Someone on NYT blog said VA. Governor Tim Kaine is pro-life????

[Hawaii Hiker]

Can we please have a PRO - CHOICE candiate for VP PLEASE!!!....Yeah, yeah, blue dog Democrats (pro-life, pro-gun, blah, blah), but is it asking too much to have 2 pro-choice Democrats on the ticket..

I originally was excited about the possibility of Kaine as VP, now :banghead:

Hey, I'm voting for Obama regardless, but it would be nice to have a VP who is pro-choice..

[Midlodemocrat]

1. He is pro-life. He's anti-death penalty.

[RichGirl]

2. Yes he is!

I wish people would do just a little bit of research before they start cheerleading! Pro-life is not going to win back the hold out Clinton supporters and will turn off a lot of women in general.

[Midlodemocrat]

5. A lot of Dems are pro-life. It doesn't bother me that he is.

[ellacott]

14. Doesn't bother me either

Bob Casey is also Pro-Life.

[madfloridian]

3. At least he doesn't want to criminalize women and doctors...

"I have a faith-based opposition to abortion. As governor, I will work in good faith to reduce abortions by:

1. Enforcing the current Virginia restrictions on abortion and passing an enforceable ban on partial birth abortion that protects the life and health of the mother;
2. Fighting teen pregnancy through abstinence-focused education;
3. Ensuring women's access to health care (including legal contraception) and economic opportunity; and
4. Promoting adoption as an alternative for women facing unwanted pregnancies.

We should reduce abortion in this manner, rather than by criminalizing women and doctors. Too often politicians are interested in scoring political points, rather than in reducing the number of abortions. Many of the legislative proposals introduced in the General Assembly, like the ones to require unnecessary building standards for doctor's offices that perform abortions, are just political grandstanding. They encourage division and lawsuits rather than contributing to the goal of reducing abortions."

http://thepublicsquare.blogspot.com/2005/10/tim-kaines-stance-on-abortion.html

And so far he is not anti-contraception...which many of our Democrats in Congress are. Dems in Congress increased funding for abstinence only education since 2006.

[flpoljunkie]

4. So is John Kerry, but he, like Kaine is a Catholic would supports the law, Roe V. Wade.

[RichGirl]

8. John Kerry is not pro-life.

His personal views based on his religious background is anti-abortion. But, politically he is pro-choice. Personal views should be kept personal...as he does.

What really bothers me about the pro-life democrats is that they confirm the right-wing idea that pro-choice is pro-death or pro-abortion. Pro-choice is PRO-CHOICE and only that. Personally I am against abortion. But I also don't think it's my place to force my views on other women. They have a right to choose for themselves.

[beachmom]

24. I don't buy that you are "personally" against abortion. Say you

were raped by Osama bin Laden? And you got pregnant. Everyone is "personally" opposed to abortion until they find themselves in a bad situation. That is why it needs to be kept legal. The best examples of people "personally opposed to abortion" are members of the pro-life movement who find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy, and then have an abortion.

I don't mean to give you a hard time; I'm just saying people who say that haven't been dealt a situation where an abortion was needed. What you REALLY are saying is that if faced with an unplanned pregnancy, there is a good chance you would carry it to term. But given an EXTREME situation, I say all bets are off.

[onenote]

26. Kaine's position in his own words:

When Kaine ran for Governor, he specifically stated during one of the debates against his repub opponent, that while he was personally opposed to abortion, if Roe v. Wade was overturned he would still veto a law that banned abortion. In another debate, he explained his position as follows:

I haven’t hesitated to state consistently over the years that I am against abortion and the death penalty. And I have stated since I first got into public life: I am not going to change my religious view to get elected to public office. And I won’t let anybody push me around for my religious views or question them.

But beginning in 1994, I have taken on the role of public servant. And I have had to put my hand on a Bible, affirming everything I believe, and raise my right hand and swear that I will uphold the laws of the Commonwealth and of the United States. And I view that oath like my wedding oath. I view it as an oath that I am not going to break, and I wouldn’t take it unless I could carry it out.

[grantcart]

27. thanks do you have a link?

[onenote]

29. links

http://waldo.jaquith.org/blog/2005/07/kaine-kilgore-transcript/

See also: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/09/14/DI2005091401997.html

[Mass]

10. No, Kerry has been all his life supporters of prochoice laws. Kaine is not.

[beachmom]

22. John Kerry supported abortion rights BEFORE Roe v. Wade.

In his first Congressional race in 1972. He already has been endorsed by NARAL in his Senate race. Wow, no wonder so many people blast Kerry; they haven't a clue about his record.

[ErinBerin84]

6. The Tim Kaine threads have been pretty informative about his positions/record

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6553152

this one had some particularly good and thorough discussion, if you want to learn more about Tim Kaine.

[Czolgosz]

7. Kaine, a Catholic, is (like Kerry and Biden) personally opposed to abortion but supports Roe v Wade

[RichGirl]

9. That sentence is too long for the non-thinking public.

They hear pro-choice or pro-life...period. If he supports Roe vs Wade he should refer to himself as pro-choice and cut the crap. You CAN be anti-abortion AND pro-choice. Being pro-life helped him become governor of a red state...it's not going to fly among demcrats in general.

[Phoonzang]

11. McCain potentially has Obama over a barrel

If Obama picks Kaine before McCain picks his VP, McCain can pick some pro-life Repub like Ridge and have all the reluctant Hillary supporters stampede over to his side.

[ellacott]

13. And he will have the conservatives stampede away from him

[Phoonzang]

15. That's a plus yes...but I think the swing voters

which, unfortunately a lot of former Hillary supporters now are, will decide the election. Really it'll be 3 states that decide the election like always. A great system we've set up here...

[ellacott]

16. I'm not sure if McCain will pick a pro-choice VP

I think he's the one that's over a barrel.

[Phoonzang]

20. We can only hope! n/t

[Renew Deal]

31. What are you talking about?

Pro-choicers would leave Obama to vote for McCain because of his pro-choice VP? That makes no sense. But I bet lots of pukes would defect.

[TwilightGardener]

12. I don't think it will be an issue--he will just have to make clear that

he will appoint appropriate SCOTUS justices, that's all.

[RichGirl]

18. If we are already needing to defend him....

...I don't think he's a good candidate for VP. The key is not in the details. Who would have thought that McCain would turn into such a sleazy, lying, down and dirty campaigner???? Kaine is a nice guy. Two nice guys don't make a strong ticket. Let Obama be the nice guy...the VP needs to be a pit bull.

Everything that I know about Kaine (former Missionary, Peace Corps) he wouldn't say anything mean about McCain if his life depended on it!

[TwilightGardener]

23. I'm not impressed with Kaine either. He's like Bayh to me, chosen for

being safe and able to withstand vetting--I don't get the excitement over the missionary stuff. Just says to me that maybe he's a little too religious, frankly, and I say that as a Catholic myself. But the pro-life thing doesn't bother me--even if he WAS predisposed to be against legal abortion, Obama would make sure he would not do anything to harm our rights.

[grantcart]

17. Here are some actual facts;

1) Kaine has a personal and religious objection to abortion and capital punishment

2) I can find no articles that show that he used his office to advance his personal position.

This is what I did find:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201716.html

Planned Parenthood Praises Kaine


Planned Parenthood of Virginia, which had lobbied for the change in policy, sent out a statement Monday praising Kaine for joining its nationwide campaign to eliminate abstinence-only programs, which urge youths to refrain from sex until marriage.

"There is no evidence that abstinence-only programs equip teens with the education they need to delay sexual activity or prevent unintended pregnancies or the spread of sexually transmitted disease," said Becky Reid, an organizer for Planned Parenthood Health Systems.
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With the move, Virginia becomes the 14th state to refuse to support abstinence-only education.

Several social conservatives reacted angrily, accusing Kaine and Planned Parenthood of hiding his decision until after the Nov. 6 election.

http://swacgirl.blogspot.com/2008/02/planned-parenthood-funding-denied.html

Here is what the Republicans are saying

Note that all of this is begin done with a Governor in the background who has been using the budget as a political payoff to Planned Parenthood since the 2007 election. Gov. Kaine cut abstinence funding while keeping Planned Parenthood funding. I guess that tells you who’s side Gov. Kaine is on.

As for capital punishment he allowed executions to go on but he did stop the state legislature from expanding it

ACLU praises Kaine in VA


http://www.aclu.org/capital/general/29278prs20070404.html

RICHMOND, VA - The Virginia Senate today upheld Governor Tim Kaine's veto of two bills that could have dramatically increased the number of executions in Virginia by allowing capital charges to be brought against accomplices and others only indirectly involved in first degree murders.

At least two senators needed to change the votes they cast during the legislative session in order to prevent an override. That is exactly what happened when Senators Richard Saslaw and John Edwards supported the Governor's veto, despite having voted in favor of the bills during the session. The vote was 14 in favor of upholding the veto, 25 opposed, and one abstention. Senator Russell Potts abstained.

"The governor and 14 senators may have just saved Virginia from the ignominy of replacing Texas as the state with highest execution rate in the nation," said American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis.

[Barack_America]

21. He is also working hard to reinstate ex-felons to the voter rolls...

That gets him another :thumbsup: from me.

[Barack_America]

19. As long as they honor Roe v. Wade, I couldn't care less what they are personally.

And, as Governor, Kaine has honored Roe v. Wade. He has also scrapped abstinence-based sex ed funding.

[beachmom]

25. Yep, he's pro-life. I still voted for him. And he hasn't done anything

that I am aware of in office that undermined a woman's right to choose.

As I have said ad nauseam on this board, is that it is Kaine's lousy environmental record that is the problem. Not a position but ACTIONS he has taken as governor.

[grantcart]

28. do you have a link or more details on the environmental issues?

Its very hard for people out of the state to get any real information that is based on fact an not on cherry picking a particular statement taken out of context.

[Renew Deal]

30. Kaine is anti-choice and anti-death penalty.

And anti-war. His "pro-life" point of view is consistent.