Since many social conservatives are looking for an alternative to the 2008 Republican frontrunners, the other candidates will be under pressure to prove their pro-life bona fides. Mitt Romney has been under such scrutiny for some time. Now, as the Prowler points out, questions are being raised about Tom Tancredo.
Tancredo is the major politician most closely associated with the immigration-reform/restrictionist movement. Some of the older organizations in that movement were founded in part by environmentalists and zero-population growth types. The latter group includes people who support abortion and expanded access to birth control as well as reduced immigration levels. In recent years, however, this issue has been more prominently championed by such pro-life stalwarts as Phyllis Schlafly and Pat Buchanan.
Yet it is worth looking at Tancredo’s abortion voting record in the House. His most recent National Right to Life Committee rating is 100 percent; his NARAL and Planned Parenthood scores are 0. His lowest NRLC rating since 1999 was 91 percent. Whatever the views of some of his supporters, Tancredo has consistently voted the pro-life line in Congress.