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Hutchison Reaffirms Support for Roe v. Wade in Texas Debates

By: hogan (Diary)  |  January 14th, 2010 at 10:57 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Tonight in Texas, the Republican Gubernatorial debate took place at the University of North Texas in Denton. Participating were Governor Perry, Senator Hutchison and Debra Medina. There were a number of highlights and lowlights – but suffice it to say, it was pretty clear that Senator Hutchison is of Washington and Governor Perry is of Texas.

The most important, and telling, exchange occurred between the questioners and Hutchison on the issue of abortion. The transcript below is UNOFFICIAL, transcribed by yours truly sitting in front of the DVR. If I set out to just make up a muddled, irresponsible, dishonest and flat-out offensive answer, I doubt I could have come up with a better one than this endorsement of Roe v. Wade by Senator Hutchison (of course, it’s not the first time – see her previous vote here for language saying Roe v. Wade is Constitutional and should not be overturned, language that Democrat Leader Harry Reid voted against) .

In short – she says Roe v. Wade should not be overturned because it would turn some states into an “abortion haven…”

What?

See below – the transcript speaks for itself:

Dave Montgomery (Forth Worth Star-Telegram): Yes, Senator Hutchison, could you clarify your position on abortion tonight? Uh, specifically, do you believe that Roe v. Wade should remain in force or be reversed as the state Republican Party advocates in its platform?

Senator Hutchison: Let me say that my record is one of always coming down on the side of life. In my record in the Senate, I have voted against partial birth abortion, federal funding of abortion, parental consent restrains… I mean more parental consent restraints on abortion without parental consent… I have promoted adoption and if I am Governor of Texas, I will do everything I can to limit, lower the number of abortions in this state and promote adoption. We don’t want unwanted pregnancies, that’s not good for anyone.

If Roe, uh… Talking about the Supreme Court of the land, we have had restrictions on abortion that have become the law of the land, and I think that’s good. I don’t want abortion havens. I don’t want to have freedom so that some states would allow partial-birth abortion. And there are states that have actually had referendums that have said they would want to have partial-birth abortions. So yes, that scares me.

Dave Montgomery: Uh, but still, your position on abortion is giving some discomfort to Republican activists in your party who take a pretty strong position on reversing Roe v. Wade. Do you believe it should remain in effect or be reversed?

Hutchison: What concerns me about that is that we would then have some states that would allow abortion as the baby is coming out of the birth canal. And I would never support that. I have voted against it. I don’t want that to be in any state in our country, and that is the reason that I have stated that position.

Moderator Shelley Kofler: So you would not support the overturning of Roe v. Wade?

Hutchison: What I am saying is… [audience laughter]… if it is overturned, you are going to have abortion havens.

Kofler: Is there a yes or a no to this?

Hutchison: Look, I am just telling you why I’m concerned about, um, having it overturned and then having abortion havens all over our country.

Montgomery: Are you saying if it’s overturned it will lead to black market abortions, essentially?

Hutchison: Legal. Legal abortions. That’s what concerns me. I think you are looking at a whole… Right now we have restrictions that are quite reasonable that are the law of the land.

Montgomery: So, keep Roe v. Wade on the books.

Hutchison: Well, I think you have to look at what happens if… if it goes away. Then every state is allowed to do whatever its state legislature passes, and we know there are states that will allow abortion under any circumstances including partial-birth abortion.

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COMMENTS

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  • The_Only_Woj

    How long do we have to wait until she loses to Perry and the Michael Williams primaries the crap out of her?

    http://www.williamsfortexas.com/

    • The_Only_Woj

      where’s the edit comment link? “the Michael Williams”. You know what … he is THE Michael Williams. TMW > KBH. Damnit!

    • Third Street

      Because I’m betting that after she has her clock cleaned by Perry she doesn’t resign her seat after all. No resignation = no special election = no possible Williams candidacy until the seat is up in 2012.

      • Richard Mullins

        at all of KBH’s offices even the one in Port San Antonio. I’m sure she can’t get away from that. She seems to hold to her super-moderate Galveston county roots plus running against a West Texas conservative hurts.

  • http://www.WILLisms.com WILLisms

  • mbecker908
  • AndrewHyman

    KBH has developed impressive hemming and hawing skills. Heres a more direct answer from her.

    • AceInTX

      not so much!

  • http://www.WILLisms.com WILLisms

    Some things never change, I suppose.

  • vrwcnut

    Fresh from the 10pm local news. Question was whom would you vote for if the election were today. Medina 47% Perry 28 kbh 25.

    Medina proved herself tonight and those who watched the debate recognized it. We could have a replacement for these 2 career posers if she can maintain the energy through the next debate on the 29th.

    This wouldn’t be as big as the Mass. miracle million but it would still be pretty significant. No 3rd party. No incumbent. It’s the concept of reforming the GOP without “going rogue”.

    You can remember the Alamo if you wish. I prefer San Jacinto.

    • mustango

      I think Medina won the debate but she’s still got a long way to catch up in this race. Still, this kind of thing has happened before, in what was then my (and is still my parents’) home congressional district in Michigan, where a dark horse sneaked past two establishment candidates who were focused on each other.

    • texasgalt

      The Alamo fell in March and so will Medina. There aren’t any reinforcements coming from Goliad or anywhere else.

      You may wish to attempt a letter as eloquent as Alamo commander Col Travis’ . . . But please, no lines in the sand.

      • Richard Mullins

        if she’s really as conservative as she’s says, she should have tried running for Lt. Governor. We really need a strong conservative there and we haven’t had one since Perry left to be Governor.

        • vrwcnut

          they wouldn’t bump their butts when they jump. It is what it is.

          Choice: one of 2 incumbents whose records clearly demonstrate they either don’t believe in standing on conservative principles or are too incompetent to do so. The other is not an insider, stands for the values espoused on this site and promises she will govern by them.

          Choice: same ol’ same ol’ or not.

          Seems to me there comes a point beyond which saying, “It should be..” is counterproductive. Look what has been done in Mass. when people got behind a long shot who was all but written off. And he isn’t even a dyed-in-the-wool conservative!

        • AceInTX
  • USNJIMRET

    As Governor, wouldn’t her ability to influence the issue be diminished, on a National level?

    • skey

      As a one-term Texas governor she’d do a ton less damage to the country than she will as a filibuster-breaking, deal-making liberal Republican in the Senate. Because I don’t currently believe she’ll keep her word and resign her Senate seat without winning the primary first.

      Now, if she does actually resign the seat, then that changes things, and I can vote against her.

      • hogan

        I understand the logic, but a couple of points – 1) the movement is stronger nationally if there are strong states standing on principle. Governor Perry is not perfect and Texas needs to address some issues, but the bottom line is that Texas is on a better track than most states right now because it is structurally set up to succeed (legislature meeting every 2 years for 6 months) and because Governor Perry is instinctively conservative and for limited government – the last thing we want to do for Texas and for the movement is to bring Washington to Texas, and 2) speaking as someone who has seen Congress up close, she can do much less damage today than she could when we were in the majority.

        In short, vote for the best candidate for Governor, and then make her keep her word (which she reiterated in the debate tonight) to resign.

        • AceInTX

          he’s turning down federal education money and telling the Feds where to get of because he doesn’t want Washington mandating Texas education policy….

          He’s not perfect and I’ve had my issues with him on Toll Roads and the Trans Texas Corridor….but he’s set Texas up to weather the economic storm we’re facing right now…and we’re in better shape than any other State in the union right now because of his leadership along with Lt Gov Dewhurst.

          If Kay was going to take Perry on she should have done in in 2006…he wasn’t nearly as strong then as he is now…and the fact that she’s jumped in now shows just how empty headed and ditsy she really is!

          and this exchange on abortion shows how empty headed she is…

      • AceInTX

        That’s why I, very reluctantly, have to support her for governor. As a one-term Texas governor she

  • BlackConservative

    It’ll be ok-we might even let you back into the conservative fold again. Like I said, this has always been the thorn in the side of the Bushies, how they have always hated the fact that Perry was a better and more conservative Governor than W. Anyone who endorses KBH needs to turn in their conservative card for a moron card.

    • texasgalt

      Can pass their time at tea with the Bushes. Neighbors and like-thinkers . . .

      I doubt Cheney would be welcome. Not sure what came over him with the endorsement but likely related to business.

    • AceInTX

      to bad colt got hurt eye…I’d like to see how the game would have turned out with him at the helm.

      Hook Em!

  • itrytobenice

    Is there a brain sucking monster in the swamps around DC? WTH happens to them. Surely she wasn’t always a retard.

    • vrwcnut

      I think there’s something of the Peter Principle at work here.

      She’s a good example because she’s been in the “game” her whole life. Came up through the ranks, didn’t ruffle feathers or make more enemies than friends along the way and wound up promoted to her level of incompetence. Been there for 16 years and probably gonna stay for 2 more if she doesn’t win the primary.

      Being in or around DC is a strong contributing factor. Webb and Murtha come to mind.

      Is there an exception to this theory? I can’t think of one.

  • texasgalt

    Senator Hutchison is as slippery as most of the North Dallas Lady RINOs. You just can’t nail down a straight answer from these jellow spined malcontents. So much contempt for the cowboy, Perry.

    Kay, what have you done really other than rub your backside raw sitting on fences. You and your country-clubbers should know Texas fences are all
    barbed wire. Somehow you find the ill-wisdom to talk about the last nine years of Texas under Perry as some sort of “mistake.” Beltway blindness to be sure.

    Senator, that discomfort you feel in your backside is a fork and yes, you are done. Now, do what you promised and RESIGN. Bye bye.

    There are consistent conservatives with real fire in the belly who can serve Texas far better. A great choice would be the anti-earmark crusader from Texas 5th Distirict, (R) Jeb Hensarling.

    • vrwcnut

      Medina is.

  • texasgalt

    to replace Huchison . . . if she actually resigns. http://www.jebhensarling.com/

  • AStoner

    I am wondering why she did not just plead the 5th. It would have actually looked smarter and not lost any where near the number of votes as this is likely to cause her to lose.

    This is why I do not trust the establishment class. This is why I am no longer Republican. There is exactly no reason at all that this woman should have ever been on a ballot after the primary season, unless some establishment group of Republicans chose to support her.

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      If you’re not a Republican then stay out of discussions of our primaries.

  • Martin Knight

    Granted, Rick Perry would by far make the better Governor, and Michael Williams would by far make the better Senator, but Kay Bailey Hutchison has been, by and large, a loyal soldier in the Senate.

    At least a hell of a lot more so than the Maine sisters, John McCain, George Voinovich, Bob Bennett and Lindsey Graham. One never sees her in the news launching broadsides to her right or leaping to join Grand Bipartisan Alliances like McCain and Co.

    She’s not perfect, but she is and has been on our side, and I honestly think she should not be subject to the kind of name-calling I’ve seen here. She doesn’t deserve it.

    • bigmaude

      Call me a wahbulance. Her stance on “pro-choice” sets her up for this. All is fair in, well you know the rest. Watch Rick Perry, he’s handsome, but……check his allowing the highway through Texas from Mexico, into Canada. Nothing to see here, move along people………

      • bk

        According to NRLC, she voted the right way 50 times, the wrong way 3 times, and missed 2. The two she missed are ones that she voted for every time before and after and that passed easily the times she missed, so it would appear those were ones she would have voted right but happened to miss. Two of the three bad votes were related to stem cells (the only two votes related to stem cell research) and the other was a BS Harkin amendment backing Roe v Wade attached to a PBA bill.

        Ref: http://nrlc.www.capwiz.com/bio/id/552

        So she prefers national control to state control, but except for stem cells she has voted the right way on all other abortion-related bills.

        She gave a completely weaselly answer last night and I hadn’t planned on voting for her anyway, but her support for Roe v Wade doesn’t equate to her being some pro-abortion liberal.

      • Martin Knight

        Not necessarily support over Rick Perry or even Michael Williams. But certainly she doesn’t deserve the names she’s being called.

    • AceInTX

      Her on again off again signals that she’s running for governor in every since 2002. She’s gotten down ballot candidates to gear up for seats that would open up with her resignation only to pull the ball away just as it was about to be kicked…and wasted a lot of people’s time and money in the process…

      I actually believe she’s partly to blame for Henry Bonilla losing his seat in the House. Redistricting was a part of it…but Henry went off and started doing all his stuff to run for Senate…I did pro bono work looking for office space for a campaign for the Republican who would be running for Henry’s seat, (his name escapes me now)…and others started campaigning for his seat…all because she said she was going to run for Gov and resign and at the last minute decided she wasn’t resigning after all.

      As it turned out…all that energy…all those campaigns…and that money was wasted…Henry lost his House seat by a whisker….and Kay’s back playing us all for suckers again because if you think she’ll resign anyway after losing the primary…I’ve got some ocean front property to show you in South San Antonio!

    • Jack_Savage

      Name calling and vitriol against Republican women is par for the course here. I’m surprised it isn’t worse.

  • ReaganConservative3

    She clearly won the debate last night, and was the only one that gave clear and concise answers.

    Many have said ” I like her but she CANNOT win”. While admitting she is a long shot, I say to that “Did you think Scott Brown had a chance 2 months ago?”

    She is the exact type of citizen our Founding Fathers envisioned running for and serving in public office. She is not a professional politician, and for some, I suppose that is not good enough.

    It is for me.

    • farmgirl

      but after Medina’s performance last night I am seriously considering pulling the lever for her. I didn’t think much of her before last night, only that a lot of members of the tea party movement were pulling for her. I like Perry a lot, especially on the life issue and the fact Texas is sitting a lot nicer than most of the other 49 states. However, Medina presented herself exceptionally well, articulated private property rights, gun rights, and the right to life perfectly. I also like the ad on her website that says to the effect, “I haven’t been in politics in the past, I’ve been running my small business and producing”

      Anyways, this is one Perry supporter that is on the fence due to the debate last night….

      • hogan

        While a number people will attack me for suggesting that a vote for Medina is a vote for Hutchison, that is the case. It just is.

        Comparing Brown’s surge to a possible Medina challenge is apples and oranges. Brown is the Republican challenging the Democrat as the 41st healthcare vote. Medina is challenging Perry and Hutchison, which will just split the party slightly more. I will say it here – like her or not, Medina will not win. Perry is conservative and believes in limited government – whatever his faults. Hutchison is not and does not – for all her positives (whatever they may be). So the only choice if you are a limited government conservative who wants a strong Texas to push back on Washington is Perry.

        • farmgirl

          to me and I understand that could happen. Medina would split the Perry vote and ensure KBH win. But then I think the primaries is where you sort this stuff out. Anyways I need to research her more, watch the polls to see if she is gaining, and watch the next debates.

          Either way I’ll work to make sure the Texas Governor’s Mansion stays red..

      • Martin Knight
  • sertelt

    more on how she is pro-abortion at http://www.lifenews.com/state4726.html

  • jeffreywturner

    To support the Roe decision, you not only have to be pro-abortion rights, but you have to be in favor of “ends justify the means” to get your way on the issue. Even people who support abortion rights should support overturning Roe if they believe the role of the Court is to interpret the law (and Constitution) the way it is written, rather than imposing their personal preferences of how they wish it had been written.