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Giuliani Nears Candidacy, Discusses Abortion (video)

Rudolph W. Giuliani took another step toward running for president by filing a "statement of candidacy" with the Federal Election Commission, declaring his intent to seek the Republican nomination.

Appearing on Hannity and Colmes, Giuliani was asked about his position on abortion.

Giuliani: Where I stand on abortion is I oppose it, I don't like it, I hate it. I think abortion is something that as a personal matter I would advise somebody against. However, I believe in a woman's right to choose. I think you have to ultimately not put a woman in jail for that. And I think ultimately you have to leave that to a disagreement of conscience and you have to respect the choice that somebody makes

Giuliani: What I do say to conservatives, because then you want to look at, ok, what can we look to that is similar to the way that we think. I think that the appointment of judges that I would make would be very similar if not exactly the same as the last two judges that were appointed.

Giuliani's approach is a deliberate use of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo's 1984 "personally opposed" argument for the pro-choice position, an approach that was perfected by former President Bill Clinton (i.e., "safe, legal and rare") and regurgitated by Sen. John Kerry (i.e., "I'm pro-life") during his failed bid for the presidency.

Ramesh Ponnoru, in the Party of Death, comments,

The "personally opposed" stance had suffered from an obvious flaw: The only defensible basis for judging abortion immoral -- the conviction that it is usually the unjust taking of human life -- also seemed to be a reason to enact a general legal prohibition on it. "Personally opposed" seemed to be nothing more than an incantation designed to keep incontrovertible premises from leading to inconvenient conclusions. Cuomo did not really solve this problem, but threw up numerous smokescreens to obscure it.

The statement "I hate abortion" is a judgment, a moral assertion that follows a rational presupposition that abortion is the killing of an unborn child. The fact that Giuliani is able to concede this point and yet fails to identify any moral compulsion to protect the life of a child indicates that his position is purely a political one (calculated and hypocritical) or that he has a warped sense of justice.

As anticipated, Giuliani also threw-up the vague ~~promise~~ possibility that he would probably nominate judges similar to John Roberts and Samuel Alito. In light of his past accolades for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this argument is shallow and meaningless.

As conservatives consider Giuliani, there is much to be admired. He is a hero of 9/11, a noted federal prosecutor, and a two-term Republican mayor in an overwhelmingly Democratic city. Yet, the seasoned leader and charismatic politician fails a fundamental litmus test and reveals a significant ethical short-coming in his assertion that a child within his or her mother's womb does not deserve protection and can be legally killed.

HT: HotAir, Cross-posted: prolifeblogs

Posted by tim at February 5, 2007 11:07 PM

Articles Related to Politics:

Rudy Giuliani is NOT our Man - Mar 15, 2007
Romney and the Pro-Life Vote - Feb 13, 2007
Giuliani and Social Conservatives - Feb 13, 2007
Will Giuliani Pick a Ginsburg? - Feb 05, 2007
Mitt Romney and the Pro-Life Vote - Feb 02, 2007
Does Giuliani Merit the Pro-Life Vote? - Feb 01, 2007
Napolitano Backs Away from Kerry - Nov 01, 2006
The Troops Respond to Sen. John Kerry - Nov 01, 2006
Failed Statements by Sen. John Kerry - Nov 01, 2006
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Comments

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Our country is in debt until forever, we don't have jobs, and we live in fear. We have invaded a country and been responsible for thousands of deaths.
We have lost friends and influenced no one. No wonder most of the world thinks we suck. Thanks to what george bush has done to our country during the past three years, we do!

Posted by: Antibush at February 13, 2007 6:06 AM