Last week I read an article in the Iowa State Daily making claims on the views of presidential candidate Ron Paul I believe are inaccurate. The article misrepresents Ron Paul, and as a supporter of his, I wish to clear up any confusion on his political stance.

Republican Rep. Paul has gained a large amount of support with his ideals of independence and liberty for individuals. Paul has adamantly opposed any government acts that infringe on individual freedoms. Some of his key issues include: ending foreign interventionism, abolishing the Federal Reserve and returning to a sound money supply, reducing the size and scope of the federal government, and allowing individual states to have more freedom to enforce laws they see fit.

One area some people are confused on is his stance on abortion. In the 1960s and ’70s, Paul was an obstetrician and gynecologist and delivered more than 4,000 babies. Through that experience, among others, he developed a moral stance against abortion. Paul has sponsored a bill aiming to overturn Roe v. Wade (HR 1096) because he believes individual states should be allowed to regulate abortion and protect the lives of unborn children residing in the jurisdiction of that state.

The only crimes discussed in the Constitution are counterfeiting, piracy, treason and slavery. Criminal and civil matters were deliberately left to the states. Paul believes it is the job of the federal government to protect life, not to grant permission to take it away. Although he is morally against abortion, his intent is not to make it illegal, only to take away the federal mandate (and funding) and allow the states to regulate abortion.

Another issue discussed was his stance on Social Security and Medicare. Paul believes welfare programs such as these are immoral due to the fact that these benefits can only be granted at other individuals’ expense, thus infringing on their property rights. This transfer can only be arranged by force through taxes or inflation. Our government programs are currently funded out of deficit spending and inflating the monetary base. This devalues our currency, thus raising the cost of commodities and the cost of living, which hurts the poor and middle class the most.

That being said, Paul does not intend to immediately eradicate these programs. He has stated numerous times that they could perhaps be kept going for a while longer if we used savings from reducing our involvement overseas.

Finally I would like to address concerns over his views on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Paul has stated he would not have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the basis that it violates individual property rights, not because of what it sought to accomplish. He has also stated that he would have never voted for the Jim Crow laws as they violated individual rights. Paul believes that the civil rights movement was a great event in our country’s history, but made more superficial and less effective by government. He believes that “banning blatant discrimination in all government programs” makes sense, but forcing people to integrate and avoid discrimination in all private transactions only exacerbates the conflicts they are trying to eliminate. Voluntary associations are more authentic and longer lasting. Outright foolish discrimination in business and elsewhere can be quickly punished by social and economic disproval as was seen with the economic boycott in the civil rights movement.

Many believe that government intervention actually intensified much of the racial segregation in the country, through their endorsement of the Jim Crow laws and laws mandating segregation within the military and other organizations. Whenever the government writes laws segregating people by race, gender or sexual orientation, they violate one set of individuals’ rights.

Paul is painfully consistent in all of his ideals and though I may not agree with all of his ideas, I am unable to find a candidate that better embodies the principles of liberty and represents the principles of the Constitution. If you are interested in learning more about Ron Paul’s views on these subjects and others, I encourage you to check out his recent book “Liberty Defined” or see his campaign website www.ronpaul2012.com.