Miers on abortion

The Washington Post is reporting that in speeches given a decade ago, Harriet Miers said it "makes sense" for "self-determination" to guide decisions on abortion, and also supported social activism.

"The underlying theme in most of these cases is the insistence of more self-determination," Miers said in an excerpt reported by the Post. "And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes sense."

In speeches delivered when she was president of the Texas bar association, Miers also defended judges who order lawmakers to address social concerns, the newspaper said.

Miers also showed sympathy for feminist causes, referring to the "glass ceiling" faced by professional women and urged her audience to support female candidates, according to the report.

www.dictionary.com defines "self-determination" as "determination of one's own fate or course of action without compulsion; free will," and, "freedom of the people of a given area to determine their own political status; independence."

And from the Washington Post article:

Former NARAL Pro-Choice America president Kate Michelman said the right to
self-determination is at the heart of the case law granting a woman's right to
an abortion.
"If you take what she said at face value, you would conclude
that she recognizes the right of a woman to choose an abortion as a matter of
self-determination," Michelman said. "She seems to be a woman who over time is
pulled in different directions, as many of us are, as she searched for answers."

More updates will follow in the next few days.