July 5, 2002

National Pro-Life Alliance

2002 Congressional Candidate Survey

  1. Will you support federal legislation that would require parental consent before any abortions can be performed on minors, except where there is imminent danger to the life of the prospective mother?

    2. Yes.

  2. Will you support requiring a 48-hour "cooling off" period, and mandatory counseling on the risks and consequences of abortion for persons who believe they may want to have an abortion?

    3. Yes.

  3. Will you support federal legislation requiring spousal notification and consent before any abortion is performed?

    4. Yes.

  4. Will you support legislation to outlaw so-called "sex selection" abortions?

    5. Yes.

  5. Would you vote to prohibit the U.S. government from granting any public funds to groups that recommend or perform abortions in the United States or abroad?

    6. Yes.

  6. Should the federal government bar the distribution of "home abortion drugs" like RU 486?

    7. Yes.

  7. Should the United States Congress prohibit so-called "partial-birth abortion" in which a baby is partially delivered and then aborted?

    8. Yes.

  8. Will you support legislation which, under Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, would remove from the federal courts jurisdiction over the question of abortion?

    9. I don't know. How are you going to remove the appellate jurisdiction and what would be the consequences if Congress did make an exception rule? This one bothers me.

  9. Would you support and cosponsor a Life at Conception Act defining that life begins at the moment of conception thereby resolving for all time, as stated by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, "the difficult question of when life begins"?

    10. I believe that life begins at conception. I have concerns. What happens to those who want to believe either through ignorance or coercion or religious beliefs that life does not begin at conception? What happens to those who have participated in the abortion tragedy? I can foresee legislators dictating all kinds of stuff to mothers and fathers if the Congress makes this decision. My concerns would have to be addressed before I would support this bill.

  10. Will you support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning abortions except to save the life of the mother?

Yes.

 

Signed_____________________________________________ Date: ________________

Tom Oyler (R), KS U.S. Senate

COMMENTS

Questions 8, 9, and 10.

My positions on these questions may seem contradictory. But what questions 8 and 9 propose would bring about many legal and moral challenges. Question 10 appears to be a variation of 8 and 9. It is not. Question 10 would attain the goal without getting into the legal battleground. An amendment would firmly place a stop sign to abortion. Most people will obey a stop sign.

I fear the only real solution lies within people's hearts. People have been subjected to decades of government propaganda and many of the proponents of abortion want to believe that abortion is OK. They have justified the unjustifiable. How do you fight a lie when many want to believe it? Legislation?