Pro-life advocates blast Pat Robertson for Rudy Giuliani endorsement
Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
November 8, 2007

The reaction from the pro-life community to Pat Robertson's endorsement of pro-abortion ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani for the GOP nomination for president has been strong. Several pro-life groups and leaders issued statements Wednesday and Thursday saying Robertson has "sold out" the pro-life movement.

The evangelical leader said he backed Giuliani because of other political issues -- most particularly his leadership after the terrorist attacks and against Islamic extremism.

But pro-life advocates say Giuliani's position in favor of legalized abortion and his long record opposing any limits on the practice outweighs any other political considerations.

"Pat Robertson is leading pro-family voters astray by abandoning moral standards for government," Campaign for Children and Families president Randy Thomasson told LifeNews.com.

"This shocking news is a 180-degree turn by the founder of the Christian Coalition. Pat Robertson is casting a blind eye to Rudy Giuliani's big-time advocacy" of abortion, Thomasson said.

Phoenix attorney John Jakubczyk, the former president of Arizona Right to Life, joined in as well.

"I think a lot of people are going to abandon Pat Robertson," Jacubczyk told KTAR. "A lot of people who have in the past held him in respect are going to be questioning his judgment."

The pro-life advocate said he had problems with Giuliani not only because he supports legal abortion but because he won't put his so-called personal opposition to abortion into policy.

"If he says, personally, he's opposed to abortion, then why shouldn't he want the law to reflect protection for innocent human life?" Jacubczyk asked. "I find a certain hypocrisy not only with the liberal candidate who says `I'm personally opposed, but,' but also with the conservative candidate who says `I'm personally opposed, but.'"

Robertson said he also backed Giuliani because the ex-mayor will appoint strict constructionist judges, but Jacubczyk is not sold on that.

"What he (Giuliani) has told all the social conservatives is that `you can trust me to tell the truth because I will appoint conservative judges and that's what it's all about,'" Jacubczyk said. "From my perspective, it's more than that. It's about having a candidate who has a consistent respect for human life across the board."