Indiana Right to Life Endorses Mourdock Over Dick Lugar

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 22, 2012   |   10:39AM   |   Washington, DC

The Indiana Right to Life Political Action Committee announced today that it is endorsing Richard Mourdock in Indiana’s Republican primary for the United States Senate. Mourdock is taking on incumbent Republican Sen. Dick Lugar, who traditionally has voted pro-life but has upset pro-life groups with recent votes for pro-abortion Supreme Court nominees and a failure to vote pro-life on other key issues.

In a media statement issued this morning, IRTL-PAC Chairman Mike Fichter made these comments on the endorsement:

“The Indiana Right to Life Political Action Committee is pleased announce its endorsement of Richard Mourdock to represent Indiana as a member of the United States Senate.   While there are many reasons we are proud to make this endorsement, it simply comes down to this: we cannot afford to give Richard Lugar the opportunity to help place one more activist judge like Elena Kagan or Sonia Sotomayor onto the United States Supreme Court.  Should President Obama gain a second term, and should he have the opportunity to fill one of the Supreme Court seats currently held by a conservative justice, we will lose the Supreme Court for a generation unless we have Republican senators willing to fight this administration’s attempt to use the federal courts as a tool for judicial activism.

Richard Lugar will give the President his rubber stamp approval for any nominee put forward for the Supreme Court, just as he did when he voted to confirm Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Richard Mourdock, on the other hand, understands the dangers of judicial activism and will firmly oppose any Supreme Court nominee who does not hold to a conservative judicial philosophy that is rooted in the United States Constitution.

Unlike Richard Lugar, who has twice voted with a majority of Senate Democrats to use federal dollars to pay for embryonic stem cell research that requires the killing of human embryos, Richard Mourdock will fight to see that not one dime of federal funding supports this type of research that is abhorrent to the pro-life community.

And unlike Richard Lugar, who supports federal restrictions known as McCain-Feingold that trample the free speech rights of organizations like Indiana Right to Life when it comes to election-related communications, Richard Mourdock will work to roll back these restrictions, recognizing the freedom for organizations like ours to engage in election-related communications without the threat of overbearing government regulations.

Hoosiers understand that we are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history. The status quo in Washington has given us a legacy of federal judges that are making law up as they go along, federal agencies that are dramatically eroding the freedom of everyday Americans, and federal spending that is digging a financial hole that our great grandchildren will not be able to get out of. And tragically, the status quo is giving us the federal takeover of health care that is attempting to force every American to subsidize the business of abortion.

It’s time for dramatic change in Washington, and it starts with the election of men and women who are willing to do things differently than the way they are currently being done in Washington. Richard Mourdock is such a person for a time such as this.

The Indiana Right to Life Political Action Committee is proud to endorse Richard Mourdock for the United States Senate, and we call on every pro-life Hoosier to give him their vote in this primary election.”