In making the endorsement, National Right to Life considered the positions of the candidates on the life issues, their records on the life issues and their ability to win.

Fred Thompson has had a strong, consistent pro-life record throughout his political career.  Thompson opposes abortion and believes the 1973 abortion on demand Supreme Court decision was wrongly decided and must be reversed.  During his eight years in the United States Senate, he always opposed using tax dollars to promote or pay for abortion and supported the many pro-life measures that came before the Senate, such as parental notice and consent.

Thompson has also stated his opposition to the kind of stem cell research that requires killing human embryos, while supporting the kind of stem cell research that harms no one and is the only kind producing treatments and cures.

Since announcing his candidacy in September, Fred Thompson has run second only to pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination in the overwhelming majority of national polls.  As pro-lifers throughout the nation begin to unite behind his candidacy, he will be well positioned to win the nomination and the presidency.

This endorsement is the first by a national grassroots organization in the Republican presidential primary.   Unlike endorsements by individuals, this endorsement was made by representatives of statewide pro-life organizations across America which themselves are comprised of local community chapters and grassroots activists.

The compressed nature of the primary schedule, which has more than half of the states completing their primaries and/or caucuses by February 5^th may reduce the influence of the few early states and makes a candidate’s national standing much more important.  Right now Fred Thompson seems well-positioned to win some early states, such as South Carolina.

Our goal is to protect the lives of unborn children and a human life amendment would be one tool to help achieve that goal. But the reality is, it would take a change of 25-30 Senate seats to even pass a Human Life Amendment out of the U.S. Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required --  not to mention, the required two-thirds vote in the U.S. House and three-fourths of the states to ratify.  It’s very, very unlikely to happen in the next presidential term, and the president does not have a vote in the amendment process anyway.  The only way Roe v. Wade will be reversed in the foreseeable future will be through the Supreme Court and Fred Thompson has stated that he will appoint judges who will interpret the Constitution according to its actual text – the kind of judges who will know that abortion is not in the U.S. Constitution.

While we disagreed with him at the time on this issue, it cannot be compared to the life issues, on which for eight years in the Senate he consistently supported National Right to Life’s pro-life positions.   On the campaign reform issue about which we cared the most – the prohibition of issue advocacy messages on radio or television that mention the name of a candidate during blackout periods before a primary and general election--Senator Thompson has acknowledged that those blackout periods haven’t worked and we understand that he no longer supports them.

While we always appreciate and respect the pro-life positions of all pro-life candidates, we examined three factors: the positions of the candidates on the life issues, their records on the life issues and their ability to win.  Senator Thompson was the pro-life candidate who best met all three criteria.  As mentioned, he has, for most of the year, run second in the vast majority of national polls to pro-abortion Rudy Giuliani.

That was in 1991.  Fred Thompson was an attorney working for a Washington, DC law firm and we understand that a member of the firm asked him to meet with this group that was a client of the firm.  He doesn’t remember it, but we understand that he may have met with them and may have made a few calls concerning family planning regulations.  It’s important to note that in the Senate he always voted pro-life so that client certainly didn’t represent his views.  As an attorney, we’re sure he had many clients and you understand an attorney doesn’t necessarily hold the views of the client they represent.  The fact is that Fred Thompson has been pro-life during his entire political career and his votes have consistently represented it.

We don’t know who actually wrote that or the context.  But we do know that in 1994, National Right to Life’s co-executive director Darla St. Martin went to Tennessee to meet with Fred Thompson and discuss pro-life issues and found him to be solidly pro-life.  National Right to Life PAC supported him in 1994 and in his second Senate race and we were never disappointed.

Those were personal endorsements they made and we cannot speak to their rationale.  But the endorsement by National Right to Life represents the first by a national grassroots organization representing pro-lifers across America.  It was made by representatives of National Right to Life’s fifty state affiliates, which themselves are comprised of local community chapters.

Fred Thompson has stated his opposition to the kind of stem cell research that requires killing human embryos, while supporting the kind of stem cell research that harms no one and is the only kind producing treatments and cures.

This endorsement was made by representatives of statewide pro-life organizations across America.  These statewide organizations are themselves comprised of local community chapters and grassroots activists.

We’ve studied the candidates since January and with the primary/caucus process moved forward, beginning January 3^rd and resulting in 26 states having made their decisions by February 5^th, this is hardly early. And it was done after much study and consideration.

The main place you see that is in the press.  But the fact is he has managed to consistently run second to pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani in the vast majority of national polls.  We also believe that this endorsement, which is the first endorsement by a major grassroots organization, will be a significant boost.  As pro-life organizations and people begin to unite behind his candidacy, he will be well positioned to win the nomination and the presidency.

Fred Thompson has stated that he believes these decisions should be made by families.  But he’s also made clear that when patients, or, in cases where the patient’s wishes are unknown, their family want life-sustaining treatment, it should be provided.  In those cases where the family is divided, he believes the benefit of the doubt should be given to life. In the U.S. Senate, Fred Thompson voted against funding assisted suicide.

National Right to Life has never favored criminal penalties for women who have abortions.