Pro-Life Congressman Tancredo Will Decide on GOP Prez Bid Soon 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 23, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Pro-life congressman Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican known primarily for his anti-immigration stance, says he will make a decision within the next two weeks about whether to seek the GOP nomination for president. Tancredo is pro-life and has voted against abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
In January, Rep. Tancredo filed papers to establish an exploratory committee for a potential bid for the Republican nomination in 2008.
Since then he has campaign in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and he hired a campaign manager in New Hampshire.
Spokesman Alan Moore talked with the Associated Press about his decision-making process.
"It’s a big personal decision," Moore said. "It’s about support, something he has to talk over with his family."
He indicated that Tancredo’s March campaign finance report would show that he’s raised more than $1 million, which puts him behind most of the other Republican presidential contenders, but Moore said money wouldn’t be a factor in his decision.
Tancredo has said he won’t give up his House seat unless he decides to run for president for certain.
Tancredo has been a solid pro-life vote in Congress and earned a 100 percent pro-life voting record from 2005-2006 from the National Right to Life Committee.
During the 109th Congress, Tancredo voted against funding either abortions in various situations or embryonic stem cell research. He voted repeatedly to uphold parental consent and notification laws on abortion and supported a bill telling women of the pain their baby will feel during an abortion procedure.
Tancredo has a perfect pro-life voting record with the group dating back to 1999 with the exception of one vote on a bill that NRLC worried would ration health care for seniors by limiting their access to prescription drugs paid for with their own funds.
The congressman joins top-tier potential candidates such as former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain. However, both support forcing taxpayers to fund embryonic stem cell research and Giuliani backs legalized abortion.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says he opposes both but he is a recent pro-life convert. Meanwhile, Sen. Sam Brownback is seen by many as the strongest pro-life candidate in the field.
Other potential Republican candidates include former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who opposes abortion but backs embryonic stem cell research, pro-life ex-Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, pro-life Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore who backs abortion but also many limits on it.
Pro-life Rep. Duncan Hunter of California is also in the running as is Texas Rep Ron Paul, who has a mixed voting record on abortion.
