TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN Wednesday he supports public funding for some abortions, a position he advocated as mayor and one that will likely put the GOP presidential candidate at odds with social conservatives in his party.
"Ultimately, it’s a constitutional right, and therefore if it’s a constitutional right, ultimately, even if you do it on a state by state basis, you have to make sure people are protected," Giuliani said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash in Florida’s capital city.
A video clip of the then-mayoral candidate issuing a similar declaration in 1989 in a speech to the "Women’s Coalition" appeared recently on the Internet.
"There must be public funding for abortions for poor women," Giuliani says in the speech that is posted on the video sharing site YouTube. "We cannot deny any woman the right to make her own decisions about abortion."
When asked directly Wednesday if he still supported the use of public funding for abortions, Giuliani said "Yes."
"If it would deprive someone of a constitutional right," he explained, "If that’s the status of the law, yes."
I wonder how anybody can say that Rudy would appoint judges who are strict constructionalists when he can call abortion a constitutional right. Does he believe that a strict contructionalist sees abortion "rights" in the Constitution? It must be all those damn penumbras floating around the Constitution that make people see this.
Though at least he hasn’t had some fake conversion to the pro-life cause and while I can appreciate his honesty it certainly does not change the fact that someone so wrong on so many moral issues isn’t going to make good moral decisions as President.
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18 comments
This is the leading Catholic candidate for public office in the United States. Beyond belief.
Furthermore, since “free” sex is a constitutional right, we absolutely must subsidize the cost of dating services for poor people, as well as providing vouchers for cover charges and drinks. As a bonus this will allow more poor people the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to kill the baby in their womb, which we are also paying for.
Since voting is a right, do we pay people to wait in line at the polls? Maybe some places, but not anywhere I’ve worked.
Wow, if the only thing keeping me from exercising my constitutional rights is I can’t afford them, I wonder how many more there are than the ones I could afford to read in the Constitution itself.
Rudy Giuliani and Cardinal Egan — Best friends 4ever.
This is the typical Catholic sentiment that I run into. He’ll win the Catholic vote overwhelmingly with such statements.
How about the right to bear arms? Should we provide handgun vouchers to people who cannot afford them?
I don’t know if Mayor Rudy will win over many Catholics by his continued stand in support of abortion as he has what appears to be an albatross of sleazy public behavior hanging about him. That said, I would applaud his stand on behalf of constitutional rights if those rights did not result in the cold-blooded murder of 40,000,000 unborn children (and counting)–who all have a right to life, Supreme Court or not.
Let’s face it, the Mayor, as with so many liberal Catholics, including not a few prelates, bend themselves like pretzels in trying to serve two (or more) masters. They mouth pieties about God while doing the work of Mammon, et al.
Owning a gun is a constitutional right. Where can I put in my order for a new (government funded) Remington?
Jim, you are being silly. Why should the gov’t waste money on something that is not intrinsically evil like guns? They only work some of the time. Baby genocide…I mean “choice” is nearly 100% effective!
Jeff, the constitution has more rights than those listed in the first 8 amendments, as stated by the 9th amendment.
Hoodlum
Gee I must have missed the right about sucking the brains out of children as they are being removed from the birth canal in my copy of the Constitution.
Of course that is why the Supreme Court had to try to pin the whole thing on privacy rights.
Even many left-wing supporters of abortion agree that the Roe v. Wade decision was badly written and based on shoddy legal and constitutional reasoning. Before Roe, every court in the nation held the position that since nothing even remotely resembling abortion appeared in the Consititution, nor was it ever mentioned much in English common law, that the states retained the right to do what they wanted about it, as SPECIFICALLY STATED in the 10th Amendment- yes, there is an explicit amendment that, under sound Constitutional reasoning, reserves the regulation of abortion to the states and the people. The Ninth amendment could not apply, since no right to abortion had ever existed in English common law or American law before Roe v. Wade.
Of course, if SCOTUS were to rule that the fetus is a legal person, that would constitute a way for the federal government to Constitutionally outlaw abortion despite the 10th amdendment, since it would merely extend the defenition of “murder” to include abortion, which is the prerogative of the judicial branch in a way that extending the status of a 9th amendment “right” to abortion is not.
Jeff, it’s right next to the part of the constitution giving the government the right to regulate female reproduction 🙂 Ohh wait, the constitution is an explicit allow/deny policy- i.e. you check it to see if an action is allowed, which means, if it is not explicited state in the constitution, the guvment can’t do it.
Look Jeff, I know you love being Catholic, but shocking as this may sound, a majority of the planet believe otherwise, and dislikes the RC’s “culture of totalitarian busybodiness” being imposed on them 🙂
What I don’t get is how people who profess compassion for the poor and the minorities (even some of our priests and religious) can promote their “right” to kill their babies…That’s like supporting their equal right to suffer the death penalty. I wouldn’t be surprised if the statistics reveal proportionately MORE deaths of minorities through abortion as well as capital punishment.In which case the sympathizers are certainly running full speed with the ball–toward the wrong goal!
msujab
msujab
msujab
msujab
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