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Giuliani Reaffirms Pro-Choice Stance on Abortion
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Friday urged conservatives to look past his support for abortion rights, arguing that his divergence on the issue should not disqualify him from being the party's GOP nominee. The former New York City mayor has struggled in the last week to explain his personal opposition to terminating pregnancies with his long record of favoring a woman's right to choose. He has defended his positions - and some say contradictory comments - on late-term abortion, public funding for abortions and the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. "Everybody's got to make a choice," Giuliani told about 500 students, faculty and staff crammed into an auditorium at Houston Baptist University. "How important are the differences and how important are the other issues we may agree on." Giuliani emphasized his conservative credentials on tax cuts, crime and the war in Iraq before clarifying his support for abortion rights, a position he acknowledged was unlikely to be shared by those listening.
Story Continues Below Describing his belief that abortion was "morally wrong," Giuliani said he has opposed it all his life. But he said he believes the decision should ultimately be left to individuals and that their decisions should be respected. "In a country like ours . . . I believe you have to respect their viewpoint and give them a level of choice. I would grant women the right to make that choice," he said. Several students praised Giuliani's speech, but said it was unlikely to make them support his candidacy. "Overall, I thought it was a great speech," said Erik Mignault, a 25-year-old political science major. "I think it was a good political stance to take. He's sitting right in the middle." But Mignault and several other students said they were strictly anti-abortion and likely to support a more conservative candidate.
Giuliani's appearance was greeted warmly, and he appeared playful at times, hoisting a child with an "I Love New York" T-shirt and laughing at boos when he spoke of his love for the New York Yankees, the team that this week acquired Houston Astros star pitcher Roger Clemens. But Giuliani told the audience at the small Christian school that they should support a candidate who could protect America from terrorism and from Democratic assaults on the economy. He acknowledged that abortion was the issue that most divided them. "I have profound respect for your views," he said. "I have profound respect for your education, and I have profound respect for your religion." But, he said, it is uniquely American to disagree on some political issues while agreeing on many others. "We understand how to respect each other's differences," he said.
© 2007 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2008 Presidential Race Inside Cover Stories
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