Ron Paul CNN/YouTube Debate - Abortion

[elegantlywasted100]

The mother od the child who is aborted should be treated with compassion.

She has just lost her child.

[ThrobMarley]

Had no idea he was a pro-lifer.. and so ends my Ron Paul romance

[gutzs]

@ThrobMarley RRRRRReally now.

[romanpr1nce]

the only united states president i've seen so far whose said he doesn't want the power to decide something because the constitution says its up to the states. all of the other candidates would jump at the chance to gain that power.

[username14657]

Ron Paul was so smart... why oh why did McCain ever get so far ahead? :(

[yourboyken]

Wow they tried to trap him with that question and he was straight forward and did a great job!!!

[SeeProfileForDetails]

@username14657 /watch?v=kUwnMX8ht3U

[Lazera]

If only most people would feel the way I do about it. In the case a woman is raped and ends up being pregnant, that should be her choice. She didn't choose to be raped and get pregnant from it. In contrast, a woman who screws others willingly, and gets pregnant for her stupid choice, should not be allowed to have an abortion. In the sense of the woman being raped, it IS her choice to choose.

[jstardude]

abortion is murder.

fuck yes.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"It's up to the state..." - Ron Paul

I stopped watching there. (about a half a minute in) Whether or not a fetus is a human being doesn't depend on what state it's in.

[Spaztastica]

He meant the punishment should depend on the state; it's basically the same as the way some states use the death penalty for serail killers while others use life in prison.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"He meant the punishment should depend on the state; it's basically the same as the way some states use the death penalty for serail killers while others use life in prison." - Spaztastica

Ironically when pedal-biking a while ago I was thinking about the analogy "if Ron Paul thinks abortion is murder but supports letting the states make their own abortion laws shouldn't Ron Paul support letting the states make their own murder laws?"; in this case it's not like murder is legal in some states.

[JBTG33]

This is the only time I saw RP give a weak answer to a question. I do understand his point though. Smaller federal government, more state power to make laws.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"This is the only time I saw RP give a weak answer to a question." - JBTG33

What about the time Ron Paul said about ESCR funding that "programs like this are not authorized under the constitution" and that "the market should deal with it"? If the market deals with it, companies can patent, and charge high prices for, cures for deadly diseases, and some people who couldn't afford it would die; is it really worth allowing that just to adhere to the words of a bunch of dead slave owners?

[JBTG33]

I'm not familiar with ESCR. I agree with RP that government taxes too much and regulates too much. I'm much more concerned with the train wreck, which is our government than I am with corporations and their greed. Competition creates lower prices, thats why elective surguries have come down or stayed the same, while most heath care costs go up.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"I'm not familiar with ESCR." - JBTG33

Then you should learn about it. It's part of the high school Biology cirriculum where I live, and it's an issue with major medical implications, so it's something people should be expected to know about.

"I agree with RP that government taxes too much and regulates too much." - JBTG33

I agree to some extent too; the current level of government unpermissiveness is kinda wasteful and probably counterproductive but I see the case of ESCR differently.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"Competition creates lower prices" - JBTG33

Trouble is, if a company could patend a cure for a disease, they could theoretically be in a position to have a monopoly on that cure (I'm not sure of this) and have prices as high as they want to maximize profit even if that comes at the expense of the lives of the patients. The ideal situation would be to have ESCR in the hands of public universities (or other public research institutions) so that it would be as a public service, not a business...

[JBTG33]

public service...in other words run by the government.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"public service...in other words run by the government." - JBTG33

Yes, just like the police forces that protect us from criminals. Just like the public schools that taught me many things for free for more than a dozen years. Just like the public health care that saved my life a couple years ago. Government isn't inherently terrible, and in some cases it is better to have something run by that same government that provides many other public services than to have it run by private businesses...

[JBTG33]

I noticed that you picked out areas that are not related to our federal government. Government is more effective run by local people, they are more accountable. Local governments normally don't run huge deficits, like our buddies in Washington.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"I noticed that you picked out areas that are not related to our federal government." - JBTG33

"Our" federal government? We live under different federal governments; I'm in Canada and you're in the US. Here in Canada we have the RCMP, which I believe is a federal police force, (though we also have local police forces on top of that, like the town police in Gander) and while education and health care are run at the provincial level, I think they recieve assistance from the federal government.

[JBTG33]

Matt, do you like the cold? I moved from Toledo to Cincinnati about 10 years ago. The winters are pretty mild here. One or two decent snow falls a year. Toledo can be pretty rough. The older I got the less I wanted to put up with winter.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"Matt, do you like the cold?" - JBTG33

Not all of Canada is "cold"; (I guess it depends on your standards) I'm in Newfoundland (a large island off the east coast) and am a MUN student; during semesters I'm in St. John's but between semesters or during the summer semester I'm in Gander; St. John's winters seem milder than Gander winters, but I've heard that Vancouver winters are much milder than that; if you were considering coming to Canada I'd suggest Vancouver, though I've never been there.

[JBTG33]

The older I get the more I like the heat. We'll be snow birds in another decade.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"The older I get the more I like the heat. We'll be snow birds in another decade." - JBTG33

A few questions:

1. Snow birds? What do you mean?

2. Who's "we"; who else?

3. When you say the more you like the heat, do you mean you like it hot during the summer or just not-too-cold during the winter?

4. I looked up Toledo and Cincinatti and they're both in Ohio; if you like heat more why wouldn't you move further than that? (And if the latter in question #3, why not closer to the coast?)

[JBTG33]

Snow birds are retired people who spend the winters in Florida. We (my wife and I). 10 years ago my wife got a job in Cincy, it'a 3 and a half hour drive, but the weather is much milder. We are still close enough to go back any time for Thanksgiving or Mothers day. We both have a lot of family in Toledo.

I'm just anti-cold. So I don't complain when it gets hot and muggy. I play a lot of golf, so the heat keeps people off the golf course, and it's easier to get around.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

o.o Hmm? So if I'm to get the general idea of your comment, you're saying you have a lot of family in Toledo so you don't want to move too far away? So I take it they're not inclined to also move?

In any case, though, it's nice to see that we can have a little chat about more personal things even after discussing a political subject on which we disagree...

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"Local governments normally don't run huge deficits, like our buddies in Washington." - JBTG33

The federal government doesn't always run huge defecits, though; I was under the impression there were federal governments that were able to run surpluses. Perhaps you should elect more federal governments like that, as opposed to re-electing Bush for whatever reason.

That said, I somewhat agree that perhaps there should be more municipal responsibilities, but ESCR is too big an issue for that...

[JBTG33]

People like to blame Bush, and he deserves his share, but our federal government has been overspending for years. I once read that the bicentennial (slush) fund was still being funded, 20 years after our 200th birthday. The crazy thing is that with all the money the federal government gets its hands on , it still isn't enough. I'm old school, I save to buy a car! So the way the government operates drives me nuts.

[HiddenFacedMatt]

"People like to blame Bush. . .but our federal government has been overspending for years." - JBTG33

I meant to say "people like Bush"; fed control doesn't inherently mean fed waste... maybe localize some things that are currently federal responsibilities, but I really think ESCR shouldn't be one of them.

"We are 9 trillion in debt. Anything like that from your government?" - JBTG33

I'm not sure how Canada's feds are doing, but I'm fairly sure they're not in as bad shape as that...

[JBTG33]

Our feds spend money like drunken sailors. We are 9 trillion in debt. Anything like that from your government?

[Aloverssoul]

Vote that guy he rules.

[sgtOOX]

well ron paul is def my number 1 choice

[hairhorn]

is this the US election or an Iranian election? So many mullahs...

[snazzyc]

Agreed: he speaks his mind without any flowery rhetoric -- and that's why I like him.

[penguinthefisheater]

I'm a RP supporter, but abortion is of one those things I'm not sure I agree with him on. He's right that Fed gov. should have no say and States should, this would give women freedom to travel to another state for a neccessary abortion if it were banned in their own. The woman has as much right to her body as the unborn child, it is very difficult to say which has more right to life or to live their life as they wish. That is what freedom and liberty is all about surely?

[NomortaL1]

It is not which has more right of life. Both the mother and child have a right to live. He speaks about having an abortion during the third trimester which is kinda late... I kinda agree with him on this issue.

[LeftLiberalSoCal]

Disagree with his stance on this 100%. However if the WORST that could happen under him is to leave it up to the states (CA = Legal / TN = Illegal) that would be a far lesser evil than overturning Roe VS. Wade. A national ban on abortion - like the rest of these stiff suit fakes want to do.

[jornbalt]

Overturning Roe vs. Wade is not about getting the federal government out of the abortion business? From where do you have that?

[LeftLiberalSoCal]

Overturning Roe Vs. Wade is the first step before a national ban on abortion which takes us back to the law as it was in 1950.

[MiranUT]

RP said nothign about a national ban. Where'd you get that? The fed shouldn't be involved. Here's how I see it: having freedom means being responsible for ones actions. If a woman respects her body she uses birth control! Abortion is just one symptom of a disfunctional USA. RP: Without life there's no liberty. Think about it. Yes, is a woman's life is threatened or if she was impregnated against her will, then abortion should be an alternative. You make a mistake, you should responsibilty.

[LeftLiberalSoCal]

You misunderstood me.

[MLBinwa]

Who do you think did the best in the debate? Mike Huckabee 21% Ron Paul 20% Rudy Giuliani 20% Mitt Romney 17% John McCain 10% Fred Thompson 10% Tom Tancredo 2% Duncan Hunter 1% Total Votes: 128,839 Go to AOL's election section and vote.

[Yryr1999]

Good, sound logic. Ron Paul for president in 2008!