Kerry Presidency Would Ensure Abortion "For Years to Come"
by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
October 9, 2003
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — While all of the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president are pro-abortion, few have been so outspoken on the topic as Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who has even gone so far as to misquote himself in trying to court abortion advocates.
On several occasions Sen. Kerry had stated that his first speech as senator was in support of Roe. V. Wade, but according to the Congressional Record his first speech, made on 3/19/85, "was made in opposition to President Reagan’s push to build 21 MX missiles." When the inaccuracy of the senator’s statement was brought to his attention, he said he would no longer make the claim.
But Sen. Kerry has not ceased to make clear what his goals are as president. In his re-announcement of his candidacy speech in September, he confirmed he will have a litmus test on judicial appointments.
"As President, I will only appoint Supreme Court Justices who will uphold a woman’s right to choose," Sen. Kerry stated during the speech.
"I am prepared to filibuster, if necessary, any Supreme Court nominee who would turn back the clock on a woman’s right to choose or the constitutional right to privacy,” Kerry said in his remarks.
But while Kerry has been quite outspoken in his eagerness to put pro-abortion justices on the bench, he his critical of similar efforts to nominate pro-life justices.
"The test is basic — any person who thinks it’s his or her job to push an extreme political agenda rather than to interpret the law should not be a Supreme Court justice," Said Kerry during the Democratic party’s meeting.
While Kerry has accused President Bush of trying to "undo guarantees enshrined in the Constitution … by subverting it" he has neglected to recall that the right to privacy, upon which the right to abortion is founded, is not found in the Constitution.
The right to privacy first appeared in 1965 in the case of Griswald v Connecticut, in which a Planned Parenthood official challenged an anti-contraception law in Connecticut. The Supreme Court ruled that the law unconstitutional on the basis that it violated a right to privacy that comes from "penumbras, formed by emanations" from the Bill of Rights – or shadows from implied interpretations of the rights expressly guaranteed in the Constitution.
Kerry has also upset pro-life advocates with his opposition to a bill that would prosecute criminals who kill or injure unborn children as a result of an assault against a pregnant mother.
In June, Sen. Kerry responded to inquiries about his position against Senate Bill 146, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
"Although this legislation exempts performing abortions from prosecution, this bill would clearly impact a woman’s right to choose to terminate her pregnancy, as that right is set forth in Roe vs. Wade," wrote Sen. Kerry. "Legislation granting a fetus the same legal status in all stages of development as a human being is not the appropriate response."
"I have serious concerns about this legislation because the law cannot simultaneously provide that a fetus is a human being and protect the right of the mother to choose to terminate her pregnancy," Sen. Kerry concluded.
In response, Sharon Rocha, mother of Laci Peterson, wrote Sen. Kerry calling his and other pro-abortion lawmakers’ opposition to the pro-life bill as "blind to the fact these two-victim crimes are the ultimate violation of choice."
"It is not an abortion issue," Rocha wrote. "The Unborn Victims of Violence Act explicitly says that it does not apply to abortion, or to any acts of the mother herself."
Sen. Kerry has consistently placed near the top of the polls, on the heels of Howard Dean, the pro-abortion former Governor of Vermont.
However, his adamant and vocal pro-abortion stance won’t endear him to pro-life voters should he receive the nomination.
"John Kerry isn’t just willing to support pro-abortion programs or legislation," Carol Tobias, Political Director of the National Right to Life Committee, told LifeNews.com. "If elected president, he would use Supreme Court appointments to make sure that abortion is here for many, many years to come."
Kerry’s campaign did not return requests for comments from LifeNews.com.
