Pro-Life Activist James Dobson Says He Won’t Vote for Rudy Giuliani

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 17, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Pro-Life Activist James Dobson Says He Won’t Vote for Rudy Giuliani Over Abortion Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 17
, 2007

Colorado Springs, CO (LifeNews.com) — One of the top pro-life advocates in the nation says there is no chance that he will vote for Rudy Giuliani for president, even if the former New York mayor captures the Republican nomination. James Dobson, the founder and president of Focus on the Family calls his promise "an irrevocable decision."

"I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008," Dobson said in an essay he posted online at WorldNetDaily.

Dobson said that decision extends not only to the GOP primary but to the general election as well even if Giuliani faces a similar pro-abortion opponent from the Democratic Party.

"If given a Hobson’s – Dobson’s? – choice between him and Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran – or if worst comes to worst – not vote for the first time in my adult life," he said.

"My conscience and my moral convictions will allow me to do nothing else," he told WND.

Part of the decision rests not only on Giuliani’s pro-abortion views but on the contradiction that exists between him being "personally opposed" to abortion and supporting making taxpayers fund it. His donations to Planned Parenthood come into play as well.

"How could Giuliani say with a straight face that he ‘hates abortion,’ while also seeking public funding for it?" Dobson asks in his WND commentary.

"How can he hate abortion and contribute to Planned Parenthood in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999?" Dobson asks.

"And how was he able for many years to defend the horrible procedure by which the brains are sucked from the heads of a viable, late-term, un-anesthetized babies? Those beliefs are philosophically and morally incompatible. What kind of man would even try to reconcile them?"

This is the second time Dobson said he would not support one of the leading 2008 presidential candidates.

Back in January, Dobson said he couldn’t support Arizona Sen. John McCain. The comments came during an interview on the Jerry Johnson Live program on the radio.

"Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," he said.

Part of the reasoning had to do with the campaign finance reform bill that Dobson said handcuffed pro-life groups and prevented them from doing as much as they could to advance the cause.

"That came from McCain, and the McCain Feingold Bill kept us from telling the truth right before elections … and there are a lot of other things," he said.

"I pray that we won’t get stuck with him," Dobson said.

The pro-life advocate has also commented on other people associated with the 2008 elections and had good things to say about Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator who is pro-life.

"Dobson appreciates Sen. Thompson’s solid, pro-family voting record and his position that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided," a Focus on the Family statement said.