(This update courtesy of LifeSite News.)
WASHINGTON, November 12, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With a newly increased pro-life presence in both the U.S. House and Senate, the midterm election results have once again shown the ongoing strength of the pro-life movement, according to Cathleen Cleaver, Director of Planning and Information for the Pro-Life Secretariat of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “This election is a victory for the pro-life movement,” Cleaver said. “Two-thirds of the new House members are pro-life, and 20 of the 34 Senate races went to pro-life candidates.”
“Pro-life women also made exciting gains this election: Five out of the seven new women members of the House are pro-life, raising the total number of women in Congress who generally support pro-life measures to 14,” Cleaver said. “Moreover, the strong showing by pro-life voters in close Senate races in Missouri and Minnesota made all the difference,” Cleaver said.
According to Fox News exit polls, in the Missouri Senate race between pro- life challenger Jim Talent and “pro-choice” incumbent Jean Carnahan, 17 percent of voters said abortion was the most important issue. Of this group, 80 percent voted for the pro-life candidate.
In Minnesota's Senate race, 14 percent of voters ranked abortion as the most important issue in the election. Of this group, 81 percent voted for pro-life candidate Norm Coleman over “pro-choice” Walter Mondale.
“Abortion advocacy groups spent enormous amounts of money this election, to little avail,” said Cleaver. “Emily's List, the nation's largest political action committee for 'pro-choice' women candidates, lost all three of the races it endorsed in the Senate, and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League lost more than half of the Senate races it supported.”
Cleaver said that with increased pro-life strength in the new, 108th Congress, the House and Senate should move quickly to pass a real partial- birth abortion ban. In addition, a ban on human cloning is more likely to pass. Both of these issues are priorities for the Catholic bishops, and are measures that President Bush has promised to sign into law.
See also Pro-Life Candidates Win Battle of the Lists and American Voters Enrage The New York Times.
