Issue Position: The Right to Chose

Statement

Whether or not to have a child is the most fundamentally private decision a women can make in her lifetime. It is a decision over which she should hold exclusive power.

I have not sought the endorsement of my former boss, Alan Simpson. I respect his party affiliation too much to ever do that, but I do have to point to one of the most eloquent -- and blunt -- comments ever made by a male on the subject:

"Who the hell is for abortion?" asked Simpson. "I don't know anybody running around with a sign that says, "have an abortion, they're wonderful.' They're hideous. But they're a deeply intimate and personal decision, and I don't think men legislators should even vote on the issue."

I disagree only in one respect. Unfortunately, legislators of both genders will continually have to vote on the issue, solely to fend off the seemingly non-stop assault on women's right to choose. I am a married, middle-aged lawyer. How the hell would it be appropriate for me to impose my personal judgment on a woman's most private decisions? If I'm elected, you can count on me to stay the hell out of that important, personal choice … aside from fighting back others' attempts to impose their will on other people's bodies.

Abortion should be legal, abortion should be safe and, above all, abortion should be rare. We can start by having open and candid conversations with our children about sex, procreation and birth control.

Abortion rates around the country have reached a 40-year low. But the rate of decline is lowest in those states in which sex education, contraceptive information and availability are either not required or banned outright. Those states that promote a free and frank discussion and contraceptive information have the lowest rates of abortion in the nation. Honesty, education and contraceptives will continue to do more to prevent abortion than politically motivated legislation.

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