Boasts 100% pro-life record in the Senate where he served from 1994 – 2002
By Peter J. Smith
NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 31, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former pro-life Senator and "Law and Order" star Fred Thompson has made it nearly official that he will run for President and join the crowded list of Republicans vying for their party's nomination.
Thompson's campaign and late entry into the race gains much from conservative dissatisfaction with the current pool of Republican candidates. For pro-life advocates especially, front-runners Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) have posed serious concerns, and many have feared former Gov. Mitt Romney's pro-life "conversion" to be too close for comfort.
Thompson announced to the media that he plans to form an exploratory committee, "Friends of Fred Thompson," on Friday to begin raising money and hiring staff for a White House campaign. This will allow Thompson to begin accepting campaign donations June 4.
In a conference call Monday, Thompson told supporters dubbed "First Day Founders" to raise funds and support. The Weekly Standard reports that the June 4 day gives Thompson an added benefit, since news agencies will report on the 1st "impressive one-day haul" on the same day as Republicans debate a third time in New Hampshire, June 5.
The Politico reports sources close to Thompson say he will make an official announcement for the White House on July 4, Independence Day, although that has not been confirmed.
FOX News reported Thompson quit the popular TV series "Law & Order" to focus on his potential 2008 run for the White House.
"We'll go into the testing the waters phase and that will allow us to raise some money and start building a staff to get out there and make sure that what we feel like is going on is going on," Thompson told FOX News. "There's a desire for someone to come in and run a different kind of campaign and come with a different message and address some of the issues our country is facing."
According to the National Right to Life, Thompson boasts a 100% pro-life record in the Senate where he served from 1994 – 2002, and many conservatives have seen Thompson as perhaps the best high profile candidate to represent the pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, and fiscal conservatives of the Republican Party. This makes Thompson a threat to Gov. Mitt Romney, who until his recent performances at the primary debates, was tied for third with the non-candidate Thompson and has had to campaign on his "conversion" to conservative issues.
Thompson did however in 1994 fill out a survey for Project Vote Smart in which he supported legal first-trimester abortion. However Thompson's voting record does not reflect this, and Thompson says his views on abortion deepened greatly after watching a sonogram of his 3 year-old daughter.
Thompson has supported overturning Roe v. Wade calling it "bad law and bad medical science" saying "I don't think the court ought to wake up one day and make new social policy for the country. It's contrary to what it's been the past 200 years."
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"In Cordibus Jesu et Mariae"
