On when life begins: “My personal belief about what happens in the fertilization process is a human being is first formed and created, and that’s when life begins. Something begins to happen. There’s a transformation. There’s an evolution. Within weeks, you look and see the development of it, but that’s not a person yet, and it’s certainly not what somebody, in my judgment, ought to have the government of the United States intervening in.”
(7/22/04, ABC News)
General: “Abortion should be rare but it should be safe and legal. And the government should stay out of the bedrooms of Americans.” (Washington, D.C., 4/04)
On Roe v. Wade: “The Republicans want to criminalize the right of women to choose, take us back to the days of back alleys, gag doctors and deny families the right to plan and be aware of their choices – we Democrats want to protect the constitutional right of privacy.” (6/7/03, Massachusetts Democratic Convention)
On partial-birth abortion: “President Bush has signed legislation [the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban] that takes a step backwards for women as his stealth agenda to roll back the right to choose is pushed forward.” (News Release, 11/3/03)
Voted NO on Unborn Victims of Violence Act to make it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of a violent crime
(S.1019, 3/04).
Voted NO on conference report on Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act to ban partial-birth abortion (S. 3, 6/03); Voted NO on bill to ban partial-birth abortion (S.1692, 10/99).
Joined Senate in unanimous consent (none objecting) in passage of Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (H.R.2175, 7/18/02).
Voted NO on bill maintaining the ban on abortions at Department of Defense facilities (S.2549, 6/00).
Voted to repeal laws prohibiting abortions at overseas military
facilities (S.1059, 5/99).