After he is elected Speaker of the House this week, pro-life Congressman Paul Ryan plans to name a longtime pro-life advocate as his chief of staff. The move adds to Ryan’s lengthy pro-life voting record and will reassure pro-life groups that he will work closely with them on pro-life objectives such as de-funding Planned Parenthood and banning abortions after 20 weeks.
With various groups representing each of the factions of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives endorsing his candidacy for Speaker of the House when Republicans vote this week. The next Speaker will replace outgoing pro-life Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.
Ryan has been a strong pro-life advocate during his time in Congress and holds a 100% pro-life voting record. Most recently, Congressman Ryan voted for the House measure that would de-fund Planned Parenthood and the companion bill to ensure the continuing resolution would de-fund Planned Parenthood. He voted a third time this past week to de-fund Planned Parenthood via the reconciliation bill.
Now, news reports indicate Ryan will name David Hoppe as his chief of staff as Speaker of the House. Hoppe has served on the staffs of pro-life lawmakers, including then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and then-Majority Whip Jon Kyl — both of whom were strongly pro-life.
“Dave has been a foot soldier in the conservative movement, and he is a good friend,” Ryan said in a statement Sunday. “His decades of experience fighting for the cause and his passionate commitment to conservative principles are just what I’m looking for to create a new kind of speakership.”
As The Hill reports on other pro-life lawmakers Hoppe has worked with:
Hoppe was chief of staff to Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.). And earlier in his career, Hoppe served as chief of staff to the late Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), Ryan’s political mentor.
Follow LifeNews.com on Instagram for pro-life pictures and the latest pro-life news.
Hoppe has long been in the fight for supply-side economic policies and pro-life causes, previously serving as vice president of government affairs at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Heritage founder Ed Feulner praised Hoppe as “a deeply principled man.”
“This is a great sign that Paul Ryan understands the importance of putting forward big conservative ideas,” Feulner said in a statement, “and I know that Dave has the expertise and passion to help implement them.”
In an email to The Hill, Kyl called Hoppe “thoughtful and experienced” and someone with an “excellent temperament.”
Ryan was very outspoken about pro-life issues when he ran for vice-president in 2012.
“I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith. Our faith informs us in everything we do. My faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable, of how to make sure that people have a chance in life,” Ryan said during the 2012 presidential debate. “Now, you want to ask basically why I’m pro-life? It’s not simply because of my Catholic faith. That’s a factor, of course. But it’s also because of reason and science.”
“You know, I think about 10 1/2 years ago, my wife Janna and I went to Mercy Hospital in Janesville where I was born, for our seven week ultrasound for our firstborn child, and we saw that heartbeat. A little baby was in the shape of a bean. And to this day, we have nicknamed our firstborn child Liza, “Bean.” Now I believe that life begins at conception,” Ryan continued.
“That’s why — those are the reasons why I’m pro-life. Now I understand this is a difficult issue, and I respect people who don’t agree with me on this, but the policy of a Romney administration will be to oppose abortions.”
When it comes to abortion, Ryan said “the Democratic Party used to say they wanted it to be safe, legal and rare. Now they support it without restriction and with taxpayer funding. Taxpayer funding in Obamacare, taxpayer funding with foreign aid. The vice president himself went to China and said that he sympathized and wouldn’t second guess their one child policy of forced abortions and sterilizations. That to me is pretty extreme.”
“We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people through their elected representatives in reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process should make this determination,” he said.
