Hispanic Groups Endorse President Bush In Part Because of Pro-Life Position
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 27, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A coalition of more than twenty Hispanic groups endorsed President Bush’s re-election bid on Wednesday in part because of his pro-life stance on abortion.
The Board of Directors of The Latino Coalition (TLC) and over twenty other Hispanic organizations said Bush, "knows and understands the Hispanic community better than any other President before him."
TLC Vice Chairman Susan Alvarado indicated Bush "appointed more Hispanics to the highest levels of government than any other President before him."
The nomination of leading Hispanic attorney Miguel Estrada to a federal appeals court drew significant support from the Latino community. However, Hispanics were chagrined when the Senate, including Senator John Kerry, blocked the nomination.
Many Hispanic Americans are Catholic and value their religious faith, which prompts them to take pro-life stands on abortion. That view is leading many to back the president.
"John Kerry says that he represents Hispanic values, but his record shows the opposite," said Rev. Arturo Soto, President of the Hispanic Clergy Association of New Jersey. "The Hispanic values are based on the strength of our families, and John Kerry’s record in the U.S. Senate has not been pro-family."
Soto said Kerry "has consistently voted against requiring that parents be notified before their teenage daughters have an abortion."
Kerry has also voted six times against the partial-birth abortion ban and more than twenty times in favor of using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.
"This is not the record of a politician that represents Hispanic values," Soto explained.
A new poll conducted by Zogby International in April shows Hispanic Americans are largely pro-life.
When asked to give a specific position as to if and when abortion should be legal or illegal, Hispanics support a pro-life position by a 78-21 percentage margin.
An overwhelming 40% of all Hispanics say abortion should never be legal. Others taking a pro-life view say abortion should be illegal except when the life of the mother is in danger (11%) or illegal except in rare instances when the woman is a victim of rape or incest (27%).
Only 21 percent took a position in favor of legal abortions and only 15 percent of Hispanic Americans say abortion should be legal throughout pregnancy. The rest favor prohibiting abortion in the later stages of pregnancy.
"In this country, as is evidenced by the Zogby poll, we Hispanics bring our morals and our cultural abhorrence for abortion with us when we migrate," Raimundo Rojas, the Hispanic Outreach Coordinator for the National Right to Life Committee says.
Some of the Hispanic leaders that backed Bush Wednesday include:
Hispanic Business Roundtable Board Member Elizabeth Fernandez, National Hispanic Restaurant Association Board Member Manuel Solis, Ed Davis, President of the National Association of Hispanic Firefighters, Bob Archuleta, Los Angeles County Commissioner for Military and Veteran Affairs and a member of the National Latino Peace Officers Association, and Dr. Rene Rodriguez, President of the Inter-American Coalition of Physicians and Surgeons.
Related web sites:
The Latino Coalition – https://www.TheLatinoCoalition.com
Hispanic Americans for Life – https://www.nrlc.org/HAL
