Indiana Pro-Life Group Reminds Voters Jill Long Thompson Strongly Pro-Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 24, 2008
Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) — The leading pro-life group in Indiana is reminding voters in the Hoosier State that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson is too extreme on abortion. Indiana Right to Life held three news conferences in northeast Indiana on Tuesday to criticize her stance.
“Indiana has never seen a candidate for governor with such an extreme position on abortion,” Mike Fichter, the director of the Indiana Right to Life, said.
Fichter cited several votes Thompson cast as a member of Congress in the early 1990s, including requiring taxpayers to fund abortions at military bases and for abortions done in the District of Columbia.
Fichter also noted how Thompson received $400,000 for her election from Emily’s List, a leading pro-abortion group that will only fund candidates who oppose a ban on partial-birth abortions and want to force taxpayers to pay for abortions.
The group’s political action committee has endorsed Gov. Mitch Daniels for re-election.
Indiana Right to Life has praised him for signing a bill to allow motorists to purchase Choose Life license plates, the proceeds of which benefit pregnancy centers.
He also signed 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.
Jeff Harris, spokesman for Long Thompson, told the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette that Thompson is a Methodist who thinks that government shouldn’t limit abortions.
“The government should not be involved,” he said.
This is the second time in the election that Indiana Right to Life has exposed Thompson’s pro-abortion record.
In June, Indiana Right to Life endorsed Daniels and Fichter talked about how Thompson is out of step with Hoosiers.
"Mitch Daniels pledged to support pro-life legislation as a candidate in 2004 and he has been true to his word," IRTL director Mike Fichter told LifeNews.com at the time. "Now it is time for pro-life Hoosiers to show their appreciation for Governor Daniels by actively working to secure his re-election."
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."
Related web sites:
Indiana Right to Life – https://www.protectinglife.com
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