Kerry Once Opposed Abortion

LifeNews.com reports that "it appears presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry flip-flopped on abortion."

The pro-life news wire cites an October 1972 interview Kerry gave the the Lowell (Mass.) Sun.

Kerry, then running for Congress, stated that he categorically opposed abortion.

Kerry said: "It's a tragic day in the lives of everybody when abortion is looked on as an alternative to birth control or as an alternative to having a child. I think that's wrong. It should be the very last thing if it has to be anything, and I say that not just because I'm opposed to abortion but because I think that's common sense."

At that time, Kerry was not for federal protection for abortion, nor did he claim it as a right to privacy, telling the paper, "I think the question of abortion is one that should be left for the states to decide."

In June 2003, the New York Times quoted a Kerry spokesman as saying the senator had always favored abortion rights.

"From the beginning John Kerry has consistently said and believed that privacy is foremost and that abortion should be a decision between a women and her doctor," the Kerry spokesman told the Times.

See also: John Kerry: On the Record

Editor's note: