Pro-Abortion Republican Lisa Murkowski Losing to Pro-Life Joe Miller in Alaska
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 25, 2010
Juneau, AK (LifeNews.com) — The Republican Party is predominantly pro-life and one of just a handful of pro-abortion Republicans in the U.S. Senate may have lost her bid party’s nomination for her re-election campaign. Sen Lisa Murkowski is currently losing to pro-life candidate Joe Miller, after Tuesday night’s primary.
With 97.9 percent of the vote counted, Miller come in with just under 46,000 votes and 51.09 percent of the vote. However, the race has not yet been called for Miller as more votes remain uncounted.
The total show Murkowski getting a little under 44,000 votes and 48.91 percent of the vote from Alaska Republicans.
Murkowski, in the most recent Congress, has just a 71 percent pro-life voting record, according to numbers from the National Right to Life Committee.
In January 2009, she voted against a pro-life amendment seeking to restore the Mexico City Policy President Barack Obama overturned that limits taxpayer funding of groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations.
The same month, she opposed amendment to codify the "unborn child rule" and allow the State Children’s Health Insurance (SCHIP) program to provide coverage for unborn children of poor women — helping reduce the financial reasons women say make them consider abortions.
In both votes, Murkowski was one of just four Republicans to deviate from the position of the rest of the Senate GOP caucus as dozens of other Republicans voted pro-life.
Miller hammered Murkowski about those votes during the primary race and ran on a conservative and pro-life platform that included calling for the repeal of the pro-abortion health care bill Obama signed into law. That earned him the support of pro-life former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
Miller was also endorsed by Mike Huckabee, as well as pro-life talk show hosts Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham.
Palin’s involvement marks the second time she has gone against Murkowski.
In 2006, Palin beat Murkowski’s father, Frank Murkowski, in the primary for governor and went on to win the Alaska governorship. In 2008, John McCain chose her to become his running mate, cementing her status as a national political figure.
Murkowski’s vote against restore the Mexico City Policy appears to go against the wishes of Americans.
A July poll commissioned by ABC News and the Washington Post found Americans are increasingly disenchanted with pro-abortion President Barack Obama. By an percent margin, voters want Republicans to control Congress to keep Obama’s agenda in check.
Some 51 percent in the new ABC News/Washington Post poll would rather have the Republicans run Congress "to act as a check on Obama’s policies."
That compares with 43 percent who want Obama’s pro-abortion allies to remain in charge of Congress to further push his agenda.
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