Perry Shifts His Stance on Abortion
- 12/27/2011
OSCEOLA, Iowa — At a town hall meeting tonight, Gov. Rick Perry said he no longer supported abortion in cases of rape and incest.
As he responded to a question from the audience, Perry said he had undergone a “transformation” after viewing the film The Gift of Life, narrated by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and talking with Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived during a rape. “She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I am the product of a rape,’ and she said, ‘My life has worth,'” Perry said.
Joshua Verwers, a Sheraton pastor, asked the governor to reconcile what he had told him in November at the Iowa Faith and Freedom dinner — that he was against abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or when it was necessary to save the life of the mother — with his signature on a pledge from the anti-abortion group Personhood USA that bans abortion under any circumstances.
After the meeting, Verwers said that Perry’s answer was “perfect” and “from the heart.” He said it particularly moved him that the governor had shifted his beliefs after speaking with someone who had been born from rape. Perry’s wife, Anita, has been a fundraiser for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault since 2003 and has devoted her efforts to supporting other causes that work to prevent violence against women.
During a Personhood USA teleconference tonight, Perry reiterated his change of beliefs and elaborated on why he decided to sign the pledge: “As I signed that document I will suggest to you that, all I can say to you, was that God was working out of my heart.”
Fellow candidates Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich also participated in the call.
This article (shared with permission via website) originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-presidential-election/perry-shifts-his-views-abortion/.
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Photo and other great stuff available at: http://mariopiperni.com/abortion/the-uterus-of-the-united-states-of-america.php
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“Let Women Die” Bill, H.R.358
On October 13, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.358, an extreme anti-choice bill.
The bill would allow a hospital to refuse a woman life-saving, emergency abortion care even if she will die without it. On top of that, it effectively would ban insurance coverage of abortion in state health-insurance exchanges, denying abortion coverage to millions of women (Via NARAL).
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The Conservative agenda to deny Abortion services to women (even at their own expense) should be supported by NO-COST Birth Control for all WOMEN (But, alas, it is NOT!).
Whether you are Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, it stands to reason that No-Cost Birth Control for all WOMEN, makes sense (doesn’t it?!)
White House: Support No-Cost Birth Control for All Women
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted medical experts’ recommendation that newly issued insurance plans cover birth control without copays. Women will feel the magnitude of this decision every time they go to the pharmacy counter and pick up their birth control without paying a copay.
This is such a tremendous leap forward. However, women who work for a religious institution, like a Catholic hospital or university that opposes birth control, are at risk of not being included under this new policy.
Anti-birth-control forces, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are leading the fight. They have launched a massive campaign to allow religious employers to opt out of the new requirement (via NARAL).
Define. Don't Defend. 