Danville, KY -- At Centre College last night in this small Kentucky town, Dick Cheney, a pro-life former Defense Secretary, and Joe Lieberman, a pro-abortion U.S. Senator, debated abortion and the FDA's recent approval of the dangerous abortion drug RU 486.
Cheney, who scored a 100% pro-life voting record while serving in the House of Representatives, noted that "Governor Bush and I have emphasized that, while we clearly are both pro-life, that's what we believe, that we want to look for ways to try to reduce the incidence of abortion in our society."
He indicated that a Bush-Cheney administration would look to such pro-life legislative proposals as "promoting adoption as an alternative [and] encouraging parental notification" to reduce abortions.
Cheney also expressed support for banning partial-birth abortions, saying, "we also think banning the horrific practice of partial-birth abortions is an area where there could be agreement."
"Congress has twice passed, by overwhelming margins, significant number of votes from both parties, the ban on partial-birth abortions. Twice it's been vetoed by Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Now, we would hope that eventually they would recognize that that's not a good position for them to be in," Cheney explained.
On the other hand, Lieberman, articulated clear support for the abortion drug RU 486 and for unlimited abortion.
"This is a very important question and it is one on which these two tickets have dramatically different points of view. My answer is no, I would not support legislation that is being introduced in Congress to override the Food and Drug Administration decision on RU-486," Lieberman explained.
"Al Gore and I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose and our opponents will not," Lieberman, who has voted to affirm the Roe v. Wade decision, noted.
Lieberman told the audience he had twice not voted for the ban on partial-birth abortions, although he fudged the details of the bill that Congress has passed.
"I did not support the so-called partial-birth abortion bill because it would have prohibited abortion -- that form of abortion at any state of the pregnancy, regardless of the effect on the health and life of the woman, and that's unacceptable," Lieberman claimed.
However, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, on each occasion, included a life of the mother exception -- contrary to Lieberman's claims. Pro-life leaders in Congress refused to include a so-called "health" exception, knowing that health could be defined in such a way as to allow for all partial-birth abortions to be legal.