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John Carson

Published Letters: 47
Editor's Choice: 2

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 12:52 AM

Safe, legal and rare again

Joan Walsh, the 2005 Hillary Clinton speech does actually use the phrase "safe, legal and rare". My point was more pedantic: this line was not new ground and is not why the speech is remembered (though how much new ground was broken by the speech is a matter for debate).

Monday, July 16, 2007 11:09 PM

Safe, legal and rare

Just for the record, the statement that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare" was first made in public by Bill Clinton, dating back at least to his 1996 Presidential campaign.

Hillary has subsequently used the line but Elizabeth Edward's reference to "that speech on abortion a few years ago" is probably a reference to a speech that Hillary gave on January 24, 2005, where she commented that: "I believe we can all recognize that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic choice to many, many women." She later remarked that: "There is no reason why government cannot do more to educate and inform and provide assistance so that the choice guaranteed under our constitution either does not ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances."

For the full text of the speech, with all due nuance, see her web site: http://clinton.senate.gov/~clinton/speeches/2005125A05.html

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