posted on March 20, 2004 06:40:27 PM new
Kerry Campaign Responds to Woman Holding Sign Opposing Abortion
By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
March 16, 2004
TAMPA, FL (Talon News) -- A campaign staffer for likely Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA) confronted a woman holding a sign opposing abortion at a campaign event.
LifeNews.com reported on Rebecca Porter's encounter with Kerry in Tampa, Florida recently when she decided to create a sign that read, "My abortion hurt me."
Porter stood outside the campaign event holding her sign in plain view of Kerry campaign supporters.
"I almost didn't go because doubt and fear were beginning to set in," Porter told LifeNews.com. "But I went to hold my sign for the people walking in. I did not go as a Bush supporter or as a Republican, but as a woman hurt by abortion."
LifeNews.com reported that one man told Porter that he wished the abortion had killed her as well.
As the Florida director of a group called Operation Outcry Silent No More, Porter said her intention was to simply be a representative of those many women who now regret having had an abortion.
"There was no protest. We were not there to say anything. Just to let our signs speak for us -- and they did, powerfully," Porter revealed to LifeNews.com.
An opportunity for Porter to show her sign to Kerry happened after he finished his speech, which ironically ended with Kerry assuring the crowd that he would support abortion as president.
As Kerry was shaking hands with people in the crowd, Porter stood in his line of sight holding her sign.
"Then it happened," Porter detailed to LifeNews.com. "[Kerry] reached up to shake a hand in the back and his eyes went up to my sign. He read it and then he looked into the crowd to see who was holding it -- and he looked me directly in the eyes."
She added to LifeNews.com, "I hope he saw my pain. I was not angry, just pleading with him to understand. You could see the shock and surprise on his face."
Yet moments later, Porter saw a Kerry campaign staffer approach her and yank the sign out of her hands.
"You can't have that sign here," the staffer told Porter, according to LifeNews.com.
The Kerry campaign staffer took the sign and "tore it to pieces" before quickly retreating.
"He wouldn't even let me have the pieces," Porter told LifeNews.com.
There has been no comment from the Kerry campaign about this incident.
Porter said she "had done what the Lord had wanted me to accomplish" by holding her sign for Kerry and his supporters to see.
"I hope he will remember my sign and my pain in my eyes," Porter stated to LifeNews.com. "I know there were many people laying in their beds that night thinking about their abortions."
John Kerry Campaign Won't Respond to Destroying Woman's Abortion Sign
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 18, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has refused to respond to requests for comment as to why a campaign staffer destroyed a woman's sign at a recent Kerry rally. Kerry saw Rebecca Porter's sign, saying "My Abortion Hurt Me," and a staffer tore it to shreds only moments after.
In an exclusive LifeNews.com story last week, Porter said Kerry was "shocked and surprised" to see her sign. She said a campaign official then took her sign and tore it to pieces. The same staff member destroy a similar sign brought by Porter's friend Cindy.
LifeNews.com has made four attempts to obtain comment from the Kerry campaign.
Kerry's Florida campaign office refused to comment on the situation saying the national headquarters in Washington fields all media calls.
Adam Abram, a press assistant at Kerry's national office, said he was unable to comment and would have to find a Florida campaign representative to respond to our request for an interview.
When the Kerry campaign failed to call back, LifeNews.com spoke with Abram two more times. On both occasions, Abram would not comment and would not provide contact information for a campaign representative who would.
Porter isn't pleased at the Kerry campaign's refusal to respond.
"I'm very disappointed that he will not acknowledge what happened at his rally," Porter told LifeNews.com
"As a presidential candidate for all the people -- including me -- I think he should speak to his staff and apologize to Cindy and I for their actions and guarantee that it won't happen again to other women."
Porter said other women may attend Kerry events to help him understand abortion's negative impact on women.
"My concern is for other women who may be planning on going to his other rallies. I don't want them to have their property destroyed either. I want their freedom of speech rights protected," Porter said.
Porter, who is the Florida director of Operation Outcry Silent No More, a group that helps women share how their abortions hurt them, said she si curious to know Kerry's thoughts about her sign.
"As a supporter of abortion rights, how does he feel about the fact that abortion does hurt many women and men," Porter told LifeNews.com. "Abortion takes the life of our children and leaves many very wounded individuals."
At the event, Porter made her way to an area where Kerry was shaking hands.
"Then it happened," Porter explains. "He reached up to shake a hand in the back and his eyes went up to my sign. He read it and then he looked into the crowd to see who was holding it -- and he looked me directly in the eyes."
"I hope he saw my pain. I was not angry, just pleading with him to understand. You could see the shock and surprise on his face," Porter said.
But within seconds, a Kerry campaign staff member approached Porter and grabbed her sign.
"You can't have that sign here," the Kerry staffer said.
The sign tore and Porter let go. After he had possession of it, the Kerry staffer "tore it to pieces" and walked away. "He wouldn't even let me have the pieces," Porter said.
Celui qui vous me croyiez...trop...Kerry-2004
Whatever you believe...I DO TOO...Kerry-2004
'We have dispatched Dr. David Kay...to search for the bio-warfare agents we believe hidden in Senator Kerry's forehead. If Senator Kerry has used botox as part of a wrinkle enrichment program, he is in violation of UN Resolution 752. Upon receiving Dr. Kay's report, the weapons of mass destruction that Senator Kerry so adamantly insists do not exist...may well be above his very nose.'" --Dick Cheney when asked whether John Kerry has had Botox treaments
posted on March 22, 2004 01:30:04 PM new
Video cameras are so cheap - why didn't they get it on tale so we could have some basis for believing it?
These campaigns are so dirty you simply can't believe anything like this unless you see it happen.
Sorry to say both Kerry and Bush are capable of acting like this - so perhaps it doesn't even matter which one you pick.
