Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) in an interview on his campaign bus on Saturday said he believes that life begins at conception but that he supports abortion rights, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports. "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception," Kerry said, adding, "But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist ... who doesn't share it. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America" (Patch, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 7/4). Kerry, whose comments on abortion came during a three-state bus tour of the Midwest, has a 100% voting record with NARAL Pro-Choice America and frequently has spoken of his commitment to abortion rights and the appointment of judges who would support them, the New York Times reports (Toner, New York Times, 7/5). According to the Boston Globe, Kerry previously had not stated that he believes life begins at conception (Johnson, Boston Globe, 7/5). In addition, Kerry campaign spokesperson Stephanie Cutter said she could not remember Kerry previously commenting on when he believes life begins, although she added that he has said that abortions should be "safe, legal and rare," the Washington Post reports. Cutter also said that Kerry's religion shapes his views on abortion, according to the Post (Finer, Washington Post, 7/5). According to the Globe, the belief that life begins at conception leads many people to oppose abortion as well as stem cell research, which Kerry has said he favors (Boston Globe, 7/5).

Kerry Receives Communion, Talks About 'Partial-Birth' Abortion Vote
Kerry on Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, attended Catholic mass, where he received Holy Communion, the Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports (Patch, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 7/5). Kerry took Communion despite recent controversy over the denial of such to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June approved a statement saying that Catholic politicians should work against legalized abortion "lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good." The statement, titled "Catholics in Political Life," said that abortion is "always intrinsically evil and can never be justified." However, the statement said that the decision to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be left to individual bishops (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/22). After the service, Kerry was questioned by several churchgoers about his support of abortion rights and vote against the federal ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion, the Telegraph Herald reports (Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 7/5). The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S 3) bans "an abortion in which a physician deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living, unborn child's body until either the entire baby's head is outside the body of the mother, or any part of the baby's trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother and only the head remains inside the womb, for the purpose of performing an overt act (usually the puncturing of the back of the child's skull and removing the baby's brains) that the person knows will kill the partially delivered infant" (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/23). Kerry told a churchgoer that he is "against partial-birth abortion" but voted against the bill because it did not contain an exception for the health of the woman. "(Republicans) [supported S3] for a political reason. They tried to drive home the politics of it," Kerry added.

Bush Campaign Reaction
According to the Post, Kerry during the three-state campaign trip has "repeatedly sought to dispel stereotypes that could play negatively among voters there" (Washington Post, 7/5). However, President Bush campaign spokesperson Steve Schmidt said that Kerry's "ridiculous claim to hold 'conservative values' and his willingness to change his beliefs to fit his audience, betrays a startling lack of conviction on important issues like abortion that will make it difficult for voters to give him their trust" (Boston Globe, 7/5). Kevin Madden, another spokesperson for the Bush campaign, added that "Kerry's efforts to mislead voters in the heartland are offensive. His rhetoric is at odds with a long record of opposing common-sense measures like the ban on partial-birth abortion" (New York Times, 7/5).