ELECTION 2008-HILLARY CLINTON

Hillary Clinton
Senator from New York

Party: Democrat

Website: www.hillaryclinton.com

Religion: United Methodist

Position on Sex Education: Senator Clinton supports "replacing funding for abstinence-only programs at home and abroad with scientifically based HIV prevention programs that would include age-appropriate sex education." (1)
In 1996 as First Lady she helped launch the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy in the mid-1990s, which has a goal of reducing teen pregnancy by one-third by 2015 through comprehensive education and awareness. Ten years later, as a New York senator, she co-sponsored the Prevention First Act, which would allocate $100 million for family planning services in an effort to curb teen pregnancy. Clinton has praised religious groups for promoting abstinence.

Position on Abortion: Senator Clinton states that she is a strong supporter of the constitutional right to choose as defined by Roe v Wade, and believes the federal courts must continue to uphold this decision. She has said she will use this standard in considering future Supreme Court nominations. (2)

Clinton says abortion rights are protected by the Constitution but that there is "an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate." She says the government should actively try to minimize the number of abortions through better sex education and improved access to birth control. She opposed the Supreme Court's March 2007 decision to uphold a ban on late-term abortions, calling the decision an "erosion of our constitutional rights." (3)

On the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Clinton issued this statement: " I am reaffirming my commitment to safe, legal, and rare abortion, and unveiling an agenda for decreasing the number of unintended pregnancies in the U.S. through honest and complete sex education and expanded access to contraception and family planning." (4)

She has stated that abortion "should be a constitutionally protected decision made not by the Government, not by the majority … but between a woman, her doctor, and her faith in God." (5)

(1) AP/Sioux City Journal reports. The survey was conducted by Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, AIDS Project of Central Iowa and several other groups in the state. It included three questions and was sent to Democratic and Republican presidential candidates (AP/Sioux City Journal, 11/29/07).
(2) CapWiz candidate profiles
(3) Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Religion and Politics '08: The Candidates on Abortion
(4) Hillaryclinton.com
(5) 152 Congressional Record S35-07, January 25, 2007.