice.
Good to see Cal Thomas, who earlier appeared to be flirting with Giuliani's candidacy, come to his senses.
Labels: Constitutional Jurisprudence, Culture of Death, History, Law, Natural Law, Rudy, Supreme Court
posted by Pro Ecclesia 9:17 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I must admit that Rudy Giuliani's candidacy is only attractive because we are at war with Muslim fascists, and he alone among the declared candidates has a track record of executive and prosecutorial experience in fighting big battles.
I have had enough of determined words unmatched by the skills of administrators and generals. This administration has made numerous errors and has been unwilling to own up to its mistakes. Unfortunately, too many conservatives have lost their objectivity about this administration, which should be defended against the defeatists but chastised daily by us.
Winning at war, like winning complex litigation, requires superlative abilities, not just determination and the right talking points. No one wanted Churchill to be Prime Minister in 1940. He was elected because nobody else could carry the war against Hitler. He saved England, and even the socialist blokes in the Labour Party knew it as they voted him out of office in 1945.
Where would we be today if FDR, a slippery man to say the least, had not promoted George C. Marshall and D.D. Eisenhower over dozens of wannabes?
Ultimately, only a handful of people are going to vote before the herd of donors and pundits crown the nominees for 2008. I will likely support the Republican, whoever he is, because the Democrats are no more capable of fighting a war than the French in 1940.
I am a convert to Catholicism and a lawyer. I have written some favorable things about Rudy, but I hope another candidate appears who seems ready to be a wartime president. If the Democrats nominate Hillary, Obama, or John Edwards, there is going to be electricity in the air. If the Republicans nominate someone like McCain, just because it's his "turn" (like Dole in 1996), we are going to have a leftist government for four years with daily apologies from the news media.
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Tertium Quid,
I've added you to my blogroll.
I like Giuliani's stand on Abortion because it has remained consistent. At least, he believes that it is wrong for women to do it. However, he does not want to deny them their right to do what they think is best for them.
Sometimes my wife and I think it would be best for us - for our physical, mental, and emotional health - to take our children and leave them on the side of the road somewhere.
Somehow, I don't think you or Rudy Giuliani would think that an appropriate "choice". If, where abortion is concerned, Rudy believes "it is wrong for women to do it", why does he think it is wrong? Is it because he believes, as his Church does, that abortion is the wrongful taking of a human life? If so, why does he think it should be legal?
Just because some women want to "do what they think is best for them" doesn't make it a morally justifiable action. There's only one reason why Rudy might think abortion to be "wrong", and that reason - i.e. that it constitutes homicide - also warrants making it illegal.
Touche, Jay!
Great response!
I have been blogging about Giuliani, too, and he's trying to convince people he's pro-life in any way he can. All we have to do is look at his voting record to know that he votes just like Hillary and Obama.
People are trying to find all kinds of excuses to vote for him because they know he is a popular guy since 9-1-1. He handled that crisis well.
What I can't understand is why he is with the republican party when he supports the same pro-death platform as Demo(n)crats Hillary and Obama? He is a RINO as well as a CINO (Catholic-in-Name-Only).
I'm praying for his conversion.
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