As Herman Cain falls off the leader-board for the Republican nomination, we now turn our attention to the new flavor of the month, Newt Gingrich – a man who has perfected the art of the flip-flop, and who has paved the way for other indecisive Republican “leaders” like Mitt Romney.
One well documented issue that is now causing Gingrich a major headache among his base, is his support for abortion. Of course, he has already flipped on this issue, but this is a vetting process, so let’s take a stroll down memory lane…
TAXPAYER-FUNDED ABORTION
The New York Times on April 10, 1995, reported, “House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday supported the availability of federally financed abortions for poor women who are victims of rape or incest and expressed opposition to organized school prayer, positions that are at odds with many conservatives in his party.”
Also asked that year on CBS’s “Face the Nation” whether he agrees with Republicans who oppose federal abortion payments in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother, Gingrich answered: “No. First of all, I think you should have funding in the case of rape or incest or life of the mother, which is the first step.”
Later that year, Gingrich urged his colleagues in the U.S. House to accept language in an abortion bill that would not completely ban abortions under federal employee health plans, leaving in place exemptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, the Washington Times reported on Aug. 7, 1995.
TAXPAYER-FUNDED EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH
Bill O’Reilly on “The O’Reilly Factor” asked Gingrich on July 19, 2001: “Stem cell research, should President Bush approve some federal funding for that?”
Gingrich answered: “Well, I agree with Senator Bill Frist, as the only medical doctor in the Senate and as a world-class heart surgeon. I think that there are ways to have appreciation for life, to recognize the sanctity of life, but nonetheless to look at fertility clinics where there are cells that are sitting there that are not going to be used to create life. They literally today, they’re unregulated, they can be thrown away. And I think the president, I hope the president, will find a way to agree that there ought to be federally funded research.”
On ABC News’ “This Week” on July 8, 2001, Sam Donaldson asked: “So he should approve stem cell research on embryos?”
Gingrich answered: “On embryonic cells that, that are pre-fetal.”
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
Gingrich helped quash an effort to deny Republican Party funds to candidates who opposed legislation outlawing so-called partial birth abortions, a Jan. 21, 1998, article by the Associated Press said.
The Republican National Committee at its winter meeting that year wanted to deny party campaign funds to Republican candidates who opposed banning most late-term, or partial-birth, abortions.
Gingrich addressed the RNC meeting on Jan. 16, 1998, calling for tolerance of candidates who support partial-birth abortion, saying he would campaign for them: “It’s the voters of America who have a right — in some places they’re going to pick people who are to my right, some places they’re going to pick people who are to my left and in both cases, if they’re the Republican nominee, I am going to actively campaign for them, because when they get to Congress, whether they are a moderate Republican from the northeast, whether they are a very conservative Republican from the south or west, whatever their background.”
With Gingrich leading in the Republican nomination process and about five weeks remaining before primary voters head to the polls, the Gingrich campaign will be in high gear, trying to distance Newt Gingrich ‘Version 2’ from Newt Gingrich 1.0.
