Mike Huckabee Taps Pro-Life Congressmen to Lead Presidential Campaign 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 27, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has turned to two pro-life congressmen to help lead his campaign to receive the Republican Party’s nomination for president. Huckabee is in the bottom rung of contenders but he hopes to gain traction with conservative Iowa voters with his pro-life views.
Huckabee tapped pro-life Rep. Don Young, a leading Republican congressman from Alaska to serve as the chairman of his campaign on Capitol Hill.
Young, who has been a committee chairman, has ties to Arkansas and frequently receives support for his own campaigns from donors there. He will work to recruit other members of Congress to support Huckabee.
Meanwhile, pro-life Rep. John Boozman or Arkansas, the only other member of Congress backing Huckabee, will be the co-chairman of those Washington efforts.
“I think the prestige of having Congressman Young as well as Congressman Boozman is going to be helpful to us,” Huckabee told the Ft. Smith Times Record newspaper. “It certainly pushes our credibility up.”
Young admitted to the newspaper that Huckabee is facing a long-shot bid for the presidency but pointed to candidates like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton who most pundits didn’t give much of a chance.
“I met Gov. Huckabee about 10 years ago and I’ve watched him mature as a governor and he did an outstanding job for the state of Arkansas,” Young said. “I believe the next president is going to be a governor. I believe (Huckabee) is going to be that gentleman.”
Boozman told the newspaper he and Young hope to raise the governor’s profile in Congress, where dozens of members have already supported the more well-known top tier candidates.
“Our primary mission, get him in the situation where he can talk to other members,” Boozman said. “He’s a tremendous communicator and I think we can help him by putting him in a position where he can do that.”
Huckabee has been strongly pro-life and signed bills that seek to limit the number of abortions.
In 2005, Huckabee signed a bill into law that would require abortion facilities to obtain the approval of a parent or legal guardian before an abortion can be scheduled for a teenager.
Huckabee also signed a bill in 2003 authorizing the sale of Choose Life license plates. Twenty-five dollars from the plate proceeds goes to the Choose Life Adoption Assistance Program Fund and are distributed to organizations that help pregnant women and promote adoption such a pregnancy centers or adoption agencies.
The former governor also addressed biotech issues as well.
In March 2003 Huckabee signed a ban on human cloning. Under the Arkansas law, human cloning would be considered a felony, punishable with prison sentences as long as ten years and fines as high as $10,000.
