FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13, 2011
Contact: Ciara Matthews, (202) 223-8073
Results Affirm Importance of Pro-Life Issue in 2012 Election
Washington, D.C. – The Susan B. Anthony List tonight congratulates Ames, Iowa Straw Poll winner Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. The SBA List is also recognizing the other three top performers in the poll, Representative Ron Paul, Governor Tim Pawlenty, and Senator Rick Santorum, noting that all four candidates are signers of its Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge.
“It is no surprise that the top four vote getters of the Iowa Straw Poll are also signers of our Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Pro-life politics have long played a crucial role in Republican primaries and this election cycle will be no different. Republicans understand the importance of defeating President Obama, the most pro-abortion President in history, with a strong leader dedicated to protecting women and unborn children.”
Dannenfelser continued, explaining that because public opinion is more pro-life than ever, the 2012 election will feel the abortion issue influence even more.
“The first ever Presidential Pro-Life Leadership Pledge provides a minimum bar and measuring stick that clearly resonates with voters.”
The Susan B. Anthony List asked all of the declared Republican Presidential contenders to sign its pledge, which commits each signer to the following if elected to the White House:
FIRST, to nominate to the U.S. federal bench judges who are committed to restraint and applying the original meaning of the Constitution, not legislating from the bench;
SECOND, to select only pro-life appointees for relevant Cabinet and Executive Branch positions, in particular the head of National Institutes of Health, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health & Human Services;
THIRD, to advance pro-life legislation to permanently end all taxpayer funding of abortion in all domestic and international spending programs, and defund Planned Parenthood and all other contractors and recipients of federal funds with affiliates that perform or fund abortions;
FOURTH, advance and sign into law a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.
Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Thad McCotter have all signed the pledge while Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Herman Cain have thus far refused to do so.
The Susan B. Anthony, in conjunction with the National Organization for Marriage and the Family Research Council on August 9, launched the Values Voter Bus Tour in Iowa, which traveled to 22 cities in 4 days, covering more than 1,300 miles promoting the importance of social issues in the 2012 Presidential Election. SBA List also launched a three-day radio ad campaign in the state encouraging Iowa Straw Poll voters to cast their ballot for one of the six Republican Presidential candidates who signed its Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge.
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