Potential Barack Obama Running Mate Tim Kaine Again Defends Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 18, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — To hear the media tell it, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has a strong personal opposition to abortion. Kaine may personally oppose abortions, but he stated again at a weekend political forum that he’s unwilling to make protecting unborn children any kind of public policy.
That’s important because Kaine is described by the same media outlets as one of the top prospects for Barack Obama as a vice-presidential running mate.
Kaine held a series of town meetings across Virginia over the weekend to stump for Obama’s campaign and Kaine argued against any attempt to limit or prohibit abortions.
According to a NBC 4 report, he argued that the law shouldn’t reflect an opposition to abortion.
Obama is expected to make his running mate known this week and he has scheduled campaign time in Virginia on Wednesday and Thursday — making it appear more likely Kaine could be selected.
Kaine told the weekend forums that Virginia is important for Obama and, should be win the state’s 13 electoral votes, the abortion advocate would most likely become president.
At the end of July, Kaine said the same thing in an hour-long interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose.
Kaine explained that he favors Roe, which allowed virtually unlimited abortions, and believes abortion is a constitutional right.
Asked if the nation’s high court should reverse Roe, Kaine responded, “I don’t think the Supreme Court should.”
“Roe vs. Wade is ultimately about saying that there is a realm of personal liberty for people to make this decision," he claimed.
Kaine said he supported a few limits on abortions like a partial-birth abortion ban and parental involvement for teenagers.
"Those, I have supported," Kaine told PBS. "But I don’t think ultimately we ought to be criminalizing abortion."
Kaine’s supposed support for some abortion limits puts him at odds with Obama, who told Planned Parenthood in July 2007 that the first action he would take as president would be signing the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, which would make Roe’s unlimited abortions a national law and overturn every abortion limit nationwide — including the current Virginia laws Kaine supports.
Kaine’s current position in favor of some abortion limits is a flip-flop from the position he held when he ran for lieutenant governor.
Kaine told the Washington Post, during his 2001 campaign that he "opposes efforts to restrict abortions" and that he "opposes efforts to require a parent’s consent before a minor gets an abortion."
Then, facing more intense scrutiny in his 2005 gubernatorial bid, Kaine changed positions and said he favors abortion limits.
A leading pro-life Catholic group has said if Barack Obama picks a fellow abortion advocate as a running mate that he will seal his fate with pro-life voters, who will support McCain.
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