Kerryism of the DayThe senator's caveats and curlicues.

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"I oppose abortion^₁. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception.^{₂ 3"}

—Dubuque, Iowa, Telegraph Herald, July 4, 2004

[1] personally

[2] But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist …

[3] who doesn't share it.

Verbatim:

"I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist ... who doesn't share it." [Ellipses in original transcript]

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William Saletan is Slate's national correspondent and author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. Follow him on Twitter here.

Photograph of John Kerry by Marc Serota/Reuters.

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