Fred Thompson Opens National Right to Life Convention With Pro-Life Passion
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 4, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson served as the highlight of the opening ceremonies of the National Right to Life convention Thursday morning. He urged the more than one thousand pro-life activists attending the annual event to stick to their pro-life principles regardless of the wins or losses.
Thompson said there “has been a lot of talk about the need for change in this country and this has become Senator Obama’s mantra.”
He said Congress is controlled by pro-abortion politicians “so I see the need for great change in this country.”
Thompson worried about a change in the wrong direction and said Americans should be focused on reasserting the pro-life principles that makes the United States great.
Endorsed by National Right to Life during the Republican primaries, Thompson said the direction of the Supreme Court is significantly important — especially as it relates to pro-life concerns. He said Barack Obama is an “agent of change in the wrong direction.”
“If Senator Obama is elected, he will through the Supreme Court and federal nominations bring about a negative trend in this country that we may not live long enough to see rectified,” Thompson said.
Thompson also blasted Obama over his votes in the Illinois legislature against a bill that would have given infants who survive failed abortions with appropriate medical care.
“I’m not sure how he can explain how he is to the left of NARAL,” referring to a leading pro-abortion group that took no position on a Congressional version of the anti-infanticide bill.
He endorsed eventual Republican nominee John McCain and said he has been pro-life throughout his career and said the Arizona senator has all of the qualifications necessary to become a great president of the United States.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wanda Franz, the president of National Right to Life, encouraged the audience to close ranks behind pro-life candidates to make sure pro-life policies can advance.
She urged the pro-life advocates to resist the temptation of supporting pro-life candidates who may look perfect on paper but have little or not chance of winning the election.
Instead, she urged pro-life voters to support candidates who agree with the pro-life community on most issues and can put those pro-life policies in place by becoming the next president or member of Congress.
When it comes to the presidential election, Franz said the national policy on legalized abortion is at stake and only by supporting a pro-life candidate who can actually win in November will pro-life voters be able to determine the fate of the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonald, the top pro-life official in the state and a gubernatorial candidate, said he was happy to be among so many pro-life advocates.
He noted that it was a great time for pro-life people to have a national educational meeting at time when the nation is celebrating its freedom and said that freedom should extend to children in the womb.
“People come into society with certain God given rights and among those is the right to life,” he said. “It is our solemn duty as officials in elected office to protect tight rights — the first and foremost the right to life.”
Olivia Gans, the president of the Virginia Society for Human Life also welcomed the hundreds of attendees that packed the hotel ballroom.
“We must bring the pro-life message to those who may be in pain or in their pews … and we must help them know which is the pro-life candidate who is able to do everything they can to protect human life,” Gans said. “Each of you are the right person for that task.”
“No person in the pro-life movement can be replaced … You are here now for a reason and you will discover that reason every time you say yes to life,” Gans concluded.
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