Senator Sam Brownback: Adopted Daughter From China Made Me Pro-Life 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 27, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas is one of a handful of top Republican officials considering presidential ids in 2008. Brownback has earned the support of the pro-life community over the years with his work on Capitol Hill against abortion and embryonic stem cell research. But, he says his pro-life views were shaped by his adopted daughter.
The lawmaker recently indicated his eight-year-old daughter Jenna, a girl he adopted from Shantou City, China, is the reason he so adamantly believes life should be protected.
Brownback told Agape Press, "I look at her often at night, and I wonder, ‘You know, somebody who I’ve never met fought for her — and she’s alive and making straight A’s and a brilliant, beautiful girl because somebody fought for her."
"It would have been easier to abort her, but they fought for her," Brownback explained. "And I hope we never forget about that — that that’s what we fight for in life. We fight for them."
According to AP, Brownback says he is convinced that abortion will eventually be illegal again in the United States.
He described the U.S. as "a majority pro-life nation" and he believes pro-life advocates are winning the cultural and political battles and he is convinced that Roe v. Wade will eventually be overturned.
Brownback also likes to talk about a disabled man named Jimmy who runs the elevators that shuttle members of the Senate from the Senate floor to their offices.
"His warm smile welcomes us every day. We’re a better body for him," Brownback said.
"And, yet, we’re ennobled by him and what he does and how he lifts up our humanity and 80 to 90 percent of the kids in this country like Jimmy never get here," Brownback said of abortions of disabled babies.
Despite his strong support from pro-life advocates, Brownback appears at the bottom of recent polls of potential 2008 GOP candidates for president.
An August Des Moines Register poll of Iowa voters, where the first caucus takes place, found that pro-abortion former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani leads with the support of 30 percent of Republicans.
The poll found Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who has a fairly pro-life voting record and has visited the state twice in recent months, the choice of 17 percent while Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, who mostly votes pro-life, received 6.5 percent.
According to the survey, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who recently said he is pro-life, had 4.5 percent, Virginia Sen. George Allen, who has a pro-life voting record, had 3.5 percent, pro-abortion New York Gov. George Pataki had 3.3 percent and pro-life Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied with pro-life Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback with 2.5 percent.
Observers say the poll is likely just a barometer of name recognition and that the numbers will be significantly different as the 2008 caucus vote gets closer. That’s supported by the fact that 29 percent of those polled said they were undecided.
