When U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly won in the state of Indiana in 2012, he campaigned as a moderate Democrat with a pro-life stance.
However, his “ensnaring” of pro-life Republican opponent, Richard Mourdock, in a controversial rape comment was what appeared to give Donnelly the victory, according to National Review.
And now, it appears he is trying to do it again.
Pro-life Republican Mike Braun is challenging Donnelly in November. A recent Fox News poll found Braun is behind Donnelly by just 3 percent, making it a very close race.
While Donnelly says he is pro-life, his voting record shows he rarely supports pro-life legislation. In August, Donnelly voted against an amendment that would have defunded Planned Parenthood, which aborts more than 320,000 unborn babies every year. He also voted against a bill that would have replaced Obamacare and defunded Planned Parenthood in 2017.
In contrast, Braun is solidly pro-life. He said he is fully committed to protecting unborn babies and would support a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business.
During a recent debate, Donnelly tried to paint Braun as an extremist on abortion. According to National Review:
With Donnelly’s current opponent gaining steam and narrowing the gap to two percentage points, the Indiana senator hoped to re-create the Mourdock moment in his debate with Braun. “I was on a stage six years ago where they said Richard Mourdock was extreme,” Donnelly said referring to Mourdock’s comments concerning rape. “But Mike is actually more extreme because he thinks he should be in the middle of a decision for your wife or your daughter when their life is at stake.”
The conservative news outlet chided Donnelly for describing Braun as an extremist, while ignoring the pro-abortion extremism within his own party. The Democratic Party platform supports unrestricted abortion for any reason up to birth and taxpayer-funded abortions.
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It noted how Donnelly has never called out pro-abortion party leaders Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer for pushing abortion on demand – an extreme position that most Americans oppose.
It continued:
Braun sees the duplicity, as do pro-life Hoosiers, which is why the Republican challenger wasn’t baited into providing Donnelly the Murdock moment the senator was trying to engineer. Braun instead countered, “You can’t have it both ways, senator, and I’m the one being endorsed by the organizations where they know where your heart is.”
A man whose heart holds firm in the belief of the sanctity of life and who genuinely desires to protect human beings in utero doesn’t attack a fellow pro-lifer for his views on abortion.
Donnelly’s overall voting record on pro-life issues is mixed. For this session, Donnelly voted pro-life just 33 percent of the time, according to the National Right to Life Committee. Most recently, he also voted against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Braun is endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee and Indiana Right to Life PACs, which said he will be a “dependable voice for life in the U.S. Senate.” He supports protections for unborn babies and an end to taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood.
