Republicans Will Vote for New Speaker Next Week, Pro-Life Kevin McCarthy the Frontrunner

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 30, 2015   |   11:52AM   |   Washington, DC

House Republicans will vote for a new Speaker next week and pro-life Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California appears to be the frontrunner at this time to replace pro-life Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner will step down from his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives in October. Though Boehner is strongly pro-life and has overseen the passage of legislation to ban abortions after 20 weeks and to de-fund Planned Parenthood, some pro-life advocates have grumbled that he hasn’t done enough to advance the pro-life cause.

New reports indicate Republicans will vote October 8 for a new Speaker. From The Hill:

“After consulting with our conference, a large majority of our members have made clear they want these elections held next week,” the Ohio Republican said in a Wednesday statement. “With their considerations in mind, the House leadership elections will take place on Thursday, October 8.”

In that closed-door election, the 247-member House GOP conference will nominate a new Speaker. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is the favorite to win the nomination, but he’ll need to secure at least 218 votes on the full House floor to seize the Speaker’s gavel.

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If McCarthy wins the nomination, House Republicans also would hold a race to replace him as majority leader, the No. 2 job in leadership.

McCarthy is a strong pro-life Republican who has a 100% pro-life voting record on dozens of votes on key pro-life issues in the House. He has voted to ban abortions, to stop taxpayer funding of abortion and voted against Obamacare and for its repeal and de-funding.

Yesterday, after the House passed a bill to help states de-fund Planned Parenthood, McCarthy said he strongly supported de-funding.

“Under this Administration, Washington’s appetite for power is unlimited. We’ve seen this as President Obama and Congressional Democrats want to force the taxpayers to fund Planned Parenthood despite national objections to the sickening videos that have been released. But we can also see it in the way the federal government tries to force states to spend money on organizations they don’t support,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said during the debate.

He added: “The House voted today to give states the power to exclude abortion providers from receiving Medicaid funding in their states. We need to make it clear not only that states deserve more authority—not the federal government—but also that nobody should be forced to support such callous and horrific practices with their tax dollars.”

After the shocking videos of Planned Parenthood selling aborted baby body parts surfaced, he said: “Life is truly a miracle, and here in the House we have fought and will continue to fight to protect the sanctity of life. I speak for all of my colleagues when I say I was deeply disturbed by reports and video of an organization engaging in such grotesque and inhumane practices. I will be working with House Committees to investigate the claims made by the employee. We should all agree that no life is expendable, and our society has no place for such callous indifference to life.”

Leading pro-life advocates said they appreciated the job Boehner did as Speaker.

Carol Tobias, President of National Right to Life responded to his resignation and told LifeNews: “Speaker John Boehner has been a dedicated ally in the fight to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. Throughout his career in the U.S. House, and most especially his tenure as speaker, he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the cause of life. All of us in the right-to-life movement are grateful to Speaker Boehner for his leadership in our common cause of working for the day when all members of the human family are protected by our nation’s laws.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List added: “During his time as speaker we’ve seen an unprecedented level of pro-life activity.”