The special election for the Massachusetts Senate seat of the late pro-abortion Sen. Ted Kennedy has gotten intense and their battle over abortion is equally fierce.
UPDATE 1/15/10: Martha Coakley: Devout Catholics 'Probably shouldn't work in the emergency room'
-- From "Abortion takes stage in Senate race" by Matt Viser, Boston Globe Staff 1/13/10
With the special US Senate election less than a week away, abortion reemerged as a major flashpoint yesterday as Martha Coakley’s campaign sent out several activists to champion the Democrat as a defender of women’s rights and Republican Scott Brown called on his two daughters to respond.
Coakley supporters, appearing at a Boston press conference, bitterly railed against Brown, saying that his political positions were dangerous to women and that he was using "smoke and mirrors" to obscure his true beliefs and previous record. The primary focus of their attack was his sponsorship of a measure that would have allowed hospital personnel, on religious grounds, to deny rape victims emergency contraception.
Brown rebutted such charges with gusto, pointing to a household full of women as evidence that he supports women’s rights. His two daughters headlined a press conference yesterday afternoon to call on Coakley to take down a recent ad that highlighted the emergency contraception amendment he filed in 2005.
The 2005 amendment that Brown sponsored in the state Senate would have allowed a physician, nurse, or any other employee to deny rape victims an emergency contraceptive if it “conflicts with a sincerely held religious belief.’’ The facility would have had to have someone else who could administer the contraceptive or refer the victim to another facility at no additional cost to the patient.
The amendment, which did not pass, was attached to a bill that he ultimately voted for, which required emergency rooms to provide the contraceptives to rape victims.
Coakley, who is trying to become the first female US senator from Massachusetts, has made women’s issues a strong component of her campaign. Yesterday morning, she had five surrogates hold a press conference at the headquarters of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus. Coakley, however, was not at the event.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Scott Brown's Daughters Defend Him From Martha Coakley's Abortion Attacks" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 1/12/10
During the final debate between the two candidates, Brown defended his record, saying the proposal would have allowed hospitals with “religious preferences” to not be forced to do something against their beliefs.
Coakley has not responded to Brown's daughters but staged her own press conference together with pro-abortion groups today.
They claim Brown is extreme because he has been endorsed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life, which hails him as a potential 41st vote against the health care bill in Congress that could force taxpayers to fund hundreds of thousands of abortions.
In a recent email to its members, outgoing Emily's List president Ellen Malcolm was hoping to raise $500,000 for pro-abortion Massachusetts special Senate election candidate Martha Coakley.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
