George Pataki Loses Iowa Supporters Over His Pro-Abortion Position 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 22, 2006
Des Moines, IA (LifeNews.com) — New York Governor George Pataki, a possible 2008 presidential candidate, has lost two key supporters due to his position in favor of abortion. The Iowa political activists say they will no longer serve as advisors to his political action committee because Pataki backs abortion.
Loras Schulte and Ed Failor have been advisors to Pataki’s 21st Century Freedom PAC — the kind of political action committee that most potential presidential candidates establish to promote themselves and their ideas.
Schulte told the Des Moines Register newspapershe supported the group because of other political issues but with Pataki leaning towards a presidential bid — he’s now visited Iowa eight times since the 2004 elections — he felt it was time to step down from her position.
"I’ve never made any secret of my intense pro-life views," Schulte said. "In order to be true to myself, where I stood and what I believed, it was time to step away."
Failor, a board member for Iowa Right to Life, said he agreed with Pataki’s position that state’s should decide abortion, rather than the Supreme Court, but disagreed with Pataki that states should keep abortion legal.
"That message, articulated appropriately, is not an anti-pro-life message," he said of the state’s rights position.
Pataki has upset pro-life advocates numerous times during his tenure as New York governor.
In July, Pataki vetoed a bill that would have authorized a group of new specialty license plates there, including one commemorating the September 11 terrorist attacks. The governor blamed the veto on a lawsuit supporters of the Choose Life license plate filed after they were denied a specialty plate.
Last May, Pataki said he supported a bill in the legislature requiring taxpayers to spend $100 million annually on embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of human life.
He also signed legislation requiring hospitals — including religious ones — to distribute the morning after pill and signed another bill requiring health insurance plans to do the same thing.
Pataki plans to make his decision about whether to run for president in the coming months but has already opened up another Iowa office, leading many to think the decision is a forgone conclusion.
