“My difficulty with Roe v. Wade is a legal rather than a moral one. I do not believe – and no one believed for 200 years – that the Constitution contains a right to abortion. And if a state were to permit abortion on demand, I would and could in good conscience vote against an attempt to invalidate that law, for the same reason that I vote against invalidation of laws that contradict Roe v. Wade; namely, simply because the Constitution gives the federal government and, hence, me no power over the matter.”

— Antonin Scalia

Call for Reckoning http://pewforum.org/deathpenalty/resources/transcript3.php3 - Pew Forum conference (25 January 2002). N.b. this speech was later modified into an article - God's Justice and Ours http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/gods-justice-and-ours-32 which repeats much the same points. <br class="br">2000s

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Antonin Scalia100

former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United… 1936–2016

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“I thought Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. I think this platform originally came out as a response to particularly Roe v. Wade because of that. Before Roe v. Wade, states made those decisions. I think people ought to be free at state and local levels to make decisions that even Fred Thompson disagrees with. That's what freedom is all about. I think Roe v. Wade hopefully one day will be overturned, and we can go back to the pre-Roe v. Wade days.”

Fred Thompson (1942–2015) American politician and actor

Meet the Press, 2007-11-05
asked if he could run on the 2004 Republican Party platform supporting an amendment to the US Constitution overturning Roe v. Wade

“I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my Mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U. S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.”

Mitt Romney (1947) American businessman and politician

United States Senatorial debate, October 1994. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/07/03/clarity_sought_on_romneys_abortion_stance/?page=full <br class="br">1994 United States Senate campaign

“I would introduce and support legislation to send Roe v. Wade back to the states.”

Rand Paul (1963) American politician, ophthalmologist, and United States Senator from Kentucky

2000s

“My administration is deeply committed to the constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade nearly five decades ago and will protect and defend that right”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

" Texas enforces restrictive abortion ban; FL advocates say it’s ‘part of a national agenda’ https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/09/01/texas-enforces-restrictive-abortion-ban-fl-advocates-say-its-part-of-a-national-agenda/" published" (September 1, 2021) <br class="br">2021, September 2021

“The goal of the right is not to stop abortion but to demonize it, punish it and make it as difficult and traumatic as possible. All this it has accomplished fairly well, even without overturning Roe v. Wade.”

Ellen Willis (1941–2006) writer, activist

"Escape from Freedom," Situations: Project of the Radical Imagination, Vol 1, No 2 (2006)

“I cannot stand people who disagree with me on the issue of Roe v. Wade… which I believe is about the proper way to cross a lake.”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

“The decision by the seven-man majority in Roe v. Wade has so far been made to stick. But the Court's decision has by no means settled the debate. Instead, Roe v. Wade has become a continuing prod to the conscience of the nation.”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

“As a moral issue, abortion will be debated as long as humankind is able to debate. I respect all points of view as being valid to the holder. What concerns me is abortion as a legal and political issue. I am against all reproductive laws for the same reason I am against the draft. I believe that legal ownership of one’s body is the most basic civil and human right. Without it, we are all slaves to whatever government is in power at any given time.”

Helen Reddy (1941) Australian actress

On abortion, pg. 184.
The Woman I Am: A Memoir (2006)

“Jan Mickelson: One of my litmus test questions to find out what kind of thinking process a candidate has done on this, is to ask my test question. Test question is: do you think that Roe v. Wade is the law of land?
Ron Paul: Well, they call it the law of the land, but I want to clarify that by getting rid of it. I think this is one example of the courts overstepping their bounds tremendously. Texas had a law against this violent act, and it went in to the federal courts and the Supreme Court. They overruled the state law, which should have been legitimate, and then came down on the side of legalizing killing a fetus, even into the 3rd trimester. But the fastest way to accomplish this is not through a constitutional amendment, or waiting till you get enough justices to overrule. You can pass a law in the Congress, which denies jurisdiction to the federal courts. So if Iowa or Texas or any state passes a law against abortion, you can't get it into the federal courts, and the states would decide this issue, as they decide all issues of violence: murder, manslaughter, theft, all this things are supposed to be state issues.”

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

Interview by Jan Mickelson, August 9, 2007 http://www.mickelson.libsyn.com/index.php?post_year=2007&post_month=08 <br class="br">2000s, 2006-2009

“As we continue to work to overturn Roe v. Wade, we must also continue to lay the groundwork for a society in which abortion is not the accepted answer to unwanted pregnancy. Pro-life people have already taken heroic steps, often at great personal sacrifice, to provide for unwed mothers.”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation (1983)

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