The Week

How will history distinguish the Doctors’ Plot (British Muslims) from the Doctors’ Plot (Soviet Jews)? The Jews were innocent, and the Jews were executed.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Fred Thompson, in 1991, did some lobbying work for a pro-abortion group. According to the story, he was trying to persuade the first Bush administration to allow federal funds to go to family planning clinics that made abortion referrals. But Thompson, who is preparing to run for president, denies the story. John Sununu, chief of staff in that administration, denies the story’s contention that Thompson lobbied him on the matter. Whatever the truth here, it is clear that Thompson used to believe that abortion should generally be legal. (In a 1994 debate, he said that it should not be criminalized.) His campaign, no doubt mindful of the flak Mitt Romney has caught for flip-flopping on abortion, has been reluctant to acknowledge his pro-choice past. But nobody will suspect Thompson of converting just to position himself for a presidential run, as some people suspect Romney of having done. Thompson voted with pro-lifers during his time in the Senate in the 1990s. Millions of Americans have gotten more pro-life as this country has had more experience with abortion on demand, and most of them have never run for anything. Fred Thompson should not hesitate to represent these people.

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How will history distinguish the Doctors’ Plot (British Muslims) from the Doctors’ Plot (Soviet Jews)? The Jews were innocent, and the Jews were executed.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Fred Thompson, in 1991, did some lobbying work for a pro-abortion group. According to the story, he was trying to persuade the first Bush administration to allow federal funds to go to family planning clinics that made abortion referrals. But Thompson, who is preparing to run for president, denies the story. John Sununu, chief of staff in that administration, denies the story’s contention that Thompson lobbied him on the matter. Whatever the truth here, it is clear that Thompson used to believe that abortion should generally be legal. (In a 1994 debate, he said that it should not be criminalized.) His campaign, no doubt mindful of the flak Mitt Romney has caught for flip-flopping on abortion, has been reluctant to acknowledge his pro-choice past. But nobody will suspect Thompson of converting just to position himself for a presidential run, as some people suspect Romney of having done. Thompson voted with pro-lifers during his time in the Senate in the 1990s. Millions of Americans have gotten more pro-life as this country has had more experience with abortion on demand, and most of them have never run for anything. Fred Thompson should not hesitate to represent these people.