Giuliani Gave Six Times to Planned Parenthood

Giuliani Gave Six Times to Planned Parenthood

Presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani’s effort to distance himself from his past support of abortion rights has taken a blow with the revelation that he contributed money to Planned Parenthood – the top provider of abortions in the United States.

According to Federal records obtained by The Politico, Giuliani and his then-wife Donna Hanover gave donations to national, state and city chapters of the organization at least six times in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999, with the contributions totaling $900.

"Giuliani’s contributions could echo throughout the 2008 GOP nomination battle, as he seeks to lessen the political impact of his support for abortions rights – an unpopular position among social conservatives,” Politico notes.

Campaigning last month in South Carolina, Giuliani declared: "I’m against abortion. I hate it. I wish there never was an abortion and I would counsel a woman to have an adoption instead of an abortion.”

More recently, he said at the first Republican presidential debate that "it’d be O.K.” if Roe v. Wade were overturned, although he also said he wouldn’t have a problem if the Court let the decision stand.

Asked to reconcile Giuliani’s opposition to abortion with his contributions to Planned Parenthood, spokeswoman Maria Comella told Politico: "Mayor Giuliani has been consistent in his position – he is personally opposed to abortion, but at the same time he understands it is a personal and emotional decision that should ultimately be left up to the woman.”

But Clemson University political science professor Dave Woodard, a Republican, said contributing money to Planned Parenthood would put Giuliani "in a very precarious position, at least in the South Carolina Republican Party.

"An overt act of giving money shows support for a position. That can’t be a mistake or misinterpretation.”

In 2005, the last year for which figures are available, Planned Parenthood performed 264,943 abortions.

© NewsMax 2007. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/5/8/123125.shtml?s=al&promo_code=33AE-1