Posted on 11/18/2007 6:55:13 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Make no mistake about it - when the nation's largest pro-life group endorsed Fred Thompson on Tuesday its goal was to shake up the Republican contest for the presidency. The National Right to Life's endorsement is the gold standard coveted by those Republicans seeking the White House because it bestows a legitimacy and authenticity on the candidate who receives it as the standard-bearer for those who want to end abortion on demand.
The Thompson endorsement not only signals how the organization representing 3,000 pro-life groups has grown up, but it shows just how close the country is to seeing Roe vs. Wade ended. In recent days former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who for some was the most logical choice to receive the NRTL endorsement, had become increasingly critical of Thompson's position on abortion.
Thompson, who had a 100 percent pro-life record in the Senate, said he favored ending Roe vs. Wade because in his estimation, it was wrongly decided. When asked, he said that he did not favor pursuing a federal constitutional amendment banning abortion because it was largely impractical. Thompson is a federalist and for him, ending Roe is the next step. Roe took abortion out of the democratic process and to end it would take it away from the Supreme Court and return abortion policymaking to the states.
In response, Huckabee said Thompson was soft on abortion for not supporting the constitutional amendment banning the procedure, an amendment that has been part of the Republican Party platform since 1980. The thought was that Huckabee's criticism and forceful advocacy for a "life" amendment would be a marker for those primary voters who care deeply about ending abortion and would show the NRTL that he - not Thompson, not Romney, not McCain - was the most pro-life candidate.
It didn't work. The endorsement of Thompson over the other pro-life candidates is a reflection of where the movement is in 2007 and how much the country has changed.
Throughout the 1980s, NRTL's advocacy for a constitutional amendment banning abortion was a necessary step for drawing the line in the sand. Even then, the thought of receiving the supermajorities in the U.S. Senate and the state legislatures would discourage the fiercest pro-life advocates.
But in the late 1980s and 1990s the movement began to get smart, politically. The movement refocused its efforts and began to take on abortion incrementally. It started with pushing for parental notification laws, arguing that if a 14-year old girl needed her parent's permission to take an aspirin at school, she most certainly needed their permission to receive an abortion.
During that time, the country came to terms with infanticide by way of partial-birth abortion. State after state began banning the gruesome procedure. By 1997, around 70 to 80 percent of the American public opposed it. Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, NARAL and other so-called abortion rights groups were in retreat, left defending unpopular policies because they didn't want any restrictions placed on abortion.
But the country's leadership wasn't in line with its citizens. President Bill Clinton vetoed a federal ban on partial-birth abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down state partial-birth abortion laws and other limits on abortion. These events signaled that abortion on demand had taken the country somewhere a majority of Americans didn't want it to go.
In 2000, George W. Bush was elected. He'd promised to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of those on the court who effectively disagreed with Roe.
Some of the common-sense limits on abortion became law. A ban on partial-birth abortion stood, states passed legislation on parental consent and informed consent, and when there were vacancies on the high court, Bush appointed solid conservative jurists.
So now in 2007, it is widely believed that the country is one or two retirements away from being able to determine the Supreme Court's next step on Roe. This is something the NRTL realized and its leadership said it thinks Fred Thompson gives the country the best opportunity to see abortion on demand ended.
Even when we had both houses of Congress AND the White House, it was never brought forward, because in order for it to pass, it has to get a super-majority in Congress, and even with Republicans in the majority, there were too many rabid Democrats for whom the 'right' to have an abortion is one of the most important issues.
The National Right to Life Committee has been pushing for the Human Life Amendment for years, but has come to realize that it is a lost cause right now. As the article states, they have realized that they have to chip away at the idea of a 'right' to abortion, and their major obstacle has been Roe v Wade. Since George W. Bush was able to nominate some solid conservatives to the Supreme Court, we are in the best position since 1973 to actually overturn it, and the NRLC understands that, with the right President, it CAN happen, because the oldest Justices right now are the most liberal, and it is they who will likely be the first to be replaced, either because of retirement or death.
Traditional American Values
Protecting Life
Fred Thompson is pro-life. He believes in the sanctity of human life and that every life is worthy of respect. He had a 100% pro-life voting record in the Senate and believes Roe v. Wade was a bad decision that ought to be overturned. He consistently opposed federal funding to promote or pay for abortion and supported the Partial Birth Abortion Act, the Child Custody Protection Act, and President Reagan’s “Mexico City” policy. While Fred Thompson supports adult stem cell research, he opposes embryonic stem cell research. He also opposes human cloning.
Supporting Marriage
Fred Thompson believes marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and that this institution is the foundation of society. As such, he supported the Defense of Marriage Act when he served in the Senate. He supports a constitutional amendment to prevent activist judges from misreading the Constitution to force same-sex marriage on any state and on our society.
Protecting our Kids
While censorship is dangerous, obscenity is not legally protected, and laws against it should be vigorously enforced. Parents need to be empowered to protect their children from inappropriate matter, whether on TV, in video games, or on the computer. And we must do all we can to fight the explosion of child pornography over the Internet.
Limiting the Role of the Judiciary
For many years, the judiciary has been too eager to engage in social engineering under the guise of interpreting the Constitution. Fred Thompson is a lawyer who understands the difference between interpreting the law and making it. He is committed to appointing judges who understand and respect that difference and who will only interpret and apply the law, not make it. When President Bush needed someone to shepherd the nomination of John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States, he turned to Fred Thompson, who steered the Roberts nomination to its successful confirmation. John Roberts represents the kind of judges Fred Thompson would seek to appoint as President.
http://www.fred08.com/Virtual/AmericanValues.aspx
Wrong. It is non-adherence to that platform, primarily by the compromisers at NRTL, that has stalled the movement. That’s a fact.
They compromise away the powerful primary moral, legal and intellectual arguments and then can’t figure out why they keep losing.
Unfortunately, for the rest of the party, those who cannot see the forest for the trees wind up losing for all of us.
Whoever the nominee is to be in the GOP, we need to stand behind them, no matter if we have to hold our noses, or Hillary or worse will get into the WH, control both houses, and then we will ALL suffer the consequences.
The NRTL endorsement legimized the Thomson campaign, whether you like it or not, it is the chip every candidate needs to take the high road on the contest for the nomination.
Regardless of who is the 'best' candidate, in your opinion, it has not translated to NATIONAL support.
Next up for Fred, the NRA endorsement.
That part you have right. It is time to stop following the very same leaders, like those at NRTL, who have utterly failed, and who now are trying to lead pro-lifers even further down the road of compromise.
Have you ever heard the saying: “The perfect is the enemy of the good”?
NRTL has been compromised for a number of years now. Those who have been out on the front lines of this movement know it.
Two of their top leaders have endorsed Mitt Romney, a man who has spent the last thirty-five years of his life using his political power to strenuously promote abortion on demand.
Now, they endorse a man who is openly opposed to the principles in the Reagan platform, and who thinks states have a right to abrogate the unalienable right to life.
People need to wake up and start thinking for themselves. They need to realize that they’ve been sold down the river by the vast majority of their leaders.
Lip service is not nearly enough. At least three to four thousand American children continue to be slaughtered every day.
Have you ever heard the saying, “The lesser of two evils is still evil.”
Blaming these organizations and such is not the issue, the issue is how the Fed acts and the members in Congress. God himself has not changed their minds, NRTL and others could hardly do more.
It is time for an end run. First rule of combat is that if the current method fails to reach your object you change tactics.
My objective is saving lives, by any means possible, and get stuck on one unachievable ideal method to do so.
Um...he’s on a couple times a week and most weekends. If you don’t see him you’re not looking very hard.
Thompson’s “federalism” stance is as pro-choice as it is pro-life.
Abortion was incrementally being eliminated in the states when Roe v Wade changed everything. This article spells out exactly the process that has worked, incrementalism. Piece by piece abortion is going back under control of the will of the people. It cannot be adjudicated by decree or by executive fiat.
The best hope for eliminating abortion on demand is to be returned to the states to put the process of eliminating it back in OUR hands, where it belongs.
34 years EV, 34 Years of Roe V. Wade. Reagan’s Platform was in 1979, that’s 26 Years. We have had control of both the Leglistlative and Executive branch a few times in there.
Where is the bill, where is HLA?
Repeating the same actions and expecting different results in the same conditions?
Not very smart.
I know there are those in the Pro Life movement who will accept nothing but absolute victory. HLA or nothing. That’s noble, but hardly realistic. Again those babies need our help, not our ego. Thar won’t care how we won, just that we did.
You'd do well to remember that.
That's just not true. What was actually happening is that abortion was being brought in incrementally at that time, state by state, beginning with the Colorado law in 1967, signed by a Republican Governor, that allowed babies conceived by rape to be murdered in the womb.
Congrats to Hunter -- that must have been nice to hear.
Are you saying that was not good law? Are you saying the trauma of the rape should continue for the unwilling woman who was raped?
Wrong. It became part of the Republican platform in 1984. And it hasn't been adhered to. That's the problem.
Either every person has an unalienable right to life, or no one does.
And, civilized men, for thousands of years, have known that it is unjust and unlawful to kill a person for the wrong-doing of another person.
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