On the day Sen. Fred Thompson speaks via video to the National Right To Life convention in Kansas City, a rival Republican campaign passes along an article from the Feb. 10, 1995 issue of Human Events, the leading conservative weekly newspaper. It's a mostly positive profile that includes this paragraph:
A Thompson spokesman reminds us that Thompson won the Nat'l Right to Life's endorsement in 1994 and has a 100% pro-life voting record.
He has explained that quote several times. He has said he is not in favor of a FEDERAL law (or a constitutional amendment) outlawing it for the same reason he believes that Roe v.Wade is bad law (and bad science) and should be overturned. It is nothing that the federal government should be involved in. It is consistent with his strong stance on federalism – leave to the states what should be left to the states and only give the federal government the authority originally intended in the constitution (as elucidated by Hamilton, Madison and Jay in the Federalist papers).
The real question for Thompson vis-a-vis pro-lifers is: why does he oppose abortion, and what does the content of his beliefs say about his willingness to actively limit abortion rights as president?
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