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New King County Sheriff: My Position on Abortion Has Evolved
As we reported earlier today, the newly appointed King County Sheriff, Steve Strachan, sponsored at least two anti-abortion bills as a Minnesota state legislator. Today, Strachan appeared alongside Democratic US Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell at a press conference supporting reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
The first imposed a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking abortions and required doctors to provide a state-sanctioned list of information, including questionable information about “fetal pain,” referrals to religious crisis pregnancy centers, and detailed information about fetal development, including pictures. The second barred state family planning grants from funding abortions or from referring women to agencies that do provide abortions.
Asked after a press conference on the Violence Against Women Act this afternoon whether there was any disconnect between his support for programs protecting domestic-violence victims and his earlier opposition to women's abortion rights, Strachan told PubliCola his views on choice had "evolved." And he added that he had left partisan politics years ago---in part because of "those kinds of partisan issues."
"This is not a partisan office. I voted for Senator Murray, I voted for President Obama, this is a nonpartisan office, and I am in no way involved in partisan politics," Strachan said.
Asked what she thought about sharing the pro-VAWA stage with a former Republican legislator who supported anti-choice legislation, Murray told PubliCola, "It is a real tribute to him, then, to stand with us and speak out for the VAWA legislation at a critical time. ... It also points to the bipartisan broad nature of support for this."
The first imposed a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking abortions and required doctors to provide a state-sanctioned list of information, including questionable information about “fetal pain,” referrals to religious crisis pregnancy centers, and detailed information about fetal development, including pictures. The second barred state family planning grants from funding abortions or from referring women to agencies that do provide abortions.
Asked after a press conference on the Violence Against Women Act this afternoon whether there was any disconnect between his support for programs protecting domestic-violence victims and his earlier opposition to women's abortion rights, Strachan told PubliCola his views on choice had "evolved." And he added that he had left partisan politics years ago---in part because of "those kinds of partisan issues."
"This is not a partisan office. I voted for Senator Murray, I voted for President Obama, this is a nonpartisan office, and I am in no way involved in partisan politics," Strachan said.
Asked what she thought about sharing the pro-VAWA stage with a former Republican legislator who supported anti-choice legislation, Murray told PubliCola, "It is a real tribute to him, then, to stand with us and speak out for the VAWA legislation at a critical time. ... It also points to the bipartisan broad nature of support for this."
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