Kentucky Senate Candidate Matt Bevin Misstates Mitch McConnell’s Pro-Life Record

State   |   Andrew Bair   |   Apr 24, 2014   |   6:27PM   |   Frankfort, KY

Kentucky Senate candidate Matt Bevin, in a new mailer sent to homes across Kentucky, questions the pro-life convictions of Sen. Mitch McConnell, one of the pro-life movement’s greatest allies in Congress, whom he is running against in the Republican primary.

In response, both National Right to Life and Kentucky Right to Life sharply criticized the mailer.

mitchmcconnell“Matt Bevin is trying to mislead pro-life voters,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “No U.S. senator has done more for unborn children than Mitch McConnell.”

“We have worked with Sen. McConnell for decades and he has always been a loyal friend of the unborn and medically vulnerable,” said Margie Montgomery, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life. “Any attempt to distort Sen. McConnell’s pro-life record is at best ignorant, and at worst, dishonest.”

Supporters of the Bevin campaign on social media have employed the slogan “Ditch Mitch,” the same slogan used by pro-abortion EMILY’s List in its efforts to unseat the senator. Abortion advocates couldn’t be more overjoyed to see McConnell challenged from within his own party. Liberal bloggers with The Daily Kos, relish Bevin’s primary challenge to McConnell, calling it “deliciously bitter.”

A recent poll conducted by SurveyUSA, found that respondents who identified themselves as conservatives picked McConnell 57 percent to 28 percent over Bevin.

Sen. McConnell has been a key supporter of every major pro-life initiative to come before the U.S. Senate during his tenure, including current legislation, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1670), to protect unborn children at 20 weeks, a point by which the unborn child is capable of experiencing great pain when being killed by dismemberment or other late abortion techniques. Just last month, he called on his Senate colleagues to pass the bill.

Sen. McConnell has been a consistent supporter of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents government funding of most abortions in the Medicaid program, and which is estimated to have saved more than one million unborn children. Sen. McConnell also strongly supported an amendment sponsored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) that would have amended Obamacare to prevent the imposition of regulatory mandates that violate the religious or moral convictions of those who purchase or provide health insurance.

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In addition, McConnell has been the Senate’s chief defender of the First Amendment right of citizen groups to communicate with the public about the positions and voting records of those who hold or seek public office, and a courageous foe of attempts to curb that right under the guise of “campaign finance reform.”

The Republican primary election in Kentucky will be held Tuesday, May 20th. Polls have consistently shown Matt Bevin trailing by double digits.

“The choice for pro-life voters in Kentucky on May 20th is clear: a vote for Mitch McConnell is a vote for life,” said Montgomery.