Politician Quotes

I come to urge my party to be open to debate and discussion; to move away from a lock-step litmus test which advocates abortion on demand in an effort to reach a broader national consensus.

I am fairly certain that my abortion position hurt me, because in a Democratic primary, where turnout is relatively low, liberal voters turn out in disproportionately large numbers and thus exercise a disproportionate influence on the outcome.

I am convinced that this approach, a mainstream Democratic approach, commands the strong support of the American people, and presents a sharp and compassionate contrast to the Republican abortion position which offers no real hope or commitment to mother or child.

However, we might oppose it, abortion is a sad feature of modern life.

From the beginning, each human embryo has its own unique genetic identity.

For almost twenty years, abortion policy in America has been controlled by the courts.

By rejecting abortion-on-demand, we can move our party back to the mainstream.

As I discovered, even the governor of a major state who holds pro-life views can be denied a hearing at his party's convention without the national media protesting it.

Any man who has ever tried to use political power for the common good has felt an awful sense of powerlessness.

Advocates of unrestricted abortion do not want the public to focus on these undeniable facts of fetal development, but the facts cannot be ignored.

Abortion on demand, throughout the full nine months of a pregnancy, for virtually any reason, became public policy in the United States of America. No other developed democracy had, or has, such a permissive abortion regime.

Abortion is defended today as a means of ensuring the equality and independence of women, and as a solution to the problems of single parenting, child abuse, and the feminization of poverty.

Abortion is a question of choice.

A vast abortion industry, generating some half a billion dollars annually, sprang into existence in the wake of Roe and Doe.

The abortion license has not brought freedom and security to women. Rather, it has ushered in a new era of irresponsibility toward women and children, one that now begins before birth.

Our party has always been the voice of the powerless and the voiceless.

Abortion is the ultimate violence.

Tolerance is the price we pay for living in a free, pluralistic society.

Today, the growing economic and social pressures in our country are putting millions of women, children and families at increased risk of abuse and neglect, especially when families are denied basic support services and economic opportunity.

The national Democratic Party has embraced abortion on demand. I believe this position is wrong in principle and out of the mainstream of our party's historic commitment to protecting the powerless.

Abortion on demand has, in my judgment, contributed significantly to an environment in our country in which life has become very cheap.

A 1990 Gallup poll found that 77 percent of Americans polled said abortion was the taking of human life. I agree, and believe that taking the life on an innocent child is unjust.

Our moral, religious, and political traditions are united in their respect for the dignity of human life.

The sentiments in Hawaii about Washington's failure of leadership are no different than the rest of the country.

My own personal, moral, spiritual, religious, etc. beliefs don't oppose same-gender marriage.

I support allowing homosexuals to serve openly in our military and eliminating the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy.

I oppose a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.

I know I can serve Hawaii and our country well in the U.S. Senate, know we can mount a solid statewide campaign, know we have a good chance of prevailing.

I believe that the fact and the reality of homosexuality and heterosexuality and of opposite and same-gender unions should be taught in our public schools without a value judgement system also being offered.

Hawaiians want change, and if the Democrats don't offer change, Hawaiians are going to vote for the Republican who offers change.