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July 2004

Pro-Abortion Sen. John Kerry
Chooses Pro-Abortion
Sen. John Edwards as
Vice Presidential Running Mate


JOHN KERRY CHOOSES FELLOW
PRO-ABORTIONIST AS RUNNING MATE

Pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry celebrates his choice of pro-abortion Sen. John Edwards as his vice-presidential running mate.

By Carol Tobias
NRLC Political Director

On July 6, pro-abortion Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry selected pro-abortion North Carolina Senator John Edwards as his running mate. In choosing Edwards, Kerry has selected someone whose position is as extreme as his own, even to the point of opposing the ban on partial-birth abortions.

The selection was greeted with undisguised glee by the Abortion Establishment. Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF), the political arm of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, was jumping for joy.

After describing Edwards as "staunchly pro-choice," PPAF president Gloria Feldt (who is also president of PPFA) stated, "With the selection of John Edwards as his running mate, Sen. Kerry has again shown his complete commitment to reproductive rights and access to reproductive health care."

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"Because Robert Powell Lived ..."

By Burke Balch, J.D.
Director of NRLC's Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics

Editor's note. The following remarks were delivered June 29 at the dedication of National Right to Life's Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics.

It was my great privilege to work with Robert Powell for a number of years in the 80s and 90s as he led the National Right to Life Committee's fight against the legalization of euthanasia and denial of lifesaving medical treatment to older people and people with disabilities.

It was my pleasure to be able to call him a friend - - to enjoy his wit, and appreciate his steadfastness and interest and concern for my family. I could well reminisce, as others have done, about the personal side of Robert Powell.

As director of the center which now has the honor of bearing his name, however, it falls to me to talk very briefly about the more public Robert Powell, and the enormous contribution he made to protecting the lives of the vulnerable.

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Family of Robert Powell at the dedication of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics. (From lower, l-r) Jordan Moffett; Mrs. Agnes Powell (mother); Meg Longmire; Laureé Zachariah Moffett; Maggie Powell; Zach Powell; Reneé Boudreaux; Betty Zachariah; and Corinne Moffett.

Vol. 31, No. 7

  

From the President


Wanda Franz, Ph.D.

THE TWO JOHNS COME UP DOUBLE NULL

· "When I examine my conscience, I believe my conscience is where it ought to be within Catholic teaching, which also teaches about war, about the environment, about children, about poverty, about capital punishment and many other things," [John] Kerry said.

"Vatican II is very clear. There is something called freedom of conscience in the Catholic Church. You have to examine your conscience," Kerry said. "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception [emphasis added]. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist who doesn't share it. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America."

--reported by Jeffrey Patch, Dubuque Herald Telegraph, 7/4/2004

 

· I did not know that Senator John F. Kerry believes life begins at conception. Now that I do know, I do not understand 20 years of [Kerry's] votes supporting a woman's right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy [emphasis added].

So Kerry's conscience is not at odds with church teaching, just with his voting record? Conscience is a moral concept, as well as a religious one, after all. If you believe that life begins at conception, doesn't your conscience compel you to vote in concert with that belief?

I wanted to ask Kerry more about this, but he was busy yesterday, trumpeting a vice presidential pick that NARAL Pro Choice America, the lobbying arm of the abortion rights movement, called "a dream ticket for a woman's right to choose."

Betsy Cavendish, interim president of NARAL Pro Choice America, was offended that I wanted to discuss Kerry's abortion comments on such "a great day." [A]bortion supporters should be keeping our "eye on the prize, defeating Public enemy Number One, George Bush" [Cavendish said].

--"pro-choice" columnist Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, 7/7/2004

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