Pro-Abortion Michael Bloomberg Denies Reports He’s Considering Prez Bid 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 1, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is denying news reports indicating he is mulling a possible independent presidential bid. Bloomberg has consistently drawn the ire of the pro-life movement for his abortion advocacy — going as far as requiring medical students there to learn to do abortions.
With the first vote in the presidential primary battles for both Democrats and Republicans taking place in Iowa on Thursday, Bloomberg told NY1 television during the New Year’s festivities that he is not considering running.
On Monday, the mayor spoke as if he has no plans to run.
When a New York City councilman said at a bill signing ceremony that it was a good way to kick off a presidential race, Fox News reports that Bloomberg replied, “I’m the only one not running for anything yet."
Speculation about a possible candidacy has ebbed and flowed for months and grew recently as reports surfaced that Bloomberg is attending a bipartisan political forum next week.
The 69-year-old mayor ran as a Republican but is a former Democrat and his views on social issues like abortion put him squarely on the liberal side of the political fence.
However, some observers say the founder of the Bloomberg media company could attract conservatives on economic issues and draw enough support from the candidates of both parties to run a strong presidential campaign.
Should he decide to run, the mayor’s $5 billion fortune provides him with the cash necessary to make a huge dent on the 2008 race.
In June, Bloomberg said he filed papers “to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party.”
At that time he also denied reports he would run.
"My intention is to be mayor for the next 925 days and probably about 10 hours, whatever is left, 11 hours, and that is my intention," he said. "I’ve got the greatest job in the world and I’m going to keep doing it."
That he is pro-abortion and wants to force taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research is no secret.
In 2004, he was a leading figure in the largest pro-abortion fundraiser ever held at the GOP convention and, before that, he was responsible for pushing for mandatory abortion training for doctors in NYC medical programs.
"Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right, and we can never take it for granted," Bloomberg has said. "[O]n this issue, you’re either with us or against us."
The mayor has loaned five administration aides to assist pro-abortion Democrat Claire McCaskill last election as she took on pro-life Sen. Jim Talent, a Republican. The race helped give abortion advocates control of the Senate.
The New York Daily News interviewed a Bloomberg official who said the mayor got involved in the race because McCaskill backs embryonic stem cell research and a Missouri ballot measure that would promote human cloning.
He also donated $100 million to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University for embryonic stem cell research.
More recently, Bloomberg was accused of fostering a climate of pregnancy discrimination at his financial information company.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg saying he has fostered and condoned "systemic, top-down discrimination against female employees."
Three women who are high-level executives at Bloomberg brought the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against the mayor.
Tanys Lancaster, Janet Loures and Jill Patricot said they were subjected to unfair demotions and decreased compensation and were denied advancement after becoming pregnant.
