Arnold Schwarzenegger: Big mouth, no teeth

Californians are currently debating Proposition 73, to be voted on in November, that would mandate parents be notified before their minor daughters abort. Here's what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to say about it yesterday, according to the Sacramento Bee:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he supports the primary aim of a ballot initiative that would make most abortions for minors illegal without prior notification of the girls' parents or guardians, saying he'd "kill" someone who took one of his own daughters for an abortion without informing him.

"I have a daughter," Schwarzenegger said in an interview with The Bee. "I wouldn't want to have someone take my daughter to a hospital for an abortion or something and not tell me. I would kill him if they do that."

Schwarzenegger, who has two teenage daughters and two preteen sons, said in response to a follow-up question that he didn't literally mean he'd kill someone. But, in some of his first public comments about the substance of Proposition 73, the Republican governor left little doubt how he feels about young girls getting abortions without their parents being notified ahead of time.

"It will be the ultimate of being outraged about it and angry about it," he said.

"They call me when my daughter falls off the jungle gym in the school and they say, 'What do you want us to use? Can we put a Band-Aid on it? Do you want to come in? She's crying a little bit.'

"They call us about everything. I don't want them in that particular incident not to call us."

If one of his daughters sought an abortion on her own, he said, "then I would deal with that also."...

Despite what he called his belief in "the concept" of Proposition 73, Schwarzenegger, who supports a woman's right to have an abortion, said he's not sure whether he'll endorse the measure.

Schwarzenegger is already pushing four initiatives on the special election ballot Nov. 8, and he may not want to divert attention from those, he suggested. But he also knows the abortion measure is a potential wild card come November, when some political experts say it could be a big draw for conservative Republicans.

Such voters make up the core of Schwarzenegger's political support these days....