Once upon a time, long ago, and far away (in 1971, prior to Roe v. Wade), Ted Kennedy was actually pro-life. He wrote:
“While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized—the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old."
He then asserted:
“On the question of the individual’s freedom of choice there are easily available birth control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy. But once life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire."
Finally, he concluded saying:
“When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."
Of course, immediately after the infamous Roe decision, Kennedy reversed his position. He became the Senate's most ardent defender of abortion on demand. Over the course of nearly four decades, he was responsible for the widest expansion of the pro-death, child-killing agenda in American history.
Alas, the man many are now lauding as the "Lion of the Senate" was anything but the principled, courageous defender of the least and the last that he first set out to be.
