Here, Goldwater was, apparently very libertarian. And this topic is such a deal breaker with many.
Excerpted: per Goldwater's daughter and the full article does point out, these were different times:
Goldwater and abortion
Based on the interview, he reported that in 1955, when Joanne, "not yet 20 and still in school, became pregnant with the child of her intended husband and told her father that she did not want to have the child, Goldwater said, 'I'll take care of it.' He arranged for Joanne to fly back to Washington and have a then-illegal abortion."
Two years ago, Zeitgeist Films released Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, a documentary produced and narrated by C.C. Goldwater, the senator's granddaughter. In it, Joanne Goldwater tells the story:
I was getting engaged. ... It was actually in the Christmas of 1955. And in January, I — I found out that I was pregnant. And I had planned — I had planned this engagement party and a wedding. And — we had — we had planned to have children. We both were still in school. I was getting my degree. And I — I wasn't ready to have a child. And I got an abortion. ... And this was when it was just totally forbidden and very, very dangerous. And young girls were dying by trying it themselves. My father, being conservative, he felt that the government should not decide what women do with their bodies or anything else, you know. The government should stay out of all that. My mother started Planned Parenthood in Arizona in the '30s. And that's why I felt that it was easy to go to them and tell them. And they were very, very supportive.
Why didn't Joanne Goldwater get the Bristol Palin treatment in 1964? Because nobody knew she'd been pregnant. And the reason they didn't know is that she and her parents got rid of the problem.
The point isn't that abortion should be legal or illegal. The point is to exercise humility before accusing somebody else of bad parenting or a dysfunctional family.
Was Joanne Goldwater's mom, a founder of Planned Parenthood of Arizona, a bad parent? Do you imagine that she taught her daughter abstinence-only? And how about Goldwater himself? If Palin can be judged by a daughter's pregnancy, why can't he? Shouldn't dads be held to the same standard? And shouldn't parents be held accountable for their sons, too?
http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/goldwater-and-abortion/868453One never knows when something is taken out of context but I found these quotes and cartoons as well;
A more current cartoon on Bush '43
This is all just for reflection, not to cast stones at anyone. This is a difficult subject in this modern time.
