Abortion Betrayals

See also: PLINO

Date	Name(s)	Party	Office	Stated Position	Betrayal	Comments
2003/2020	John Roberts	Republican	Supreme Court Justice	As a lawyer in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, he helped write a Supreme Court brief that said, “We continue to believe that Roe (v. Wade) was wrongly decided and should be overruled.”	George W. Bush nominated Roberts for Supreme Court, and in 2003 Senate confirmation hearings, the latter's position flipped to arguing that the Supreme Court was clear on the matter, and he could uphold it: “Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land.” In 2020, Roberts would side with liberal justices to ensure abortion remains available in Louisiana case June Medical Services LLC v. Russo.	Has ruled both for and against abortion cases but remains steadfast to preserving abortion. Inconsistent with his supposed Roman Catholic "faith", his wife's supposed anti-abortion activism, and to the Republican Party he was once believed to represent.
2018	Joe Donnelly	Democrat	U.S. Senator (IN)	Claims he's a pro-lifer who opposes taxpayer funding of abortion.	Instead, he has voted against defunding Planned Parenthood, voted to force states to fund Planned Parenthood, and voted for the pro-abortion ObamaCare.	Repudiated by actual pro-life organizations.
2016/2017	Bob Casey, Jr.	Democrat	U.S. Senator (PA)	Calls himself "pro-life"	His Senate voting record has been solidly pro-abortion, and he scored a 100% rating by the pro-abort lobby NARAL in 2016 and 2017.	From a relatively conservative state
November/December 2017	Jeff Flake	Republican	U.S. Senator (AZ)	Says he is pro-life, points to pro-life votes in Congress as evidence.	In November 2017, Flake endorsed Democrat Doug Jones, who takes very left-wing positions (even by national standards) on issues such as abortion, homosexuality, religious liberty, and gun control, over conservative Judge Roy Moore for Alabama Senator. On December 5, 2017, Flake even wrote a check to the left-wing Democrat. Also, as of December 2017, Flake's Senate website does not even have a page describing his positions on abortion.	Loved by the mainstream media for his anti-Trump stances, particularly on trade and immigration.
March/April 2017	Joe Manchin	Democrat	U.S. Senator (WV)	Says that he is pro-life.	On March 30, 2017, Manchin voted against eliminating an Obama-era regulation that would have prohibited states from blocking Planned Parenthood funds. In April 2017, he endorsed Planned Parenthood, which funds abortions, the legalized murder of the unborn, by holding up a sign with a Planned Parenthood official stating "I stand with Planned Parenthood." In June 2018, Manchin warned President Trump against nominating a Supreme Court justice opposed to the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion federally. In October 2018, Manchin announced that he would oppose a West Virginia referendum to end a pro-life referendum to end taxpayer-funding of abortion in the state.	Considered by the establishment as a relatively "conservative" Democrat, but he stands with the far-left Democrat leadership unless voting a different way does not hurt the Democrat agenda.
March 2014 and March 2015	Earl Ray Tomblin	Democrat	Governor (WV)	Says that he is pro-life.	Vetoed a bill twice, in 2014 and 2015, that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, citing "constitutionality issues."	The second time Tomblin vetoed the bill, the West Virginia legislature, which was GOP-controlled, overrode the veto, ultimately making the bill law.
March 21, 2010	Allan Mollohan	Democrat	Congressman (WV)	Claimed to be pro-life for decades, serving in House of Representatives beginning 1983 and even winning at least one big pro-life award	On the last day did a "retreat from his pro-life stance in the final hours of the health care debate," voting for passage of Obamacare which will increase abortions	Defeated on May 11, 2010, by a stunning 56-44% margin in his own Democrat primary, for a seat his family has held since 1968
March 21, 2010	Bart Stupak	Democrat	Congressman (MI)	Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. Rated 100% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-life stance.	Stupak abandoned his position and betrayed the trust of the American people by voting for Obamacare, which pays for at-will abortions with federal funds.	Within 20 days of his betrayal, Stupak announced his surprise retirement from Congress.
May 21, 2003	Dennis Kucinich	Democrat	Congressman (OH)	Rated 95% Pro-life in his 1st three-terms as Congressman by the National Right to Life Committee in 2000.	Kucinich abandoned his position when he decided to run for President. He would give a campaign speech, "as president, I would protect that right [to abortion], and I would also make sure that appointees to the Supreme Court protected that right."	He never received more than 3% of the vote, ranked last.
1996	Richard Durbin	Democrat	Senator (IL)	As a Congressman he was the speaker at the annual right-to-life rally, "I believe we should end abortion on demand, and at every opportunity, I have translated this belief into votes in the House of Representatives," "I continue to believe the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade should be reversed."	When running as a Senator he changed his position to pro-abortion saying, "And I finally came to the conclusion that we really have to try to honor the Roe vs. Wade thinking, that there are certain times in the life of a woman that she needs to make that decision with her doctor, with her family and with her conscience and that the government shouldn't be intruding."	Votes for Obamacare whereby the government intrudes in everyones health issues. Rated 100% by NARAL in 2003
January 22, 1993	Bill Clinton	Democrat	42nd President	In a letter to Arkansas Right To Life, "I am opposed to abortion and to government funding of abortions. We should not spend state funds on abortions because so many people believe abortion is wrong."	Issued five executive orders reversing Title 10 regulations banning abortion, vetoed banning partial-birth abortion. While campaigning for his wife he was heckled by pro-life students. He would reply, “We disagree with you. You want to criminalize women and their doctors and we disagree. I reduced abortion. Tell the truth! Tell the truth! If you were really pro-life, if you were really pro-life, you would want to put every doctor and every mother, as an accessory to murder, in prison..."
June 1992	Sandra Day O'Connor	Republican	Supreme Court Justice	When Ronald Reagan nominated her for the Supreme Court, O'Connor would tell him that "she was personally opposed to abortions." It was known she sided with a 1973 bill permitting Arizona state agencies to participate in family planning. Her coy response to the White House was "she opposed the anti-abortion measure only because it was not germane to the legislation to which it was attached."	She called the infamous Roe v. Wade decision "a rule of law and a component of liberty we cannot renounce," and "Our obligation is to define the liberty of all. We reaffirm the constitutionally protected liberty of women to obtain an abortion." In addition, she also cast the deciding vote in the 2000 court case that overturned a Nebraska ban on Partial birth abortions.	Per the National Abortion Federation, "O'Connor's single vote in support of a woman's right to choose ensured the survival of Roe v. Wade."
1992	Richard S. Williamson	Republican	nominee for U.S. Senate for Illinois	signed a pro-life pledge during the campaign	disavowed his pledge once Carol Moseley Braun became his opponent, whom he hoped to defeat by becoming pro-choice	lost in a landslide after his duplicity was exposed; Pro-life Peter Fitzgerald then defeated Moseley Braun the next time
July 6, 1990	Buddy Roemer	Democrat	Louisiana Governor	"We've had a betrayal by a governor who has been on the record as pro-life"	vetoed a pro-life bill passed by overwhelming majorities in the legislature	the legislature overrode his veto; Roemer was defeated for reelection and could never win an election again
Feb. 21, 1988	Al Gore	Democrat	Vice-president	Al Gore had a 84% pro-life voting record during his tenure in the House. In 1984, he voted for the Siljander amendment that states "the term 'person' shall include unborn children from the moment of conception." In a 1987 letter to a constituent he wrote: "During my 11 years in congress, I have consistently opposed federal funding for abortions. In my opinion, it is wrong to spend federal funds for what is arguably taking of a human life. Let me assure you that I share your belief that innocent human life must be protected, and I am committed to furthering this goal."	Gore denied casting the Siljander vote on Meet the Press in 1988. In 1998, he continued to deny he cast that vote. His position as a presidential candidate; opposed banning partial-birth abortion, appoint justices upholding Roe v. Wade, more family planning; less parental consent, support for Medicare-funded abortions. June 1999, "Always, always defend a woman’s right to choose."	Embarrassed himself and liberals by losing the 2000 Presidential election while continuing to insist he had somehow won. Afterward he became an overweight cheerleader for discredited claims of man-made global warming, and his own Democratic Party did not even want him to rerun for president.
1988	Jesse Jackson	Democrat	presidential candidate	Op-ed 1,000-word essay for the National Right to Life News 1977."What happens to the moral fabric of a nation that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience," and "Those advocates of taking life prior to birth do not call it killing or murder, they call it abortion. They further never talk about aborting a baby because that would imply something human. Rather they talk about aborting the fetus. Fetus sounds less than human and therefore can be justified."	Jackson now believes abortion is acceptable because "it is not right to impose private, religious and moral positions on public policy," and "Women must have freedom of choice over what to do over their bodies."	Born to a single mother, he identified himself as a person who would have been aborted if medical counsel had been followed.
1986	Richard Gephardt	Democrat	Congressman (MO)	His first term in Congress, Gephardt voted pro-life 96 percent of the time. By his third term is was down to 64%. By 1989 it was down to 11%. He changed his position to saying that he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would preserve Roe v. Wade.	Gephardt told the pro-abortion group NARAL that his Baptist upbringing taught him abortion was wrong but, over time, friends and colleagues were able to convince him otherwise, "There is nothing moral in strong-arming a personal belief, and there is nothing moral to a presidency that imposes personal morality through acts of government power."	He would run for President in 1988 but his pro-abortion switch contributed to an unflattering view of him as a political opportunist without firm principles.
1980's	Edward Kennedy	Democrat	Senator (MA)	Kennedy began his political career opposed to abortion rights, writing in 1971 that "Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized." In April 1976, he would vote for a joint Senate resolution to define personhood as beginning at conception.	Sometime in the 1980s he would switch to pro-abortion and was often awarded a 100% positive rating from NARAL. In 1987 during the Supreme Court hearing of nominee Robert Bork, Kennedy assailed Bork as a jurist whose rulings would force women to resort to "back-alley abortions." March 12, 2003, he voted against banning partial-birth abortion.	Died of brain cancer while still in office; his seat was then won by a Republican who campaigned against Kennedy's policies.
Mid 1990s	Harry Reid	Democrat	Senate Majority Leader (NV)	Reid was known as a Pro-life Democrat. In 1998, Reid took a survey suggesting abortion should only be legal in cases of rape, incest and when the mother's life in danger. He voted to ban partial-birth abortion.	Reid never voted with the National Right to Life Committee more than 66 percent of the time. Reid went from voting with NARAL Pro-Choice America 29 percent of the time in 2003 to 100 percent of the time in 2007. Reid's former spokesman called him "strongly pro-life" the same year he received zero from National Right to Life.	Harry Reid announced his retirement in 2015. He's leaving as someone who will block legislation dealing with the trafficking of human beings because of abortion.
June 29, 1992	Anthony Kennedy	Republican	Supreme Court Justice	In his Senate confirmation, anti-abortion conservative Senator Jesse Helms said to Kennedy, "I think you know where I stand on abortion." Kennedy responded, "Indeed I do and I admire it. I am a practicing Catholic."	Planned Parenthood v Casey, in a 5-4 ruling Kennedy wrote the court decision upholding the right to abortion.	Kennedy has been a huge disappointment as a Justice yet the press still calls him conservative. With each passing year he would move farther and farther left. He would cast the deciding vote to approve gay marriage in 2015, in a stunning rejection of the Catholic faith.