Thursday, March 18, 2010

Political switch and Northern KY Right to Life

I have been in "mourning" since Bill Johnson withdrew from the senate race here in Kentucky. I have been quietly doing some research and became quite appalled when I saw that my local pro-life organization, Northern Kentucky Right to Life(NKRTL) is endorsing Rand Paul for senate. This was quite shocking since Trey Grayson received an endorsement from Kentucky Right to Life recently. NKRTL has been a hotbed of controversy here in recent years. I have generally supported them(both here and financially) but after this endorsement, I will no longer do so. I am dismayed that good Catholics and pro-life activists from Northern Kentucky can support such an individual. I will be voting for Grayson in the primaries(yes, my heart is still with Johnson but KY needs our votes since primary turnout is usually quite weak).
For those in Kentucky that will have a voice in the primary, here is the deal. Did you know Rand Paul supports women using the morning after pill?
Middlesboro Daily News: What about instances of rape or incest or where the outcome may not be death, but severe medical problems for the mother or child. Do you think that in these cases the decision should be left to the government rather than the families? Paul: In cases of rape, trying to prevent pregnancies is obviously the best thing. The morning-after pill works successfully most of the time. Ultimately we do better if we do have better education about family planning. With partial-birth abortion, there were five women who testified that it threatened their life. It wasn’t completely true in all cases. They were non-viable babies. They were babies with awful genetic mutations that were not going to survive, and I tend to think we let nature take its course. (Lorie Settles, "US Senate Hopeful Rand Paul Visits Middlesboro," The Middlesboro Daily News, 1/26/10)

This disgusts me. Next, he has a socially liberal agenda. He can't even tell us how he will vote on social issues once in office:

"Libertarian would be a good description," Rand Paul told CNN, "because libertarians believe in freedom in all aspects of your life – your economic life as well as your social life as well as your personal life." (CNN’s Political Ticker, 5/4/2009)

Standard libertarian fare is freedom on recreational drugs, prostitution, gay marriage, free speech(to the extent that our national defense would be vulnerable) and the list goes on. Paul knew he couldn't win a race as a libertarian in KY so hijacking the GOP here as if he owns it has become the norm. He has also flip-flopped on The Patriot Act, closing Gitmo and other items that threaten our national defense.
I hope others who are likely voters in the Kentucky primary will research this well. We need to take back the senate and have KY well represented. As a conservative catholic and American patriot, I have to say thumbs down to Northern Kentucky Right to Life, Sarah Palin, FreedomWorks and all the other organizations who believe they are endorsing a conservative pro-life candidate. If you are going to be throwing endorsements around like free candy to kids, have the sense to do the research, listen to what the "candidate" has said(in print and old interviews) BEFORE they threw their name in the hat. It speaks volumes, people. Rand Paul is a wolf in sheep's clothing and I will not be voting for him(even in the November election). I hope Grayson stays true to the conservative views of his constituents and does us proud. For those out-of-state(readers), make sure you know who you are voting for. Don't just read what they are saying now, look into what they said to the media prior to seeking election. Trust me, it's very telling.

I hope if Johnson comes out to support another candidate that he chooses Grayson.


More tidbits and quotes:


"And on abortion, Paul expressed discomfort with federal laws but said he "probably" would have voted for a federal ban on a procedure that has been called partial-birth abortion by its opponents." (Joe Gerth, The Courier-Journal, 10/19/2009)


"I would introduce and support legislation to send Roe v. Wade back to the states." (Rand Paul Speaking in Paducah, 5/9/2009)


"But he [Paul] was more evasive when it came to some social issues like abortion and gay marriage. He said he believes marriage is between a man and woman but wouldn’t say how he’d vote on such issues in the Senate, instead saying such matters should be left up to states." (Ronnie Ellis, "Paul Touts Fundraising Success, Stakes Positions On Federal Issues," The McCreary County [KY] Record, 10/20/09)


Rand Paul spokesman resigns as controversy swirls over writings

Anyway, you get the picture.

2 comments:

Lisa Graas said...

I'm shocked they endorsed him. Simply shocked. Maybe you should give them a call and ask them to pull the endorsement. I think they would if they knew about the morning after pill. They used to have an official position against that, if memory serves. NRLC doesn't have a position on the morning after pill, but Northern Ky RTL isn't an affiliate of NRLC.

Unknown said...

Dr. Paul was one of the few candidates that answered Northern KY Right to Life’s questionnaire 100% pro-life. After 45 minutes of talking to Dr. Paul the Board was satisfied that we had made the right choice in endorsing Dr. Paul. I just posted our Apr. newsletter nkyrtl.org and the candidate questionnaire and responses we got, as well the the endorsements NKRTL-Pac has made. Hopefully this information will give you insight as to why Dr. Paul was endorsed over Mr. Grayson. The biggest draw back for Mr. Grayson is his refusal to answer our candidate questionnaire. 3 times he has run for office, and 3 times he has refused to answer our questionnaire. Our questionnaire is posted on the web, and the questions we ask are fundamental into understanding where a candidate really stand on the life issues. Mr. Grayson has always dodged these questions, and his latest attempt to provide cover for himself was a letter telling us that he is pro-life. Why would he refuse to answer such fundamental life questions? If he is really a pro-life candidate wouldn't he glad and proud to tell us exactly where he stands on the the issues, but he doesn't.

I know that KY Right to Life endorsed Mr. Grayson back in Feb., and I've asked them to please send me a copy of their questionnaire and his answers to the questions. I've not heard from them. Maybe you've got a copy of that questionnaire, and any right-to-life questionnaire that Mr. Grayson has answered fully from any pro-life organization. If you have please send us a copy, because all our Board would like to see it.


Any faithful supporter of NKRTL knows the battle we went through with the Health Board over their dispensing of the 'morning after pill, and with Bishop Foys with his allowing the EC to dispensed at St. Elizabeth hospital. You know that in our newsletters we've laid out the case for both the morning after pill and the EC as abortifacient drugs. This isn't a matter of Catholic teaching on contraception, but rather letting people know the truth about both of these drugs, and how they both can cause chemical abortions.

In reading question #8 of our candidate questionnaire you realize that we ask the candidates about the use of public funding for these drugs, and Dr. Paul answered the question. Mr. Grayson will not. Dr. Paul is criticized for a supposed statement about the EC, then people turn around and say that Mr. Grayson wouldn't answer the question about EC and the morning after pill because he is not Catholic and it has to do with contraception. To me it seems like they are holding Dr. Paul up to a different standard than they hold Mr. Grayson to.

As far as Mr. Grayson talking with our Executive Board we are open to this and always have been. But, this isn't the first time Mr. Grayson has refused to answer our questionnaire, and if a candidate will not answer fundamental questions about life, then what else are we supposed to base an endorsement on? Mr. Grayson has no pro-life legislative history that we can base an endorsement on. But the questions still remains why is he afraid to tell us exactly where he stands on the issues? Why is he afraid to put in black and white answers down on a piece of paper and state where exactly he stands?

Stan Barczak
NKRTL Executive Director