"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Monday, June 23, 2008

Well, unlike Mike Damone, this guy at least followed through:

Oregon City woman details abortion, relationship with Mike Erickson

An Oregon City woman who dated congressional candidate Mike Erickson seven years ago said she asked him directly whether he wanted to have a baby. He shook his head no, she said, and paid for her abortion.

In interviews with The Oregonian, the woman said she met Erickson in September 2000, and she had the abortion in January 2001. They saw each other afterward, she said, even going on a trip to Mexico in March, before the relationship ended. She spoke on the condition that only her first name, Tawnya, be used.

Her story is backed up by medical and other records, and the accounts of two friends, one of whom was with her at the abortion. Their story conflicts directly with Erickson’s version.

He agrees that he gave Tawnya $300 for medical help, and a ride to a doctor’s office near Lloyd Center, but said he didn’t know she was pregnant or planned to get an abortion. He said he doesn’t think he saw her again after that day.

Erickson, a Lake Oswego businessman, is the Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District and is running on a “pro-life” platform. The charge that he provided money to Tawnya nearly derailed his campaign for the May 20 primary and could hobble his chances in the Nov. 4 general election against state Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby.

I’m in the 5th district and might not have voted for him anyway but this is just classic. The problem with running as a moralist is that you inevitably have skeletons in your closet. If this guy wasn’t using a pro-life stance to get to congress, he’d just be another fiscally conservative Republican candidate. But no, he chose to run as “pro-life”. Now that has triggered this woman to come forward.

Oh sure, there are always two sides to every story. But think about this. He drove this woman he was intimate with to a clinic and gave her $300. Who here would drive some chick they were plugging without a rubber to a clinic, hand her $300 with her crying and not think she was getting an abortion? Just how plausible is that? I’m not sure what bugs more; the hypocrisy or the dishonesty. Of course, if it wasn’t for his “pro-life” platform, this woman would have most likely stayed quiet.