Quotes from Howard Dean on the issue of choice.

[madfloridian]

There has been and is going to be a lot of discussion on this issue. I feel that the party may be trying to back away from standing up for these rights.

I admire Howard Dean for his clear stance on these issues. Some of you men here have no clue how many angry women (there are groups of pro-choice Republican women as well) there are when it comes to men and government butting into our private choices.

SO...Thanks, Howard Dean for your unequivical stand on this issue. It means a lot right now.
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Individual freedom should apply to abortion decision
I believe that the issue of abortion is a medical rather than a political decision. I don't see how a government regulation that tells doctors how to practice medicine can be supported. Republicans claim that they are the party of individual freedom, but they are the first to tell other people how to live their lives.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.142-3 Dec 3, 2003

Government should not make personal medical decisions
Q: Where do you stand on the partial birth abortion ban?
A: In the four years between 1996 & 2000 there were no late term abortions performed in my state. Late term abortions are very rare and should never be used except to save the life or health of the mother. I just don't think the government ought to be making personal medical decisions for Americans. No respectable physician would ever do a late term abortion except for the most serious reasons. That is why I did not support the President's bill

Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 6, 2003

Rollback restrictions on stem cell research
Q: Will you rollback Bush's restrictions on stem cell research?
A: Yes. The president's anti-science bias should not be permitted to deprive Americans with Parkinson's, diabetes, and other treatable diseases of the help that they need.

Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 6, 2003

Abortion is none of the government's business
As a physician, I do not like the idea that Congress or the President think they should practice medicine. Abortion is a deeply personal decision which ought to be made between the patient, the family and physician. It's none of the government's business.
Source: Campaign web site, DeanForAmerica.com, "On the Issues" Nov 30, 2002

Partial birth abortion ok to protect the mother
The notion of "partial birth abortion" is nonsense. This is a rare procedure used only to save the life or health of the mother. We have had no third trimester abortions in Vermont in the past four years.
Source: Campaign web site, DeanForAmerica.com, "On the Issues" Nov 30, 2002

Favors abortion rights
He's already established his campaign persona: the straight-talking, green-leafy-veggies fiscal conservative who favors abortion rights and civil unions for gay couples but who also brags that he has an A rating from the National Rifle Association.
Source: Charles P. Pierce, Boston Globe Nov 24, 2002

http://www.issues2000.org/2004/Howard_Dean_Abortion.htm

[Maat]

1. God, I love Howard Dean!

He really knows how to effectively express himself (I even liked the Scream - but that's just me).

Thanks for the info - I saved it.

[bettyellen]

2. thank you mad, rock on mr dean!!

[madfloridian]

3. I keep waiting for them to want to regulate vasectomies...

then we will hear some screaming. They want to keep the women pregnant and barefooted and home taking care of the young-uns.

I am proud of Howard Dean for just simply saying how he believes.

[Liberty Belle]

6. Viagra. Convince the fundies that it's an abomination.

and should be banned, since it's interfering with God's will. That'll get the rich white GOP males' attention--and make a strong point about why we don't need laws that tell us what to do with our own bodies.

[madfloridian]

8. Thought about mentioning that as well. LOL

If they start regulating the male medical choices....they will squeal.

[Timebound]

4. Wow, go Dean!

:)

[REP]

5. One Thing I Really Like About Him

There are lots of things I like about him, but I really liked how he never backed down, wrung his hands or pussy-footed about reproductive rights. It is a medical issue, one that the government has no place in.

[janx]

7. kick

[Lugnut]

9. No argument here

This no nonsense stuff that just keeps coming from this man's mouth is the reason I love Howard Dean. I also agree with this specific position. Congress is not licensed to practice medicine.

[madfloridian]

10. I agree. I think this is a crucial time for our party.

Very crucial. I have 5 kids, never thought about an abortion, really don't like the idea.....but we must defend it on the basis of the right to make medical decisions. The government has no right in this process.

[proudbluestater]

11. Every statement was PERFECT!

Especially his comments on "partial birth abortion." As a physician himself, he is well aware that it is not even a medical term; instead, it is a phrased coined by the anti-choicers.

[wyldwolf]

12. great postition statements. Now if he would just come around on...

..medical malpractice.

Just hours after U.S. Senate Democrats defeated legislation that would limit damage awards in medical malpractice cases Wednesday, the American Association of Health Plans called for candidates to take a stand on the issue.

Democrats who voted down the reform in Congress said the bill would punish individuals to protect groups like the American Medical Association, HMOs, drug companies and manufacturers of medical devices.

Howard Dean, a doctor, ... said the issue is best handled by state courts and legislators, not at the national level.

http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/politics2003/0713_malpractice_2003.shtml

Like abortion, medical malpractice is an issue that has serious civil rights implications. I don't believe it should be left to the states.

[lojasmo]

13. Kerry and Lieberman weasled out of that vote....cute. N/T

[wyldwolf]

14. then I hold them both in the same regard on that matter...

..but we are discussing Howard Dean, right?

[madfloridian]

17. Well, my post was discussing the issue of choice. You changed it.

You always try to paint him in the worst light you can. It is expected.

[janx]

15. Just because a problem is an important one,

it doesn't necessarily follow that it is best handled on a federal level. There are some things, like gun control, that are best left to the states.

I suspect the right wing is using tort reform and limits on medical malpractice (which is a real problem that has been around for decades) to mask their protection of insurance companies.

Think about the implications of any medical malpractice lawsuit. The plaintiff makes money, of course--usually rightly, sometimes not. The lawyers get good cuts. But the insurance companies, who make a load by charging physicians higher and higher rates because of the lawsuits, rake it in *constantly*--from the patients and the physicians.

Howard Dean, being a physician and married to a physician, probably has good and practical reason for suggesting that this problem be handled by individual states rather than the federal government.

[Walt Starr]

16. Dean for DNC Chair or Greens here I come

Take no prisoners. No surrender. Dean or gone!

[madfloridian]

18. "This bill will chill the practice of medicine"

From October 2003

http://www.commondreams.org/scriptfiles/views03/1024-07.htm

SNIP..."Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, responded to the Senate vote by declaring, "As a physician, I am outraged that the Senate has decided it is qualified to practice medicine. There is no such thing as 'partial birth abortion' in medical literature. But there are times when a doctor is called upon to perform a late-term abortion to save a woman's life or protect her from serious injury. Today the Senate took a step toward making it a crime for a doctor to perform such medically necessary procedures. This bill will chill the practice of medicine and endanger the lives of countless women. This kind of legislation serves the sole purpose of chipping away women's constitutionally protected reproductive rights and overturning Roe v. Wade."

By playing fast and loose with the facts and sticking always to the margins of the abortion debate, Bush and his allies have tried to turn this issue to their advantage politically."END SNIP

Well, the term exists now, Dr. Dean. They just made up the name and got the bill passed.

[janx]

19. There are more names coming.

I got a handful of anti-choice papers this semester with more misinformation in them than even I could believe.

We're about to be bombarded with it, and it's going to take all of the strength and patience we can muster to deal with it.

[Senator Lamb]

20. no wonder

everyone was out to get him. he makes a lot of sense. though i still doubt he could have done better than kerry.