Michael Steele Tells GQ Abortion is "Individual Choice"

Matt Lewis | March 11, 2009 7:54 PM

If this GQ article is quoting him accurately, Michael Steele has just admitted he is, by definition, pro-choice.

Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?
Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

You do?
Yeah. Absolutely.

... Then, he goes on to sort of backtrack from that, essentially making an argument that it is, in fact, not an individual choice, but a state's choice:

Are you saying you don’t want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
I think Roe v. Wade—as a legal matter, Roe v. Wade was a wrongly decided matter.

Okay, but if you overturn Roe v. Wade, how do women have the choice you just said they should have?
The states should make that choice. That’s what the choice is. The individual choice rests in the states. Let them decide.

Do pro-choicers have a place in the Republican Party?
Absolutely!

I'm not sure if it is more concerning that Steele is pro-choice -- or that he is unsure of his position on the Life issue...

Update: This is relevant because during the campaign, Steele's Pro-Life credentials came under question (from bloggers like me) for his service as co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, a pro-choice group affiliated with Christine Todd Whitman. Steele's line was essentially that he is a "Pro-Life Roman Catholic Conservative" ...