by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 27, 2004
Wheeling,
WV (LifeNews.com) -- A leading newspaper in the key presidential
battleground state of West Virginia says Democratic nominee John Kerry,
who backs abortion, is misleading the voters there. The Wheeling News-Register
says Kerry "doesn't seem to be able to provide a straight answer
to a simple question."
The pro-abortion candidate is attempting to conceal his views, the newspaper alleges, "because Kerry wants voters to see in him what they want to see, regardless of how he really stands on important issues."
In its editorial, the Wheeling newspaper cites Kerry's response to a questionnaire from the Associated Press as example of Kerry trying to cover up stances that wouldn't play well in pro-life states, such as West Virginia.
When asked if girls should be required to tell their parents before having an abortion, President Bush offered what the News-Register called a "straightforward" answer.
"I will continue to support parental notification laws so that parents are involved in the decisions of their minor daughters," the president said.
But Kerry's response was: "Like any parent, I believe that parents should be fully involved in all decisions regarding their children. But we also have to take into account possible family dysfunction, including abuse or incest. I will not force a girl who has been abused by a family member to ask the rapist for permission in making a difficult and heart-wrenching choice. Too many proposed laws have failed to include common 'bypass' provisions to protect the victims of these brutal and unspeakable crimes."
Kerry mischaracterized the content of virtually all parental involvement laws, which have a Supreme Court-mandated bypass provision.
In fact, states such as Texas and Michigan are working to address the problems bypass provisions cause -- namely, the rubber-stamp process where judges approve almost all requests for a judicial bypass.
Even leading abortion advocates acknowledge that they resort to a practice called "judge shopping" in order to find a judge who will approve abortions without parental involvement for virtually any case they present.
Kerry has refused to support the Child Custody Protection Act, a bill in Congress to stop the abuse of parental involvement laws by abortion advocates taking teenage girls to states without such laws for secret abortions.
In analyzing his response, the West Virginia newspaper said, "Kerry never did answer the question concerning the vast majority of girls seeking abortions, who are not victims of abuse by family members."
"Most Americans are aware that Kerry's position on abortion is ultra-liberal," the Wheeling newspaper concluded. "His refusal to provide straight answers to questions on the issue is intended to disguise that fact -- but it won't work."
