Football great Lynn Swann;
Faking to the Right, Running to the Left.

The following letter was published in The Evening Bulletin;

February 14, 2006

Dear Editor,

In a front page article on Feb 13, 2006 on Lynn Swann's endorsement by the Republican Party, Martha Raffaele referred to an interview Swann had taped with George Stephanopoulos for ABC News. She reports, "Swann said he would sign a bill outlawing abortions except under certain limited circumstances."

The ABC News website contains a video of that interview and after seeing and listening to it, I must challenge Ms. Raffaele's accuracy. Answering Mr. Stephanopouos' question about whether the bill he would sign would have any exceptions, Mr. Swann replied, "Oh, there would be exceptions…in terms of health of the mother, rape and incest."

Mr. Swann readily accepted "exceptions" which includes "health of the mother". This is the very language that allows for abortion on demand for the whole nine months of pregnancy. Contrary to what Ms. Raffaele presents, this is not abortion "except under certain limited circumstances", but unlimited abortion!

The same day as Roe v. Wade was decided, another case, Doe v. Bolton, defined "health of the mother" to include all factors; physical, emotional, economical, psychological, familial, and the woman's age. Because the court defined health so loosely, a woman can, in effect, have an abortion for any reason or no reason at all and at any time during her pregnancy. Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton supersede all state laws, allowing a woman to legally obtain an abortion for any reason throughout all nine months.

One can also hear Mr. Swann try to dance around on the issue of embryonic stem cell research, finally admitting that if doctors believe it is valuable, "I would give it more consideration."

This is strong evidence that Mr. Swann is no threat to legalized abortion or futile embryonic stem cell research and certainly does not deserve to be called "pro-life" by any stretch of the imagination.

It appears that football great Lynn Swann is faking to the Right, and running to the Left.

Kathy Coll, Chair