Bill Clinton on Abortion President of the U.S., 1993-2001; Former Democratic Governor (AR)

1980s: pro-choice since Bible defines life starting at birth

Vaught was one of the leading abortion opponents among Little Rock clergy, but he said he shared some of Clinton's ambivalence, having personally witnessed "some extremely difficult" pregnancies. He was not convinced that the Bible forbade abortion in all circumstances.

The minister went to his Bible to reconsider, after which Vaught determined that in the origina Hebrew, "personhood" stemmed from words translated as "to breathe life into." Thus, he averred, the Bible would define a person's life as beginning at birth, with the first intake of breath. He reportedly told the governor that this did not mean that abortion was right, but he felt one could not say definitively, based on Scripture, that it was murder.

In all of his discussions about abortion thereafter, Clinton relied on his minister's interpretation to bolster his pro-choice position.

1993: Undid draconian family planning policies

Hillary had pushed unequivocally for the orders, but Bill's pollster argued that she was dead wrong on the timing of such a hot-button issue; by acting on abortion policy as one of the administration's first pieces of business, the president and, worse, Hillary, would be perceived as governing from the left. But Hillary regarded the prohibitions in question as a powerful symbol of Reagan-era policies, and an opportunity to declare boldly that the Clinton era had begun. There was an additional appeal: it was fiscally neutral, monetarily cost-free, and not subject to a drawn-out legislative process.

Roe v. Wade was the right decision

1993: allowed abortions on overseas U.S. military bases

Let women decide with their doctor and their God