« McCain's Bazaar Photo Op Saga Ends in Bloodshed | Blog Index | Giuliani Flip-Flop-Flips on Flat Tax »

Giuliani Flip-Flop-Flips on Public Funding for Abortions

Earlier, I wrote about Giuliani's flip-flops on public funding for abortion:

A top Rudy advisor has told the conservative National Review that Rudy opposes public funding for abortions. That's very different from Rudy's position in the 90s, when he ran for office touting his support for public funding.

CNN dug further into this recently when it interviewed Giuliani, and some poor writer had to figure out how to transcribe Giuliani's endless maneuvering and non-answers. Check it out.

In a 1989 speech now being widely circulated on the Internet, Giuliani called for public funding of abortions for poor women, saying, "We cannot deny any woman the right to make her own decision about abortion because she lacks resources."

Asked by Bash [the interviewer] if he would maintain that position as president, Giuliani said "probably."

"I would have to re-examine all of those issues and exactly what was at stake then -- that was a long time ago," he said. "When I was mayor, adoptions went up, abortions went down. But ultimately, it's a constitutional right, and therefore if it's a constitutional right ... you have to make sure that people are protected."

Pressed if he would support public funding for abortions, Giuliani said, "If it would deprive someone of a constitutional right, yes, if that's the status of the law, then I would, yes."

After the interview, Giuliani's campaign clarified that if elected, he would not seek to change current federal law, which limits public funding for abortions to cases of rape, incest or where the life of the pregnant woman is in danger.

So within the space of one interview, Giuliani says he would "probably" support public funding for abortions, then says he would have to support public funding because choice is a constitutional right, then says he would not support public funding except in a few instances.

All of this from a guy who has spent his career being a strong pro-choice advocate, and is known for his strength and resolve.

Comments

I find it not too surprising that he is beginning to adopt the Republican stance on this. When Governor Cuomo was running for reelection against Pataki, Giuliani did something truly amazing.

He said, "Vote for Cuomo on the Liberal ticket."

For those who are not aware, Giuliani ran on both the Republican and the Liberal tickets. The latter no longer exists in New York. So, he was not crossing party lines by saying this.

The Republican Party must have slapped him down very hard after Pataki won. I do not recall him crossing the Republican party line on anything after that. He was truly beaten into submission.

I suspect he has not recovered yet.

Hey, does anyone really believe that Mayor of New York City is enough experience for a President of the U.S.?

Posted by: Misanthropic Scott on 04/05/07 at 9:22 AM

Scott,

Does being the (weak) govenor of Texas make one qualified to be President?

All this flip-flopping has made the G-man totally un-electable (as if he wasn't already...cross-dressing aside). In the primary and in the general (would be a miricale if he got the nod) he would be bashed over the head about flip-flopping. It did Kerry in, it'll do him in too. Same goes for Romney.

Posted by: blue on 04/05/07 at 12:35 PM

blue: NO!! It most certainly does not. Nor does being president of the Screen Actor's Guild make one qualified to be a Governor.

I do hope he gets the Rethuglikkkan nomination though. He is actually the least of the evils from that side, though still evil nonetheless.

Is it too late to nominate Bonzo?

Posted by: Misanthropic Scott on 04/05/07 at 1:16 PM