Giuliani does not mention abortion rights at Conservative conference

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., "position[ed] themselves as allies" to conservatives despite their "mixed" records on issues such as abortion rights and stem cell research, the Los Angeles Times reports (Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times, 3/3).

Giuliani, who supports abortion rights, in recent talks with conservative media outlets and voters in South Carolina said he would appoint "strict constructionist" judges to the Supreme Court.

In a recent interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, he also said that a law (S 3) being reviewed by the Supreme Court that bans so-called "partial-birth abortion" should be upheld and that he supports parental notification requirements with a judicial bypass provision for minors seeking abortions (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/13).

Giuliani on Saturday did not mention abortion rights to the conservative conference but said, "We don't see eye-to-eye on everything. You and I have a lot of common beliefs that are the same and we have some that are different" (Gordon, Long Island Newsday, 3/3).

According to the New York Times, Romney portrayed himself as a barrier toward efforts in Massachusetts to remove restrictions on stem cell research and abortion rights. "I fought to preserve our traditional values, and to protect the sanctity of human life," Romney said (Nagourney, New York Times, 3/3).

Since Romney first ran for U.S. Senate in 1994, he has acknowledged that his position on abortion has changed from "proudly" supporting abortion rights to saying that he would "like to see" Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that effectively barred state abortion bans, overturned.

Romney in 2004 said that when he studied human embryonic stem cell research, he experienced an "awakening that led him to the conclusion that 'the sanctity of life had been cheapened' by the Roe decision" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/13).

Other possible candidates for the 2008 Republican nomination speaking at the convention included Reps. Duncan Hunter (Calif.) and Tom Tancredo (Colo.), Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) and former Arkansas Gov.

Mike Huckabee (Los Angeles Times, 3/3). Huckabee referenced Giuliani's stance on abortion rights, saying, "I'm a little troubled when people say, 'I hate abortion, but I don't believe we ought to regulate it'" (Long Island Newsday, 3/3).

NPR's "Morning Edition" on Monday included an interview with Brownback.

In the interview, Brownback discussed his opposition to abortion rights and human embryonic stem cell research, saying he believes in "being fully life," adding, "I think we have to stand for life in the womb, but we also have to stand for the young woman that's in poverty or the guy that's trapped in his own bondage by what he has done in prison" (Montagne, "Morning Edition," NPR, 3/5).

Audio and a transcript of the segment are available online.