State House candidate Christine Green calls on opponent Mark Ouimet to sign pro-choice pledge
State House candidate Christine Green, a Democrat from Scio Township, said today she has signed a pro-choice pledge and is calling on her Republican opponent, Mark Ouimet, to do the same so voters know where both candidates stand on the issue.
Christine Green
“The most important issues that residents care about this year are the economy and jobs,” Green said in a statement. “However, a woman’s right to choose is constantly under attack, and there will always be new legislation aimed at eroding women’s reproductive rights. We need to be ready to stop such efforts and keep the special interests from dragging our state backward.”
In the pledge, Green promises to vigorously support a woman’s right to decide whether to have an abortion. She said she vows to oppose any new legal restrictions on that right and, if given the opportunity, to vote to repeal other restrictions previously enacted.
“Although many voters I talk with are aware that I am pro-choice, there are a lot of questions about where my opponent stands,” Green said in a statement released to the media. “He leaves some voters with the impression that he’s pro-choice, but others, just the opposite. This pledge is a straightforward way to let voters clearly know where he stands.”
Ouimet, a former Ann Arbor City Council member and current Washtenaw County commissioner, told AnnArbor.com today he's been straight with voters on abortion.
"I think I've made myself very clear on that issue over and over," he said. "What I have said is that the law, Roe v. Wade, has been stated and I'm not interested in working on changing that law. I'm putting my energy into creating jobs for this state."
Mark Ouimet
Roe v. Wade is the historic 1973 Supreme Court decision overturning a Texas interpretation of abortion law and making abortion legal in the United States.
Green said voters in the 52nd District, which includes portions of north and east Ann Arbor and most of Washtenaw County to the west of Ann Arbor, have strongly supported Roe v. Wade by consistently electing pro-choice candidates to the Legislature.
“I call on Mark Ouimet to join me in signing this pledge,” said Green, who stated she has sent the pledge to Ouimet. “This really should be no problem for him. When he unsuccessfully ran for this same seat in 1992, he said that he supported Roe v. Wade, opposed legislative restrictions on abortion, and even supported Medicaid funding for abortions. Unless he has flip-flopped on this issue, Mark should be happy to sign this pro-choice pledge.”
Ouimet said he hadn't seen the pledge, and he'd have to see it before agreeing to it.
"I think she probably needs to hand me that pledge and let me look at it," he said, though he thinks Green's public announcement of the pledge is merely political "gamesmanship."
Ouimet, who spoke with AnnArbor.com today after a forum hosted by the West Washtenaw Business Association, said he's still waiting to hear Green's stance on business.
"We had a lengthy discussion here today about it, yet there's nothing there," he said. "She has no track record, no history, so I'm waiting on that. And she's also stated she's bipartisan, but I've yet to see her put out anything regarding any endorsements from elected Republicans."
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.
Comments
treetowncartel
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 11:08 p.m.
Maybe, just maybe, Green should sign a pledge allowing people to have their own perspective on what the Constitution means to them, and respecting the Supreme Court's interpretation of said Constitution.Roe has been in place for 40 years, let it be. If for some reason it changesa then we can put this issue in the front of the line. You need a job to feed a baby, lets concentrate on that.
shoelaces
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 4:14 p.m.
How about Green signs a pledge to stop suing UofM and costing the tax payers millions of dollars.
Bob Martel
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 2:06 p.m.
In looking at my previous comment in this thread, I realize that I didn't make my point clearly, at all. When I spoke with Ouimet last year about choice, he did his best to convince me that he would be a pro-choice vote in the House. He knew that I had been on the Board of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan for many years. He sounded sincere at the time, and, based on what he said then, I would have expected him to be a pro-choice vote. However, I realize now that he was probably just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, and he can't be counted on as a pro-choice vote. In fact, what he says in refusing to sign the Pro-Choice Pledge that Christine Green signed, comes closer to a Right-to-Life position than a pro-choice one. Other than saying he wouldn't, himself, work on Constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade, he left every anti-choice option on the table. He won't say that he'll oppose more restrictions on a woman's right to choose, or vote to remove some of the awful ones enacted by the Michigan Legislature since Roe v. Wade. And this is a very real issue. Anti-choice groups propose new restrictions every legislative term. Christine Green pledges to oppose them; Ouimet won't say one way or the other. This pro-choice voter is voting for Green.
First Presbyterian
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 1:23 p.m.
@shepard145 stated "[Mark Ouimet] is one of the most honest people I know." Do you still think he is honest despite having asked people to refer to him by an academic degree he never earned? He isn't entitled to be called "Dr. Mark Ouimet" so why did he ask for that honor? Do you still think he is honest despite having taken money from the taxpayers on over 600 occasions for meetings where he wasn't authorized by the rules to take that money? Which meetings furthered his political ambitions? What I see here is a guy who funded his political campaign partly from the taxpayer purse and doesn't even apologize for taking money he shouldn't have!
Dr. I. Emsayin
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 10:10 a.m.
Besides being highly visible and a known name in the area, what actually does Mr. Ouimet stand for? What is the danger of a pro-choice Republican being elected in terms of what will happen in the state? I think a lot of folks think it is ok to vote for moderate Republicans like Ouimet and Snyder, but are unaware of such effects at the state level. Can someone please respond to this?
Top Cat
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 7:28 a.m.
Instead of this, I wonder why Christine is not out there actively defending the Obama-Reid-Pelosi-Levin-Schauer-Dingell-Granholm record on job creation and economic growth. What a mystery!
michigan48103
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 6:28 a.m.
Ms. Green is a female and is friends with the Best Pathology Doctor in Ann Arbor so I am sure she does know that abortion is not murder. When someone will write that it is murder, they do not know about the medical part of have having a child and I am sure they do not want to pay for all the Medicade & welfare that the single Mothers they do not and will not work.
Tom Wieder
Fri, Oct 15, 2010 : 12:46 a.m.
@shepard145 "In this case, unable to attack his excellent voting record as our representative in Lansing..." Uh...Ouimet is a County Commissioner who's never represented any area in Lansing and has no voting record there. You are so separated from facts, you invent a reality in which Ouimet, before ever getting elected, has a voting record that's hard to attck.
averagetaxpayer
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 10:41 p.m.
@cahill "I have heard Ouimet has told others..." I'd like to suggest you man up and replace "others" with a name....I didn't think so.
shepard145
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 9:06 p.m.
Mark seems to be everywhere, working as a visible, tireless advocate for our community. People like Mark are also difficult to run against. In this case, unable to attack his excellent voting record as our representative in Lansing, Ms Green claims a desire to return the civility to politics while turning to the desperation of DIRTY and baseless claims, demanding a ridiculous investigation of one of the most honest people I know. Meanwhile Ms Green is counted on to march along the democrat party line by DC democratic insiders. She is fully supported Stabenow and Levin, now home after spending the last four years bankrupting the United States voting YES MAM to a TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT that will follow our grandchildren to the end of their lives. Did they read any of the bills they voted for on Pelosis and Reids orders? Of course not. Where will we get the additional $270,000,000 in unfunded Medicaid costs theyve dropped on Michigan? We know the answer that and all other democrat schemes: BIGGER GOVERNMENT AND HIGHER TAXES.
David Cahill
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 8:56 p.m.
I have heard Ouimet has told others he's pro-life. Who can say what his position is now?
InsideTheHall
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 8:39 p.m.
Abortion is legalized murder. That is what trial lawyer Green stands for.
Bob Martel
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 7:22 p.m.
In a face to face breakfast meeting that I had with Mark Ouimet on December 4, 2009 at the Village Kitchen, he told me in no uncertain terms that he was pro choice and was especially proud of his mother's history in helping to establish the local Planned Parenthood chapter. He also shared with me the problems with being a pro choice Republican in this day and age but assured me that he was his own man on this issue and would even vote against the Republican caucus on pro choice issues. I felt that he was sincere in his comments and would therefore expect him, if elected, to vote pro choice.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 6:40 p.m.
It's quite relevant. Behavior on the part of each state relates to whether it will need a bailout down the road. As states reach the point of insolvency (California leading the way), it puts pressure on the entire country. Certainly a lot more relevant than pledging not to support a law that would quickly be struck down if Michigan's politicians were dumb enough to pass it. Which, amazingly, they aren't, even though they are plenty dumb.
rwshas
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 4:56 p.m.
Seems the head lines on this race is one sided. Why dosen't A2.com just endorse Green. Simple choice between Ouimet and Green. One creates jobs. The other sues job creators. Hmmmmm.
Macabre Sunset
Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 4:39 p.m.
Seems strange to harp on him when his position is clear (isn't personally pro-choice, but would not lift a finger to change the law). But that's modern politics for you. Even though my own position on the issue matches Green's, I despise politicians playing these games. Would Green be willing to sign a pledge promising not to support legislation expanding the national debt to a point where our country faces bankruptcy? I think we need to focus on more real issues in this campaign cycle.