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Jimmy Carter on Abortion
President of the U.S., 1977-1981
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OpEd: Pro-life to pro-lifers; pro-choice to pro-choichers
In 1976, I was still a Democrat. The Democratic Party, while it was then edging toward an abortion-on-demand stance, still allowed room in its ranks for pro-life leaders. Carter himself proved to be a clover waffle in the abortion issue, suggesting that
he was pro-life to the pro-lifers and prochoice to the prochoicers--and yet the media, always Carter friendly, never nailed him on his hypocrisy. So in our naivet‚, we failed to realize that Carter was playing a duplicitous double game. And the
Republican Party, meanwhile, still seemed at that time to be dominated by defenders of the proabortion stance. Yet back in the seventies, the parties had not yet sorted themselves out on the rival issue of abortion. So in 1976, many pro-life and
socially conservative Americans could be found conscientiously voting for the Carter-Mondale ticket, thinking they were voting pro-life. And Marcus and I did more than that; we helped on his campaign, handing out fliers and making phone calls.
Source: Core of Conviction, by Michele Bachmann, p. 58
, Nov 21, 2011
Discourage abortion by providing family planning
Carter believes that abortion is wrong and that the government should try to discourage it by providing better sex education, family planning, and adoption procedures.
However, he does not favor a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court ruling permitting abortions.
Source: Jimmy Who?, by Leslie Wheeler, p.182
, Jan 1, 1976
Page last updated: Apr 28, 2013
