Kerry stops, drops, and rolls

Kerry stops, drops, and rolls when questioned about his statement that he believes life begins at conception. Here is part of an interview with Peter Jennings, from Jay Nordlinger on NRO.

Jennings: "You told an Iowa newspaper recently that life begins at conception. What makes you think that?"

Kerry: "My belief, just my, my, my personal belief about what happens in the fertilization process as a, as a human being is first formed and created, and that's when life begins. Something begins to happen. There's a transformation. There's an evolution. Within weeks, you look and see the development of it, but that's not a person yet, and it's certainly not what somebody, in my judgment, ought to have the government of the United States intervening in. Roe v. Wade has made it very clear what our standard is with respect to viability, what our standard is with respect to rights. I believe in the right to choose, not the government choosing, but an individual, and I defend that."

Jennings: "Could you explain to me: What do you mean when you say 'life begins at conception'?"

Kerry: "Well, that's what the Supreme Court has established — is a test of viability as to whether or not you're permitted to terminate a pregnancy, and I support that. That is my test. And I — you know, you have all kinds of different evolutions of life, as we know, and very different beliefs about birth, the process of the development of a fetus. That's the standard that's been established in Roe v. Wade. And I adhere to that standard."

Jennings: "If you believe that life begins at conception, is even a first-trimester abortion not murder?"

Kerry: "No, because it's not the form of life that takes personhood in the terms that we have judged it to be in the past. It's the beginning of life. Does life begin? Yes, it begins. Is it at the point where I would say that you apply those penalties? The answer is no, and I believe in choice. I believe in the right to choose, and the government should not involve itself in that choice, beyond where it has in the context of Roe vs. Wade."