National Right to Life Highlights Perry’s Pro-Life Views

Politics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 16, 2011   |   11:34AM   |   Washington, DC

The National Right to Life Committee has revised its main publication about the Republican presidential candidates that it is using to educate pro-life voters on where they stand. The group is now highlighting Rick Perry’s pro-life views on abortion.

Titled “Where do the candidates stand on life?” the NRLC document is a one-page flyer that comparison the pro-abortion policies and record of President Barack Obama with the positions of eight Republican presidential hopefuls in four areas:  taxpayer funding of abortion, Roe v. Wade, funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business, and Obamacare. NRLC opposes Roe, abortion funding and funding of the abortion business, and opposed Obamacare because of abortion funding and rationing concerns.

As LifeNews.com previously noted, the NRLC piece depicts each of the Republican presidential candidates as pro-life and Perry is no exception, as he is listed as opposing the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that has resulted in 53 million abortions.

“Until the day Roe v. Wade is nothing but a shameful footnote in our nation’s history books, we can’t afford to give up the good fight,” Perry has said about the case previously. “Fifty million children have lost their chance at life – a tragic legacy.”

NRLC says Perry supports de-funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business, saying, “As governor, [Perry] signed legislation to revoke taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.” Perry also backs stopping taxpayer funding for abortions, saying about a major pro-life bill in Congress to do that:  this bill helps protect those who need our protection the most, the unborn, underscoring our ongoing commitment that taxpayer money never be used to fund abortions.”

Right to Life also has Perry listed as a strong opponent of the Obamacare bill it and every major pro-life organization opposed.

“I applaud today’s House vote to repeal ObamaCare…and I strongly urge the Senate to join in the rejection of this overreaching and harmful legislation,” Perry has said. “They [people] understand that if this goes into place, we will be rationing health care.”

Perry has also received an A grade from two prominent Texas-based pro-life groups, Texas Right to Life and Texas Alliance for Life.

“Governor Rick Perry has always championed the pro-life cause, tirelessly advocating for the sanctity of innocent human life in numerous ways,” Texas Right to Life executive director Elizabeth Graham tells LifeNews.com.

“Governor Perry has worked alongside Texas Right to Life, helping shepherd our pro-life bills and eagerly supporting our measures,” Graham said. “As governor of Texas, he has intervened to stop anti-life legislation on a number of occasions, and he has helped clear obstacles when necessary.”

For the pro-life movement, changing the makeup of the Supreme Court is perhaps the number one issue — as the current pro-abortion majority on the high court makes it impossible to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow for either federal or state efforts to provide legal protection for women and unborn children. Graham says her organization has been appreciative of the nominations Perry has made as governor.

“Every one of Governor Perry’s judicial appointees adheres to a strict constructionist style of jurisprudence; neither do they find a right to privacy in the penumbra of the Constitution, nor do they legislate from the bench,” Graham assures. “Governor Perry’s appointments have created the largest, most conservative judicial body in America.”

Joe Pojman, the head of Texas Alliance for Life, has also worked closely with the governor and confirms to LifeNews that “Perry has always been pro-life throughout his time as an elected official.”

“For many years, Perry has supported the fund raising efforts of pro-life organizations, including Texas Alliance for Life, and he has appeared several times at the Texas Rally for Life held at the state Capitol to commemorate the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision,” Pojman added.”We believe Perry has the right stuff to be president. If elected, he will aggressively defend innocent human life as he has as governor of Texas.”

Pojman pointed to a laundry list of achievements Perry can point to as governor that have advanced the pro-life cause. Most recently, he signed into law a bill that would revoke taxpayer funding of the Planned Parenthood abortion business. But going back to the beginning, as the Lt. Governor in 1999, Perry oversaw the passage by the Texas Senate of the Parental Notification Act, the most substantial pro-life law passed in Texas up to that point. In 2005, Gov. Perry signed the parental consent measure to increase parents’ rights and, in the years since the parental notification and consent laws have been in effect, abortions on minor girls have dropped by 32% per year.

In 2003, Perry signed the Prenatal Protection Act, a law that protects unborn children from violent crimes of murder and assault by expanding the definition of human life in Texas criminal and civil law to include unborn children “at every stage of gestation from fertilization to birth.” Texas’ highest criminal court has upheld convictions of criminals for the murder of unborn children several times, and several are serving life sentences.

In 2005, Perry signed a measure prohibiting abortions in the third trimester and, in 2003, Perry signed the Woman’s Right to Know Act in 2003, which required that abortion businesses offer state-created informational brochures to women considering abortion. That law also prohibits late abortions from being performed excepted in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.

This year, Perry appeared to step up his push for pro-life laws even more and, in response to requests from the two Texas pro-life groups, made passing an ultrasound law among his top priorities.

“The bill he signed raises the standard of care for informed consent for abortion, for the first time, to the level of other surgical and medical procedures. It mandates a sonogram and gives women the right to see the image of the unborn child and hear the heartbeat. The bill also requires the physician who will perform the abortion to meet with the woman for an in-person consultation session 24 hours before the abortion to describe the procedure, its risks, and the alternatives,” Pojman said. “Abby Johnson, the former director of a Texas Planned Parenthood abortion facility turned pro-life advocate, believes that provision will “devastate” the abortion industry.”

Perry, this year, also signed a bill to create a “Choose Life” license plate to promote infant adoption as an alternative to abortion in the Lone Star State. Perry long promoted compassionate alternatives to abortion. Since 2005, Perry has signed budgets that include millions for pregnancy resource centers and other pro-life agencies that assist pregnant women.

Perry has also funded adult, not embryonic, stem cell research and treatments since 2005, and has spoken out against embryonic stem cell research.

The long record of pro-life accomplishments will serve the Texas governor well should he decide to seek the Republican nomination. He would face off against other candidates who are equally committed to pro-life values, but his pro-life track record will give him a chance to gain positive support from voters in places like Iowa and South Carolina. Should he ultimately become the nominee, Perry, like other Republicans seeking the nomination, would present a clear pro-life versus pro-abortion contrast with Obama that would rally the majority of Americans who are pro-life to his side.