"Thirty-one years ago the Supreme Court ruled that the guarantee of liberty in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution extends the right of privacy to encompass a woman's decisions related to pregnancy and child bearing in Roe v. Wade. Time and again, during the last three decades, that right has been threatened. The Court's ruling has been tried and tested and reaffirmed - but it will be tested again. So we must continue to defend it.

I am pro-choice. I stand with the United States Constitution, the United States Supreme Court, and the majority of the American people in believing that our government has no right to come between a woman, her family, and her doctor in making such a personal and private decision. A woman, of any age, should never be forced to endanger her life. I opposed the ban on late term abortion enacted by President Bush and Republicans in Congress last year because it didn't provide an exception for the health of the woman. And I have opposed parental notification laws that don't allow judicial bypass or notification of another responsible adult, because, while parental involvement is always preferable, it isn't always possible. Our goal should be to make abortion safe, legal and rare.

We should not stand for attempts to return this country to the dark days before Roe v. Wade. We, as a nation, have embraced several simple important constitutional values, such as one-person, one-vote and the right to privacy that are now matters of settled law. I am committed to appointing people from all backgrounds, with the highest qualifications, who are committed to upholding the law and enforcing fundamental constitutional guarantees-- including the rights of privacy and equality."