Pro-lifers Hail Bush Speech, Selection of Cheney

By Dave Andrusko

August 3 - - Completing a wonderful week for the cause of unborn babies, Texas Gov. George W. Bush used the occasion of his acceptance speech tonight to reiterate his strong opposition to abortion. Bush's nationally televised speech came the night after former Congressman and Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney delivered his maiden speech as Bush's pro-life running mate.

In a strong and steady voice, Gov. Bush, now officially his party's presidential nominee, told delegates to the Republican National Convention, "Most of all, we must teach our children the values that defeat violence. I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life -- the life of the elderly and sick, the life of the young and the life of the unborn." Bush then spoke of adoption and parental notification, adding, to waves of loud applause from delegates, "And when Congress sends me a bill against partial-birth abortion, I will sign it into law."

The selection of the 59-year-old Cheney, who compiled a 100% pro- life voting record between 1979 and 1988, ensures that the American people will have a stark choice between this very pro- life team and a very pro-abortion ticket, led by Vice President Al Gore.

For months, pro-abortion media outlets pounded Gov. Bush with unsolicited advice: choose a "pro-choicer" for the number two slot. Over and over the message was this would give "balance" to the ticket. Of course, there was nary a peep that the Democrats should "balance" the dyed-in-the-wool pro-abortion Gore with a pro- lifer.

Bush held his own counsel and then selected a man who first cut his political teeth as chief of staff to President Gerald Ford in 1975. After his election to Congress in 1978, Cheney quickly rose to a leadership position within the GOP. During the Gulf War he served with distinction as Secretary of Defense.

Naturally, pro-abortionists vigorously attacked Cheney. But writing in the July 31 New York Times, Ford and 1996 GOP presidential nominee Robert Dole pointed out that, "Oddly enough, some of those who were quickest to rush to the microphones last week to indict Mr. Cheney for 20-year-old votes he cast as Wyoming's congressman had in earlier times complimented his distinguished record of leadership in the Pentagon." They also wrote that while "polls are notoriously fickle," the "early opinion surveys indicate widespread approval of the governor's choice."

What made the savage attacks on Cheney even more transparently political--and hypocritical--is, as National Right to Life pointed out, that Gore's and Cheney's voting records were remarkably similar on abortion during the six years they served together in the House of Representatives.
During the years 1979-84, there were 17 roll calls on the House floor on significant abortion-related issues. On the 14 roll calls for which both Cheney and Gore were present, they voted the same 13 times. The only exception was the November 15, 1983, vote on the "Equal Rights Amendment, (ERA)," which Gore supported and Cheney opposed. [See the story on pages 20-21 for a complete rundown.]

During his time in Congress, Cheney expressed support for a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution to guarantee the right to life of all human beings, regardless of their stage of development. (However, no such amendment came to a vote during his tenure in the House.) In 1988, Mr. Cheney was a co-sponsor of the "President's Pro-Life Bill" (H.R. 1729), which expressed disagreement with Roe v. Wade and which would have permanently banned federal funding of abortion, except to save the life of the mother.

As mentioned above, in 1983, Cheney voted against House approval of the proposed federal "Equal Rights Amendment," partly on the basis of the House Democratic leadership's refusal to permit consideration of an "abortion-neutral" amendment to prevent the ERA from being used as a pro-abortion legal weapon. (The validity of Cheney's concerns were borne out by later court decisions that involved ERAs enacted by various states. This was best illustrated by a unanimous 1999 ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court, holding that the state's ERA required it to fund elective abortions.)

Like Al Gore, on June 26, 1984, Mr. Cheney voted in favor of the Siljander Amendment to amend a federal civil rights bill to say that "the term 'person' shall include unborn children from the moment of conception."

Cheney also expressed opposition to any legislation that would facilitate or permit assisted suicide.
It would be hard to imagine a more down-the-line pro-life running mate for Gov. Bush than Richard Cheney.