Former Texas Governor Rick Perry brought his pro-life values to the National Right to Life convention in New Orleans, Louisiana today and he told the audience about his long and distinguished pro-life record protecting unborn children from abortion. He said the most important thing he would do as president is to put good judges on the Supreme Court.
Perry talked about the remarkable journey he’s been blessed to be on that ultimately put him in a position to do something about abortion. He said he originally wanted to be a veterinarian but that God, in his “remarkable sense of humor” led him to politics instead.
“The privileges and freedoms we have are so special and our founding fathers understood this so well– that the rights that we have come from God and not fro government,” he said. “And the most basic right that we have emanates from our Creator and it is that unalienable right to life. We stand firmly on the principle that from conception until the last breath is drawn, life is sacred.”
Perry also took on pro-abortion Obamacare and told the pro-life audience that the states can do a better job at delivering better health care to people than the federal government.
“Success isn’t how many people are forced to buy health care insurance but how many people have access to good quality health care,” he said.
That matters, Perry said, because better access to health care is important for pregnant women and unborn children who may not be able to afford to have good prenatal care for themselves and their babies.
Governor Perry said he is most proud of his pro-life record as governor of Texas.
“I’m really proud of what we did to protect life,” Perry said. “I signed a parental consent law I sighed an ultrasound law so mothers facing that agonizing choice can actually see. And I know that it works. On my iPad, there is that 20 week picture of my first grandkid. And her mother understands now the most preciousness of life, that that’s not a mass or something that ca be discarded. You see it right there in those beautiful toes and that beautiful nose and mouth. I’m not sure there’s been a more powerful tool in the great repiotiire of technology than that sonogram to protect the life of the innocent in America.”
He said his pro-life record as president would be one where his record would exceed his rhetoric — “this will be a show me presidency.”
Perry said the pro-life movement was successful in Texas because the opposition is attempting to use the courts to overturn the pro-life laws he signed.
“We must pick a candidate to be our nominee who not only will win but who understands how to pick credentialed conservatives to the United States Supreme Court,” Perry said. “Our record is not pure” on picking good justices, he said of previous presidents.
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Perry said he picked six of the 9 justices on the Texas Supreme Court and said they are credentialed conservatives.
“I don’t do squishy,” he said.
Perry said the pro-life movement must also seek out women who have been injured by abortion and let them know there is healing and forgiveness.
“As long as Roe v. Wade is the law of the law we must stop abortion one pregnancy at a time, one woman at a time and I challenge you to do that,” he said. “There is no such thing as a unwanted child in God’s eyes.”
When it comes to his record on pro-life issues, Perry was a consistent pro-life leader who went to bat numerous times for the cause of unborn children. In 2013, Perry signed a ban on late-term abortions into law.
“Today’s signing builds on our continued commitment to protecting life for more than a decade. This is an important day for those who support life and the health of women in Texas,” Perry said. “Signing HB2 further solidifies the foundation on which the culture of in Texas is built.”
“HB2 brings improvements to the quality of care women receive,” Perry added. “HB2 protects unborn babies after the fifth month of pregnancy.”requires a doctor providing abortions to secure admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and lastly, requires a doctor to personally administer the abortion-inducing drugs to the patient.
After the Texas House voted, Perry issued a statement saying: “The tremendous outpouring of support for this legislation has demonstrated how Texas stands for life, and I commend everyone who wore blue, turned out and spoke up in support of life in our state. Now is not the time to waver, however, as the Senate continues its important work in support of women’s health and protecting the lives of our most vulnerable Texans.”
Perry issued a call for a special session of the Texas legislature to pass the bill that a pro-abortion mob and Wendy Davis’ filibuster prevented the legislature from passing.
“I am calling the Legislature back into session because too much important work remains undone for the people of Texas. Through their duly elected representatives, the citizens of our state have made crystal clear their priorities for our great state,” Perry said.
“Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn. Texans want a transportation system that keeps them moving. Texans want a court system that is fair and just. We will not allow the breakdown of decorum and decency to prevent us from doing what the people of this state hired us to do.”
Before that, Perry delighted pro-life advocates when he made a bill to allow women to see an ultrasound of their baby before an abortion one of his legislative priorities.
“It’s pretty hard to imagine people of good conscience sitting idly by through this, and in Texas we haven’t,” he said, saying the Supreme Court decision to allow virtually unlimited abortions, Roe v. Wade, is a “tragedy.”
That made it easier for the legislation to move through the legislative process after having been stalled for years, and Perry ultimately signed the pro-life bill into law. When used in pregnancy centers, ultrasounds convince more than 80 percent of women considering an abortion to keep their baby or consider adoption.
“Governor Perry was pleased to sign this important legislation, which bolsters our efforts to protect life by ensuring Texans are fully informed when considering such an important decision,” said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for the governor.
Days before signing the ultrasound legislation, Governor Perry signed into law the Choose Life license plate bill giving Texas motorists a life-affirming option on their vehicles. Under the legislation, motorists would be able to purchase Choose Life license plates to express their pro-life views and help support programs helping pregnant women.
Perry has not only signed legislation but he has frequently stepped up to the plate to raise funds for pro-life efforts — including supporting Heroic Media, a group that spread the pro-life message via television and radio advertising. During a fundraising event, Perry joined in on exposing Obama’s pro-abortion record and focused on him overturning the Mexico City Policy and forcing Americans to pay for funding groups that promote and perform abortions overseas.
“America is in the business of exporting abortion. I’m not happy about that,” Perry said and, saying of unborn children, “Too bad we can’t protect them from the federal government.”
Perry’s record has earned the support and praise from pro-life Texas leaders like Joe Pojman of Texas Alliance for Life, whose group endorsed him in his bid for re-election saying he “has passionately supported laws protecting unborn babies and their mothers.”
“Texas needs a leader who is unrelentingly pro-life,” Pojman said. “Unlike his opponent, Governor Perry has never given an inch to the life-threatening precepts of Roe v. Wade, whether verbally or by his actions as an elected official. He is a loyal advocate for the protection of unborn babies and their mothers, and TAL is eager for him to continue his dedicated and effective leadership of our state.”
Colleen Parro, the former head of the Republican National Coalition for Life, previously told LifeNews.com that Perry has always been on the side of pro-life advocates.
“Governor Perry has been a supporter of pro-life legislation and has signed into law whatever pro-life bills were passed by the Texas legislature,” Parro says.
Perry supported the Woman’s Right to Know Act (2003), the Prenatal Protection Act (2003), the parental consent law (2005), and funding for alternatives to abortions (2005, 2007, 2009). Perry also signed a bill that allows criminals to be prosecuted for killing or injuring unborn children during the course of an assault against a pregnant woman.
“Governor Perry’s signature on these pro-life bills marks history for Texas women, their health, and their unborn children,” Elizabeth Graham of Texas Right to Life told LifeNews.com at the time. Graham said Texas Right to Life worked closely with Perry on the legislation and the bills had his strong support throughout the legislative process. “Governor Perry recognized the deficiency in Texas that the unborn children of pregnant women were not protected under Texas law,” Graham explained.
In addition, Gov. Perry has also strongly endorsed public funding for adult stem cell research. He has opposed embryonic stem cell research, which has developed no treatments or cures and requires the destruction of human embryos.
