Kentucky Race for Governor Features Clear Contrast on Abortion Issues 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 24, 2007
Frankfort, KY (LifeNews.com) — Kentucky voters will have a clear choice in November between two candidates who couldn’t be further apart on the issue of abortion. Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher takes a decidedly pro-life position and his Democratic opponent Beshear is advocating abortion in what most consider to be a pro-life state.
Fletcher is an ordained Baptist minister and physician who, as a member of Congress, compiled a strongly pro-life voting record.
Trailing in the polls, he hopes the contrast on abortion will help him secure additional votes, especially from the many conservative Democrats in the state.
He says he opposes abortion, even in the very rare cases of when the mother is a victim of rape and incest. He says that the value of human life doesn’t diminish because of the awful crime of sexual abuse.
"I caution everyone to think about the innocent life involved regardless of the situation," Fletcher said. "The real premise is I believe in the sanctity of life."
Michael Janocik, assistant director of the Kentucky Right to Life Association, told the Associated Press that abortion is normally such a big issue for voters there that pro-abortion candidates try to hide the extreme nature of their views.
"It’s rare that a political candidate in Kentucky will proudly carry the banner of being pro-choice," he said. "It’s just not very popular in Kentucky."
Fletcher had the pro-life group’s endorsement in the primary election and the group has warned pro-life voters about Beshear’s pro-abortion views.
Fletcher had a 100 percent pro-life voting record while in Congress and, as governor, continued that by signing a bill in 2004 that would protect pregnant women like Laci Peterson and their unborn children from violence.
"I have worked to create a culture of life in Frankfort, by working to protect all children, both born and unborn," Fletcher has said about his record.
Beshear served four years as lieutenant governor during the 1980s in the Martha Layne Collins administration, and lost a race for governor in 1987. He has also served as the state’s attorney general.
Fletcher ended up getting 50 percent of the vote in the three-way GOP primary while Beshear won the Democratic nomination with 41 percent of the vote after facing multiple candidates.
Related web sites:
Kentucky Right to Life – https://www.krla.org
