Free Republic

I have my pro-life credentials. I’ve fought in the trenches, so shut-up. Too many times while in the trenches, Right-to-Life national leaders have been there wiping out our side, handing victory to the pro-aborts. Today, I lament and pray for and with Rep. John Shaddegg (AZ) who knew that if he could have received just a little bit of Right-to-Life’s cooperation, Pelosi’s health care bill would have gone down. Instead, Shaddegg got a Right-to-Life knife in the back. The battle lost in the House over the government health care takeover rests in large part on the shoulders of the national...

Contact: Derrick Jones, National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), 202-423-3329 cell, mediarelations@nrlc.org   WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /Christian Newswire/ -- Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, appearing on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, addressed questions pertaining to the effect of health care legislation on abortion policy. George Stephanopoulos has posted a partial transcript of the exchange on his blog at blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/09/sebelius-president-rules-out-public-funding-for-abortion.html.   What follows is a reaction from Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the national federation of right-to-life organizations: "For months, the President, his staff, and his congressional allies have misrepresented actual...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama's budget recommendations unveiled yesterday are being criticized by the National Right to Life Committee for recommending the re-introduction of taxpayer-funded abortion in Washington, D.C. The White House submission urges the House and Senate to repeal a law known as the Dornan Amendment that prevents tax-funded abortion, except for cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life, in the District of Columbia for several years. Because Congress holds legislative authority over the District of Columbia, the district's budget must be appropriated by Congress through an annual appropriations bill. The White...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Senate on Thursday night rejected an amendment from a pro-life senator that would have provided conscience protection on abortion for doctors and medical centers. The amendment comes at a time when President Barack Obama is considering overturning further protections.Sen Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, sponsored an amendment to the Senate budget bill that would protect the right of conscience for health care workers.His budget amendment was to "protect the freedom of conscience for patients and the right of health care providers to serve patients without violating their moral and religious convictions."However, the Senate rejected the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) will have a special screening of the new documentary, “The Terri Schiavo Story” from Franklin Springs Family Media, at their national convention in June. Additionally, National Right to Life will be endorsing the film in their April edition of the National Right to Life News which is sent out to nearly 400,000 subscribers. NRLC State Organization and Development Director Jacki Ragan stated, “This story is one that pro-lifers ought to review once a year.” The NRLC review of the documentary goes on to say, “The DVD does an excellent job...

This is my closing address at the annual convention of the National Right to Life Committee held last week in Arlington, Virginia.Once again this year, the National Right to Life convention is partly a reunion of veterans from battles past and partly a youth rally of those recruited for the battles to come. And that is just what it should be. The pro-life movement that began in the 20th century laid the foundation for the pro-life movement of the 21st century. We have been at this a long time, and we are just getting started. All that has been...

LifeNews.com Note: Dr. Wanda Franz is the president of the National Right to Life Committee and a former professor of clinical psychology at West Virginia University.The pro-life movement in this country has been very successful in reducing the numbers of abortions and the abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age). In 2005, the abortion rate was down 33% from its peak in 1980/81, the same level it had been in 1974. If the abortion rate had not decreased from its peak value in 1980/81, but simply stayed the same, there would have been 50% more...

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The ABC television network is coming under fire from a leading pro-life group for censoring a political radio ad that criticizes Barack Obama's pro-abortion voting record. National Right to Life hoped to run the ad during the nationally syndicated Sean Hannity radio program. The ad asks Obama when he will apologize for calling the group "liars" for pointing out how he misrepresented his votes in the Illinois legislature against bills that would require medical care for babies who survive failed abortions. Two nonpartisan groups, FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com have verified NRLC's claims as true -- leading...

Several groups are beginning to release voter guides for the upcoming Presidential election. These can be printed and used in church bulletins, etc. National Right to Life: English version: http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparison0909084c.pdf Spanish verson: http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparisonHISPANIC.pdf Also, from American Family Association HTML version: http://www.afa.net/08VG/index.html PDF version: http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08VG_print.pdf

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the Democratic Party officially nominated pro-abortion Senator Barack Obama for president and pro-abortion Senator Joe Biden for vice-president during the third day of their convention in Denver yesterday, the Republican Party Platform Committee, meeting in Minneapolis, adopted the strongest and most explicit support for life ever expressed by a major political party. "We applaud the Republican Party, and especially the members of the platform committee representing grassroots pro-life Republicans across the country, for making such a strong and unequivocal stand supporting life at all stages," said National Right to Life Political Director Karen...

Obama Cover-up on Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Continues to Unravel After Sen. Obama Says NRLC is "Lying" [Note: Full Title too long to be posted, shortened to fit] By Douglas Johnson NRLC Legislative Director WASHINGTON (August 18, 2008, Noon) -- Senator Barack Obama's four-year effort to cover up his full role in killing legislation to protect born-alive survivors of abortions continues to unravel. In the most recent developments, Senator Obama himself, in a videorecorded interview Saturday night with David Brody of CBN News (subsequently broadcast on both CBN and CNN), said three times that National Right to Life was "lying" in...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is harshly accusing a pro-life group of "lying" about his record on abortion as a Illinois state senator, despite compelling evidence on the pro-lifers' side. Obama made the aggressive attack when Christian Broadcasting Network Senior National Correspondent David Brody asked Obama about documentation the National Right to Life Committee recently obtained of a 2003 committee vote on “born alive” legislation that would have required medical officials to give life-saving care to babies who survived abortion. Obama has said again and again he voted against versions of that bill as an Illinois state senator because it...

This was a horrible mistake. The Messiah called the Right to Life Coalition liars-- even though their allegations that Obama did not support born-alive legislation are well documented. The NRLC even found an Associated Press article to back them up. Recently published documents by Jill Stanek prove that in 2003, Barack Obama, as chairman of an IL state Senate committee, voted down a bill to protect live-born survivors of abortion:Here is a copy of the committee roll call vote:The right hand column shows the roll call by which Obama and his Democratic colleagues killed the amended bill - the bill...

Barack Obama Says Pro-Life Group Lying About His Pro-Infanticide Votes Washington, DC -- Barack Obama has some harsh words for a leading pro-life group that has exposed his misrepresentations about his votes against two bills that would have stopped infanticides. Obama goes as far as saying the National Right to Life Committee is lying about his record. At issue are votes Obama cast against a bill that would have made sure babies who survive botched abortions get adequate medical care. Read the complete story: http://www.LifeNews.com/nat4142.html

New documents just obtained by NRLC, and linked below, prove that Senator Obama has for the past four years blatantly misrepresented his actions on the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection bill. Summary and comment by NRLC spokesman Douglas Johnson:  "Newly obtained documents prove that in 2003, Barack Obama, as chairman of an Illinois state Senate committee, voted down a bill to protect live-born survivors of abortion -- even after the panel had amended the bill to contain verbatim language, copied from a federal bill passed by Congress without objection in 2002, explicitly foreclosing any impact on abortion.  Obama's legislative actions in 2003 --...

Last week Doug Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee drew my attention to a previously unnoticed January 2008 article by Terence Jeffrey stating Barack Obama actually did vote against a version of the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act that was identical to the federal version, contrary to multiple public statements Obama or his surrogates have made to rationalize his opposition to the IL bill for the past 4 years. Since then we have found 2 separate documents proving Barack Obama has been misrepresenting facts. In fact, Barack Obama is more liberal than any U.S. senator, voting against...

By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, DC, July 23, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - LifeSiteNews.com sat down with Brian Johnston, Western Director for the National Right to Life Committee for an interview yesterday, in which Johnston stressed that current Democratic Presidential candidate Barak Hussein Obama is even more radical on abortion than Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. “Right now at this moment in history the one thing that in the United States of America every citizen can impact is the destiny of our nation,� began Johnston. “And that is through the Presidential race. The next President is likely going to...

This is my closing address at the annual convention of the National Right to Life Committee held last week in Arlington, Virginia. Once again this year, the National Right to Life convention is partly a reunion of veterans from battles past and partly a youth rally of those recruited for the battles to come. And that is just what it should be. The pro-life movement that began in the 20th century laid the foundation for the pro-life movement of the 21st century. We have been at this a long time, and we are just getting started. All that has been...

Former Senator and Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, a keynote speaker at the group’s convention, said that pro-life supporters should oppose the election of Democratic Senator Obama, an ardent abortion supporter, at all cost. "If Sen. Obama is elected, he will, through Supreme Court and federal court nominations, cause [abortion] to accelerate, and that will bring about changes in this country that no one in the room, and most Americans, want to see," CNS quoted Thompson as saying. "And no one in this room will live long enough to see [the changes] rectified,” he added. Both Thompson and NRLC leaders...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson served as the highlight of the opening ceremonies of the National Right to Life convention Thursday morning. He urged the more than one thousand pro-life activists attending the annual event to stick to their pro-life principles regardless of the wins or losses. Thompson said there “has been a lot of talk about the need for change in this country and this has become Senator Obama’s mantra.” He said Congress is controlled by pro-abortion politicians “so I see the need for great change in this country.” Thompson worried about a change...

Long before Sen. Barack Obama secured the Democratic presidential nomination, the candidate mused about the first thing he would do as president. At a Planned Parenthood gathering in Washington, D.C., last July, Obama told supporters of America's largest abortion network: "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act." The purpose of the pro-abortion legislation—first introduced in the Senate in 1989—is clear: "To prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government with a woman's right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy." The bill has never passed Congress, but...

$10,000 Offer to National RTL From American RTL to Name 'One' Pro-Life Justice PR Newswire Article Last Updated: 05/21/2008 12:53:40 PM MDT DENVER, May 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "American Right To Life is offering attorney James Bopp $10,000 for National RTL," said the group's president Brian Rohrbough, "if he can name a single justice on the current U.S. Supreme Court who has ever acknowledged that the unborn child has a right to life, whether in a majority opinion or a dissent." "A quarter century after Bopp and NRTL refused President Ronald Reagan's offer to work toward federalpersonhood legislation, they have long...

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation’s largest and most influential pro-life organization, has announced the “unanimous” decision by its board of directors to back Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. The decision by NRLC’s board of directors to support the Arizona senator in his bid for the presidency was first made known in a report by LifeNews.com, an independent news agency that “reaches more than 250,000 pro-life advocates each week.” NRLC’s position was later confirmed in an email to The Christian Post, which also received a copy of the passed resolution. “Be it resolved that National Right to...

by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor April 7, 2008 Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The National Right to Life Committee has announced it is supporting eventual Republican nominee John McCain for president. Officials from the prominent pro-life group told LifeNews.com the difference on abortion compared with the pro-abortion Democratic candidates is significant.

"He is pro-life in his heart of hearts, in my opinion," said Rep. Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey Republican and a pro-life movement leader, who said Mr. McCain's commitment stretches back across decades of votes in the House and Senate. "When you contrast him with the alternative and you think about such things as Supreme Court appointments, McCain is a far better choice," said Barbara L. Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, an organization that took Mr. McCain all the way to the Supreme Court over his campaign-finance laws, and won. "From my perspective, I see him as...

Thompson gets National Right to Life endorsement   By Klaus Marre | Posted: 11/13/07 11:22 a.m. [ET] November 13, 2007 Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson (R) received a major boost to his campaign Tuesday with the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee. With his main rivals for the GOP nomination all receiving the endorsement of a prominent figure in Christian conservative circles, the backing of the prominent anti-abortion group is key for Thompson. “In supporting me, those who have worked tirelessly to defend life are supporting a consistent conservative who has stood with them yesterday, who stands...

The Legacy of Judas: National Right to Life Contact: Donna Ballentine, 888-888-2785 MEDIA ADVISORY, Dec. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Brian Rohrbough, President, American RTL: Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. In 1981, after president Ronald Reagan agreed he would sign federal personhood legislation for the unborn, National Right to Life and their longtime...

A Minnesota anti-abortion organization has endorsed former Senator and TV star Fred Thompson for president. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life says the Republican earned the endorsement with his consistent opposition to abortion. The group says he opposed using tax dollars to pay for abortion and certain kinds of stem cell research. The National Right to Life Committee announced its endorsement for Thompson about a month ago.

Today Senator Fred Thompson received the endorsement of the California ProLife Council. "There are so many pro-life candidates in the race," said Lawrence Lehr, PAC Chairman. "But Fred Thompson is clearly the one, consistently pro-life candidate with the ability to win in November. It is important that pro-life voters rally around a candidate that can make a difference." The California ProLife Council is the state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee. CPLC is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian grassroots organization dedicated to the cessation of the perceived need for abortion, euthanasia and infanticide. California ProLife Council believes this goal...

Vermont Right to Life is the latest statewide pro-life organization to back Fred Thompson's bid for the Republican nomination for president. Their endorsement follows on the heels of those from state pro-life groups in West Virginia, New York, Wyoming, and Wisconsin. In a statement sent to LifeNews.com, Sharon Toborg, treasurer of the Vermont Right to Life Political Committee, says the endorsement reflects Thompson's consistent pro-life views and his ability to win the nomination and general election. “It is great that so many candidates in the Republican Primary are pro-life and have been strong friends of the pro-life effort," she said....

COLUMBIA, SC (AP) - The South Carolina affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee has endorsed Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson. South Carolina Citizens for Life on Wednesday praised the former Tennessee senator's voting record on abortion issues. In a news release, the group cited Thompson's vote against so-called partial-birth abortion and his stance for adult stem cell research but not embryonic stem cell research. Thompson has touted his anti-abortion voting record during his campaign. He has already been endorsed by the committee's national group.

This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone November 14-18, 2007, among a random sample of 400 Iowans likely to vote in the Republican caucus. The results have a five percentage point margin of sampling error. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, Pa. *= less than 0.5 percent --snip-- 4. (FOR SCREENING PURPOSES) If the caucuses were being held today, would you attend the (Democratic Party caucus) or the (Republican Party caucus) in your precinct? Democratic caucus Republican caucus 11/18/07 0 100 7/31/07 0 100 5. If the Republican caucus were being held today, and the...

Here’s something for the really hardcore, political geeks. Fred’s first Iowa mailer. http://bp1.blogger.com/_5d_fpdUHmxc/R0MC_gjyK1I/AAAAAAAAAhw/ep7W574fYPc/s1600-h/dont+compromise.jpg Much talk is about campaigns’ tv commercials but in Iowa mailers are very important. Disclaimer: I work for Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc.

Huckabee: Abortion Not States' Call Sunday, November 18, 2007 3:01 PM Article Font Size WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee rejects letting states decide whether to allow abortions, claiming the right to life is a moral issue not subject to multiple interpretations. "It's the logic of the Civil War," Huckabee said Sunday, comparing abortion rights to slavery. "If morality is the point here, and if it's right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong." "For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you...

FLIP FLOP ALERT! FLIP FLOP ALERT! CALLING ROMNEY OPPO TEAM! Earlier today, we linked coverage of The Huckster on Fox News, where he couldn't have been clearer that he opposes a state-by-state solution to abortion. This is to differentiate himself from Fred Thompson, who's taken that approach and thus, in effect, would permit abortion to remain legal in at least some states, regardless of how the Bush court might rule someday on Roe v. Wade. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee rejects letting states decide whether to allow abortions, claiming the right to life is a moral issue not subject to...

Make no mistake about it - when the nation's largest pro-life group endorsed Fred Thompson on Tuesday its goal was to shake up the Republican contest for the presidency. The National Right to Life's endorsement is the gold standard coveted by those Republicans seeking the White House because it bestows a legitimacy and authenticity on the candidate who receives it as the standard-bearer for those who want to end abortion on demand. The Thompson endorsement not only signals how the organization representing 3,000 pro-life groups has grown up, but it shows just how close the country is to seeing Roe...

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee Senator and Law & Order actor, slammed Mitt Romney for supporting and signing into law the Massachusetts Health Plan that allows for women to have an abortion with no restrictions for a $50 co-pay. Columnist David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, whose founder Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate, for president, analyzes the contradictions of Romney’s abortion stance. Brody writes that “the problem that Romney continues to have on abortion is that it’s hard for him to criticize Giuliani, Thompson or anybody else on the issue because he has his...

Fred Thompson and the NRLC It is interesting that the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has chosen to endorse Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, a man who once offered legal advice to a pro-choice group, voted against key pro-life issues in the Senate and now espouses convoluted reasons for rejecting constitutional protection of the unborn. ... Recently, Mr. Thompson refused to support a constitutional amendment that would protect innocent life by restricting the availability of abortions. The sanctity-of-life amendment was a core plank in the Republican Party's 2004 election platform, and yet Mr. Thompson said he could not support...

A new Gallup poll of the national Republican race shows Rudy Giuliani's support slipping to its lowest level since before he entered the race. The survey of self-identified Republicans and Republican leaners has Giuliani leading the GOP contest with 28 percent – down from 34 percent in the Gallup survey taken two weeks ago. Fred Thompson is second with 19 percent, John McCain is third with 13 percent, Mitt Romney is fourth with 12 percent, and Mike Huckabee is fifth with ten percent. Giuliani's support reached its highest point in Gallup polls, 49 percent, in March. In the months since,...

The Romney campaign may be disappointed because they didn’t get the endorsement from National Right to Life but maybe the organization had a look at the following videotape. If you go about three and a half minutes in, Romney is seen distancing himself from being endorsed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life during a debate while he was running for Governor in 2002. He didn’t want any part of that endorsement at the time. Watch the video here. This video has been out before but I bring it up because in it, he’s speaking directly to the endorsement issue and arguing...

I've talked to several campaigns and I've talked to NRLC sources... -snip- Thompson himself, I'm told, persuaded the NRLC in writing, giving himself very little room to later go squishy. I'm told he made several points that really stood out to them. One of the NRLC guys said they really liked seeing in writing, from Thompson, one point that I have been harping on as well. Thompson apparently made the case that candidates saying they'd appoint originalist judges was not enough. Thompson said the President needed to make sure key executive appointments who could affect abortion policy did, in fact,...

Fred Thompson received the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee on Tuesday and a surrogate for the campaign of Mitt Romney claimed Wednesday that it was motivated by money. Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, says he can't find any other explanation. National Right to Life officials said Tuesday they backed Thompson because of his 100 percent voting record on pro-life issues, his willingness to back overturning Roe and the viability of his campaign. But Weyrich, a Romney backer, told the Washington Times the endorsement "makes no sense" and claimed the Thompson campaign bought off the...

Responding to the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Fred Thompson, Paul Weyrich suggested that Thompson's backers greased some palms. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," Weyrich told the Washington Times. That's a pretty tough charge and almost certainly not what Romney's campaign wanted their big social conservative "get" to suggest (at least not publicly). Sensing opportunity to win more points from their own big "get" (the group's nod) Thompson communications director Todd Harris unloaded: "Gov. Romney is new to the pro-life movement and his...

Executive Director of the National Right To Life will be on Hugh Hewitt's 3rd hour. www.krla870.com should be interesting

Citing a pro-life voting record and electability, the nation's largest pro-life organization endorsed Republican Fred Thompson for president Tuesday. The endorsement by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) comes just weeks after Thompson said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he opposes "criminalizing" abortion and that he does not support the call for a pro-life amendment to the Constitution in the Republican Party platform. Thompson campaign spokesman Darrell Ng told Cybercast News Service that Thompson has since clarified his remarks and does not favor changing the platform. Thompson has had a 100 percent pro-life voting record during his eight...

I feel comfortable saying, based on conversations with NRLC members, that Jim Bopp's attack on Sam Brownback did not help the Romney team with the NRLC. Paul Weyrich coming unglued and accusing Thompson of bribing NRLC for their endorsement is really not going to help Romney at the grassroots level. Weyrich can say what he wants, but (a) it's not true and (b) it's not helpful. I would suggest that if they don't think Thompson is a threat, the Romney camp might not want to get bogged down on this. The latest poll numbers in Iowa and South Carolina are...

Some pro-life advocates were astonished by the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson yesterday — a move they say puts politics over principle. Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. "In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life,...

McLean, VA - On the heels of strong grassroots showings in Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Ft. Mill, Spartanburg and Greenville, Fred Thompson is officially announcing his statewide Campaign Chair, several regional leaders and 27 county chairs and co-chairs in 19 counties across the state. Congressman Gresham Barrett (SC-03) has been named Statewide Campaign Chair and will help lead Thompson's effort in South Carolina along with Thompson's Steering Committee, chaired by Major General James E. Livingston, USMC (Retired), and Regional Chairs. "Senator Thompson is a consistent conservative leader with a solid record in supporting life, fighting illegal immigration and defending the Second...

Today’s Washington Times has a bit of an eye-opening comment, high in its story of the reaction to the National Right to Life Committee’s endorsement of Fred Thompson. Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. "In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life, and...

When the National Right to Life Committee endorsed Fred Thompson for president this week, their news conference was less announcement than cri de coeur — not just from this group but from the whole social conservative movement. No one could miss the irony in the choice of Thompson or in the justifications offered for that choice by NRLC executive director David O'Steen. Here was the nation's largest and best known anti-abortion organization embracing a candidate who had just told NBC's Tim Russert that he did not support the Human Life Amendment — the centerpiece of the NRLC legislative agenda for...