Indiana Right to Life Endorses Pro-Life Gov. Mitch Daniels for Re-Election
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 16, 2008
Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) — Indiana Right to Life has endorsed Gov. Mitch Daniels for re-election in what will be a general election battle with a clear contrast on abortion. The group’s political action committee says Daniels has fulfilled his promise to promote the pro-life perspective and is better than opponent Jill Long Thompson.
"We are proud to endorse Governor Daniels in recognition of his steadfast support for the sanctity of life," IRTL PAC chairman Mike Fichter told LifeNews.com Tuesday.
"Mitch Daniels pledged to support pro-life legislation as a candidate in 2004 and he has been true to his word," Fichter said. "Now it is time for pro-life Hoosiers to show their appreciation for Governor Daniels by actively working to secure his re-election."
There is a clear demarcation in the 2008 gubernatorial race as the governor faces Democrat Jill Long-Thompson, who has received the endorsement of Emily’s List, a top pro-abortion group that requires its candidates to support taxpayer funding of abortion and oppose even a partial-birth abortion ban.
In endorsing Thompson, Fichter said she joins other Emily’s List-backed candidates like Senators Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"Jill Long-Thompson is the most radical abortion proponent to ever seek the office of governor in Indiana, even to the point of supporting abortion for the full nine months of pregnancy," Fichter told LifeNews.com.
Indiana is known for a large contingent of pro-life Democrats in the southern part of the state and in South Bend, home of the University of Notre Dame. Fichter said many Indiana Democrats will join pro-life Republicans on election day.
"Hoosier voters, Democrat and Republican alike, will reject Jill Long-Thompson’s candidacy once they understand how extreme she is on abortion," he said. "This is not a state that wants to be known as a mecca for doing full-term abortions."
Fichter said that, prior to Governor Daniels, not a single Indiana governor had the courage or conviction to publicly support the sanctity of life of unborn children.
During his first term, Governor Daniels has signed into law key legislation placing Indiana on the leading edge of national pro-life efforts.
That included a bill allowing women to see an ultrasound of their unborn child prior to the abortion, a bill to ban human cloning, and a measure establishing an umbilical cord blood bank to advance life-affirming stem cell research using cord blood instead of killing human embryos.
Daniels also ended 25 years of Indiana abortion clinics operating without any significant health and safety regulations by signing into law new licensure and inspection requirements for abortion centers.
Also, under the Daniels administration, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles approved Indiana’s Choose Life license plate that provides funding for pro-life pregnancy resource centers statewide.
"Governor Daniels has helped to advance the pro-life cause in Indiana but there is much more work left to do," Fichter concluded.
"The bottom line is that Governor Daniels will continue to extend greater protection for unborn children in his second term while promoting positive alternatives to abortion, whereas Jill Long-Thompson will enact policies that will expand taxpayer funding for abortion providers and increase access to abortion for the full nine months of pregnancy."
Related web sites:
Indiana Right to Life – https://www.protectinglife.com
