Political Quotes

“Senator Harkin is right. This is a difficult situation. I am often asked at town meetings: Why should the government be involved in the regulation of abortion? It is a personal matter. I suppose it depends upon who you believe the interested parties are. Obviously, the interested parties are the mother, but many in the country believe there is another party to the decision process, and the unborn child. Someone has to speak for the unborn child. In a country where people are free to express themselves, that they would outlaw abortion--I find it amazing people who believe it is a woman's right to choose would idly sit by and not petition the government to change that. The converse is true. This is why we are here. This is part of democracy, defining what the law of the land is in terms of the beginning of life, the taking of life, and the terminating of a life. I don't find it odd at all we have these debates. This is exactly what a democracy is built upon--the rule of law. There are no understandings about the basics of life--when it begins, who can terminate it, under what conditions it can be terminated. If it is left to everyone's whim and personal desire, that is chaos. What we are trying to do in a very reasoned way, with much emotion behind the reason, is give our views about how the government, society, should deal with the issue of when life begins, what is life, and who has the right to terminate it, and under what circumstances.”