Perhaps Giuliani would have made a good Democrat.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN Wednesday he supports public funding for some abortions, a position he advocated as mayor and one that will likely put the GOP presidential candidate at odds with social conservatives in his party.
“Ultimately, it’s a constitutional right, and therefore if it’s a constitutional right, ultimately, even if you do it on a state by state basis, you have to make sure people are protected,” Giuliani said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash in Florida’s capital city.
…
“I’m in the same position now that I was 12 years ago when I ran for mayor — which is, personally opposed to abortion, don’t like it, hate it, would advise that woman to have an adoption rather than abortion, hope to find the money for it,” he said. “But it is your choice, an individual right. You get to make that choice, and I don’t think society should be putting you in jail.”
Like Giuliani, I’d love to see fewer abortions. (I wish they’d promote contraceptives more aggressively in schools, actually.) But how’s the Right going to react to this? When you make an ounce of sense once in a while, it tends to disqualify you in the eyes of those who make no sense.
5 April 2007 at 3:14 pm
Hmmm… Lets see what scientific studies have to say.
CONTEXT: The relationship between levels of contraceptive use and the incidence of induced abortion continues to provoke heated discussion, with some observers arguing that use of abortion decreases as contraceptive prevalence rises and others claiming that increased use of family planning methods causes abortion incidence to rise.
METHODS: Abortion trends are examined in countries with reliable data on abortion and with contraceptive prevalence information from two points in time showing increases in contraceptive use. The role of changes in fertility in mediating the relationship between abortion and contraception is also explored.
RESULTS: In seven countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia and Switzerland—abortion incidence declined as prevalence of modern contraceptive use rose. In six others—Cuba, Denmark, Netherlands, the United States, Singapore and the Republic of Korea—levels of abortion and contraceptive use rose simultaneously. In all six of these countries, however, overall levels of fertility were falling during the period studied. After fertility levels stabilized in several of the countries that had shown simultaneous rises in contraception and abortion, contraceptive use continued to increase and abortion rates fell. The most clear-cut example of this trend is the Republic of Korea.
CONCLUSIONS: Rising contraceptive use results in reduced abortion incidence in settings where fertility itself is constant. The parallel rise in abortion and contraception in some countries occurred because increased contraceptive use alone was unable to meet the growing need for fertility regulation in situations where fertility was falling rapidly.
International Family Planning Perspectives, 2003, 29(1):6-13
I guess planned parenthood has it right. More education and more access to contraceptives
8 April 2007 at 10:45 pm
I’m unconvinced that contraception awareness alone is enough – though clearly I am pro-contraception availability and education. I suspect the issue is a feminist one – that young women need to raise their self-esteem, self-confidence and sense of responsibility – states of mind that patriarchal society discourages to ensure plenty of recreational availability. As a mother of two daughters that is where I’m putting my efforts – we’ll see how it works out … sigh