National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association

Do Religious Right Leaders Even Try To Hide Their Hypocrisy?

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 7/7/2010 4:59 pm

Sometimes I wonder if Religious Right leaders have no memory of things they have said and done in the past or just think that nobody else does.

Take, for instance, this recent speech by Richard Land:

Still, Land landed many of his barbs at Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He recalled a moment in the 1990s at a church in Lebanon, Ken., in which he called two deacons who supported Clinton hookers.

“’You’re just prostitutes for sale to the highest bidder,’” Land said he told the deacons. “I’m not for sale. If I’ve got to choose between my pocketbook and unborn babies, I’m going to choose unborn babies every time.”

Does Land not recall the last Republican primary where he was showering Fred Thompson with praise at every opportunity? This Fred Thompson:

During his eight years in the Senate, Thompson consistently voted against abortion rights, but anti-abortion activists say his public record on the subject is not unblemished.

A longtime advocate for states' rights, Thompson has said the federal government should not have a role in the process.

During a televised 1994 Senate debate, a clip of which is available on YouTube, Thompson said, "Should the government come in and criminalize let's say a young girl and her parents and her doctor? ... I think not."

More recently, Thompson has been forced to answer questions about his career as a lawyer/lobbyist, when the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association hired him in 1991 to lobby the administration of President George H.W. Bush on behalf of abortion rights.

When the National Right to Life Committee endorsed Thompson, the group was widely accused to selling out ... but apparently Land has conveniently forgotten all about this little episode

TNR Explains Thompson's Lobbying

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 7/27/2007 2:07 pm

It's not that same as being a lawyer, explains Jonathan Chait: "The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) didn't hire him as a lawyer, it hired him as a lobbyist, and, while there's a constitutional right to the former, it doesn't extend (thank goodness) to the latter. Thompson's job wasn't to defend family planners charged with breaking the law that prohibits federally funded clinics from offering abortion counseling. His job was to persuade the Bush administration to change the law. His value had nothing to do with his legal skills and everything to do with his being the rare prominent Republican willing to represent a pro-choice group."