I have been a Ron Paul supporter ever since I happened upon his fledgling campaign in 2008. I remember my very socially conservative family, each of whom was supporting Huckabee, insisited that because Ron Paul is a "libertarian," he is therefore in favor of unrestricted abortion. As I pointed out to them then, not only had he won the support of "Jane Roe" in 2008, but also his pro-life record in Congress is impressive (although admittedly, not perfect in the minds of many because he is deeply committed to constitutional principles, which have in some cases been violated by legislation put forward by the pro-life movement). In fact, he is the only one that has truly put his money where his mouth is when it comes to abortion—from what I understand, in every session he has held office, he has introduced legislation to remove jurisdiction from the federal courts on abortion-related cases, which would effectively nullify Roe v. Wade and give the power back to the states, many of which still have laws on the books outlawing abortion. To add to that, since 2005, his Roe nullification legislation (named The Sanctity of Life Act each session) has included language that defines personhood at conception.
(On a side note, surprise! there are no co-sponsors for his bill introduced in March 2011. The last session there were only three co-sponsors. The session before that there were five. Makes you really feel like all those politicians who talk so much about pro-life issues want to keep it a campaign issue, doesn’t it?)
This year—and this campaign—is no different. Social conservatives are still a little uneasy about Ron Paul, and just as it was in 2008, they have no cause to be. The National Right to Life recently came out with their scorecard for the 112th Congress. Not surprisingly, Ron Paul scored a 100%, just like he did in the 111th Congress. He is also one of only a few candidates to have signed the Susan B. Anthony List’s pro-life pledge. And then the Ron Paul campaign released the ad below today, which was appropriately described by the folks at Hot Air:
"Paul comes across as so poignantly sincere when he speaks on the subject of life that it’s hard for me to believe this video is just a ploy for votes. Frankly, I wish more campaign ads were like this one — quiet encapsulations of important convictions."
This, of course, is an issue that is at the top of the priority list for this person of faith, but it is only one of many reasons why I still believe that Ron Paul is the best man for the presidency at this critical time in our nation’s history.