Rudy Giuliani had been doing a rather good job of making himself an acceptable candidate for social conservatives, but his latest comments on abortion may cause many pro-life voters to take a much closer look at how a Giuliani Administration would treat the abortion issue. By suggesting that the fact that the Supreme Court has (erroneously) ruled that there is a “right” to abortion under the Constitution it does not at all follow that the government has any business paying for abortions. As the editors of National Review explain:
The mayor’s rationale for abortion funding is bizarre. Putting his statements together and reading them as charitably as possible, his argument is that so long as the Supreme Court says abortion is a constitutional right state governments have an obligation to help poor women afford it…
Mayor Giuliani has tied himself in knots. His position makes neither logical, moral, nor political sense. Many conservatives are disappointed, and hope that their disappointment is not going to grow as the campaign wears on.
Giuliani has been trying to chart a sensible course on abortion rights — painting it as an issue for the states. However, he’s going to have a lot of explaining to do, and if his position really is that the federal government should be providing funds to pay for abortions – a position that puts him well to the left of the Democratic field on this — that position will be manifestly unacceptable to many social conservatives. Giuliani’s already problematic on the abortion issue, and this comment only increases the doubt that many people who believe in the value of pre-natal life have over whether the former Mayor will stand on the right side of this issue.
