Chris Christie, Ralph Reed: Mitt Romney is Strongly Pro-Life

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 11, 2012   |   11:28AM   |   Washington, DC

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and leading pro-life activist Ralph Reed have both given new interviews in which they vouch for presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s pro-life credentials.

Christie said Wednesday and said he firmly believes Romney is pro-life and talked about his own conversion on the issue of abortion. Christie said Romney is “pro-life and deeply committed to the issue.” As The Hill reports:

“I’ve looked him in the eye, discussed this issue, and I absolutely believe in my heart and know that he is personally committed to a pro-life agenda as president,” Christie said on the conservative “Laura Ingraham Show.”

Christie, too, launched his political career as a supporter of abortion rights. He has said he changed his mind after attending a prenatal visit with his wife, then pregnant with their second child.

“I heard a heartbeat,” Christie told CNN last year. “And it led to me having a real reflection on my position.”

Of Romney, Christie said Wednesday that “he stands for a strong pro-life agenda, and that is frankly who he is going to be.” Christie specifically cited Romney’s pledges to bar U.S. foreign aid from funding abortions and to stop public health funding for Planned Parenthood.

Meanwhile, Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, told Newsmax that Romney will govern as a pro-life president if he defeats pro-abortion President Barack Obama next month.

“He made it abundantly clear in the Des Moines Register interview that he would on day one, by executive order, reinstate the Mexico City policy which was originally instituted by Ronald Reagan and carried out by both Bush presidents that prohibits taxpayer funds from being used to promote or perform abortions overseas through the United Nations and other international agencies,” Reed said.

“Further, Mitt has made it abundantly clear that he favors repealing Obamacare, which we believe rations healthcare to the elderly and is therefore not pro-life and which also, through various means, promotes abortion,” he said.

Reed said the other issue that would affect abortion would be the make-up of the Supreme Court, where Romney has said he will appoint “strict constructionists.”

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

“That was just an issue of semantics,” said Reed. “They asked him what his legislative agenda is. A judicial appointment is not legislation.”

Reed continued: “But look, on issue after issue, whether it’s the sanctity of life, Obamacare or marriage, Mitt Romney has made it abundantly and clearly unambiguous where he stands on the issues and you couldn’t have a starker contrast than you do between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.”

Reed said he does not think that the criticism that Romney was playing politics to win female voters is a fair one.

“The election is largely, though not exclusively, about jobs, the economy and healthcare and I would certainly advise all pro-family candidates, including Mitt Romney, to stay focused on those issues,” he said. “But, when asked, make it abundantly clear that they’re pro-life, pro-family and pro-marriage, and that’s what Mitt Romney has done consistently.

“His debate performance last week was extraordinary and he gave a very clear and articulate and cogent and compelling defense of the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and, most importantly, that our rights, including our right to life, comes from our Creator and not from our government.”

“He has repeatedly and abundantly made it clear from the time that he became strongly pro-life in 2005 and 2006 through two presidential runs over a period of five years that he is now pro-life and he’s come to multiple candidate forums that my organization, Faith and Freedom Coalition, held in Washington, D.C., in Florida, in South Carolina and in other primary states and said the same,” Reed said.

“He’s on record. The Des Moines Register question was what is your legislative agenda? And he made it clear that one of his first acts as president would be a pro-life executive order. So, I’m fine with his answer and he’s made it very clear he’s pro-life.”