11/19/11Caffeinated Communications Network Mail - Newt Gingrich Has Failed to Me1/4https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui=2&ik=bc34b4b0cf&view=pt&search=in
Shane Vander Hart <vanderhart@caffeinatedcommunications.net>
Newt Gingrich Has Failed to Meet a Consistentl Pro-LifeStandard
1 message
Michele Bachmann <press@michelebachmann.com>Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 6:02 PM
Repl-To: press@michelebachmann.comTo: vanderhart@caffeinatedcommunications.net
For Immediate Release
November 19, 2011
Contact:
Alice Stewartastewart@bachmannhq.com202-365-5654(cell)
Newt Gingrich Has Failed to Meet a Consistentl Pro-Life Standard
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has failed to uphold a consistently pro-life stancethroughout his career in public life. Gingrich has positioned himself as open to wateringdown the Republican Partys commitment to the inalienable right to life and failed as theleader of the U.S. House of Representatives to stem the flow of taxpayer dollars toPlanned Parenthood, the largest U.S. provider of abortions.Two decades ago, Gingrich portrayed himself as a moderating force on the RepublicanPartys staunch pro-life position:
A March 1990 column describes Gingrich as “clearly backing away” from the pro- life plank in theRepublican Party platform, with Gingrich stating, “there is a continuing evolution of this issue.” “TheGOP platform states that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot beinfringed and supports a constitutional amendment to outlaw all abortion. ... Senate Minority Whip Alan Simpson, who is pro-choice, is the first major GOP figure to predict that the 1992 platform will abandon the current inflexible pro-life rhetoric. ... His House counterpart, Newt Gingrich of Georgia, is pro-life but is clearly backing away. We will draw the line to permit fewer abortions thanthe Democrats, he says, shifting the emphasis from banning abortions to merely limiting them.There is a continuing evolution of this issue, Gingrich admits.” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer,3/16/1990)Gingrich said Republicans “will in fact be responsive to changing circumstances” regarding public
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opinion on abortion. “The Republican Party, I will venture to predict ... will draw the line in such away that we are clearly the party which will have fewer abortions in America than the Democrats, [Gingrich] said. ... The National Organization for Women and the National Abortion Rights ActionLeague oppose government blocking a womans right to choose abortion. They also oppose effortsin some states to require one or both parents consent or notification before a minor woman canreceive an abortion. 'We will in fact be responsive to changing circumstances, Gingrich said, citing polls that gauge which abortion restrictions are favored by the public.” (Associated Press,3/9/1990)Gingrich said the abortion issue “has diverted Republican energies and it has led the [party] into avery dangerous period of focusing on what divides us rather than what unites us.” “With a strategic push from Chairman Lee Atwater, the Republican Party has begun lurching toward a new consensus on abortion, but it is not clear whether the party can get there without triggering a civil war. Atwaters immediate goal is to get through the 1990 elections without allowing the abortionissue to trip up Republican candidates the way it did in Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections last November. ... The real impact [of the new political climate on the issue] has been psychological, said House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). It has diverted Republicanenergies and it has led the Republican Party into a very dangerous period of focusing on what divides us rather than what unites us.” (The Washington Post, 1/22/1990)Gingrich, forecasting the 1990 elections: “The Republican Party will be the party that on balance prefers the fewest abortions possible.” “Republican leaders realize they cannot prevent a clashover the partys position on the issue forever, nor are they prepared to abandon their antiabortion position. But Gingrich argues that when the debate shakes out later this year, there will be a clear choice facing voters, with Republicans on the right side of public opinion. The Republican Party will be the party that on balance prefers the fewest abortions possible, he said. The Democrats will be, on balance, the party favoring the maximum number of abortions.” (The Washington Post,1/22/1990)“It was encouraging to hear rep. Newt Gingrich, the firebrand GOP Whip in the House, say that neither party could take an extreme position on abortion rights.” (St. Petersburg Times, 11/9/1989)Gingrich: “Abortion is the most divisive issue in American life since the Civil War.” “Now, more thana dozen years after Roe v Wade was decided, the abortion issue is more controversial than ever inthe United States — more hotly disputed, more passionately challenged. ... Abortion is the most divisive issue in American life since the Civil War, says conservative Congressman Newt Gingrichof Georgia.” (The Globe and Mail, 9/3/1985)In 1984, four years after Ronald Reagans nomination brought the pro-life plank in the RepublicanPlatform, Gingrich said the GOP had been “klutzy on the women's issues.” “The Georgiacongressman is the darling of many on the right, some of whom gaze with adoration as he holdsforth at a party. Yet Gingrich also says, We have been klutzy on the women's issues…and saysthe party has to embrace [women] to survive." (The Washington Post, 8/24/1984)
Under Newt Gingrichs tenure as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives 1995-1999, the federal government channeled $587,073,070 to Planned Parenthoodcomponents – more than half a billion dollars – and his Republican-dominated Housenever voted to bar taxpayer funding to this largest U.S. abortion provider.
Total federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and affiliates, International Planned Parenthood Federation and associations, and the Alan Guttmacher Institute during FY1995 compared with the following four fiscal years budgeted under Gingrichs speakership:PPFA's annual federal funding went from $120 million in FY1995, the fiscal year budgeted beforeGingrich came to power, to $125.8 million in FY1999, the last fiscal year budget Gingrichnegotiated with President Clinton. IPPF and Guttmacher taxpayer funding decreased, but funding
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for PPFA, the largest domestic abortion provider, remained fairly constant.
Planned Parenthood Component FY 1995 FY 1996 FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 Planned Parenthood Fed. of America and affiliates $120,021,137 $123,052,455 $115,795,461 $120,645,606 $125,751,924Intl Planned Parenthood Fed. and associations $42,082,056 $34,407,884 $25,010,243 $20,984,425 $17,169,818 Alan Guttmacher Institute $1,245,702 $1,001,383 $1,016,849 $1,346,587 $890,435 $163,348,895 $158,461,722 $141,822,553 $142,976,618 $143,812,177
Sources:Bernice Steinhardt, “Family Planning: Federal Funds Provided to Planned Parenthood Organizations,” U.S. General Accounting Office,archive.gao.gov , 5/22/1998 Janet Heinrich, “Reproductive Health: Federal Funds Provided to Four Nonprofit Organizations,” U.S. General Accounting Office,www.gao.gov/archive, 7/18/2000 Janet Heinrich, “Reproductive Health: Federal Funds That Supported Four Nonprofit Organizations,” U.S. General Accounting Office,www.gao.gov/new.items, 11/13/2001
In 2009 Gingrich committed a grave error in political and philosophical judgment whenhe endorsed pro-abortion Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava in a specialcongressional election for New Yorks 23rd District.
“Scozzafava's candidacy is also reported to have triggered a deep divide among HouseRepublicans, with some of the most conservative members refusing to support her campaign.“But Gingrich, who served as Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999, wants to unite the party.He sees Scozzafava and the Upstate special election – the only House race in the nation this fall --as the best hope for Republicans to start a comeback and regain control of Congress.“Gingrich is apparently willing to overlook Scozzafavas support for same-sex marriage and abortion rights.“The Republican Revolution in 1994 started very much like what we see today, Gingrich said in hisstatement. Like then, our country is reeling from misguided liberal policies, high taxes and out-of-control spending. This special election in New Yorks 23rd Congressional District could be the first election of the new Republican Revolution, but we need the momentum to get it started.” (Mark Weiner, “Newt Gingrich endorses Dede Scozzafava in NY-23 House race,” The Syracuse Post-Standard,www.syracuse.com
, 10/16/2009)
At the height of the controversy over Gingrichs endorsement of Scozzafava, hedefended his support for the pro-abortion candidate with language strikingly similar tohis prior moderation on the pro-life issue during the 1980s and early 1990s.
“Whats happening in New York and in New Jersey should be a sober warning to every purist inthis country….If you seek to be a perfect minority, youll remain a minority, says Gingrich. Thatsnot how Reagan built his revolution or how we won back the House in 1994.” (Robert Costa,“Gingrich: If you seek to be a perfect minority, youll remain a minority,” www.nationalreview.com/corner , 10/20/2009)
Scozzafava eventually withdrew from the race and endorsed her former Democratopponent Bill Owens over the pro-life Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.Gingrich belatedly switched his support to Hoffman in the aftermath of Scozzafavaswithdrawal. The pro-abortion Democrat went on to win the special election, taking over aseat that had been in Republican hands for decades.
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11/19/11 Bachmann Campaign Email Taking Swipe at Newt Gingrich
Michele Bachmann challenges Netwt Gingrich's prolife bona fides.
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