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Luksik: Toomey is no pro-lifer
Republican Peg Luksik this week called into question Pat Toomey’s pro-life credentials, taking perhaps her most direct swipe yet at the party’s front-running Senate candidate.
Luksik’s campaign seized on a voter guide issued by the anti-abortion group LifePAC of SouthWestern Pennsylvania, which included Toomey on its list of candidates who oppose abortion rights. Though Toomey has for several years now described himself as staunchly pro-life, he had a more libertarian-style, pro-choice image in the late 1990s. When seeking the party’s nomination for Congress in 1998, he told The Morning Call that while he was personally opposed to abortion, he also didn’t like to see government take that individual choice off the table.
“Abortions should be legal in all circumstances as long as the procedure is completed within the first trimester of pregnancy,” he told the newspaper in a 1998 questionnaire.
By the time he was gearing up to challenge Senator Arlen Specter in the 2004 Republican primary, he had established a position more staunchly opposed to abortion. With the political focus this cycle largely on economic issues and the state’s conservative movement lined up firmly behind him, Toomey has rarely had to confront questions on social issues. But Luksik, a conservative activist who has struggled mightily to cut into Toomey’s considerable support as the presumptive GOP nominee, saw the LifePAC voter guide as a chance to bring the issue back to the surface.
In a letter to the organization’s president, shared with reporters on Monday, she expressed her disappointment. She noted that Toomey said he would have voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and recalled Toomey’s votes in congress to loosen a ban on federal funding for abortions overseas and against abstinence-only education.
“My history on the issue of the sanctity of life is unquestionable, while my opponent’s history should certainly be cause for concern,” Luksik wrote. “You are preparing to distribute tens of thousands of voter guides to your membership that give the illusion that there are two pro-life Republicans running for United States Senate. In fact, there is only one, and it is me.”
Toomey’s campaign declined to comment.
April 28, 2010 at 7:00 am
Tags: Pat Toomey, Peg Luksik
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Change in 2010
Apr 28th, 2010
Pat Toomey isn’t pro-life? Really?
Running for office must be tough. Desperate claims like this from a campaign that has long been dead but refuses to acknowledge it shows the strain that losing puts on otherwise honorable people.
Enough
Apr 28th, 2010
Well he’s not. He’s an opportunistic hypocrite who will say anything to get elected. In the 90s in the Lehigh valley that was being pro-choice. Running in a statewide Republican primary its being pro-life.
The reality is that Toomey really doesn’t believe in anything…except Pat Toomey.
Bill
Apr 28th, 2010
Toomey has backed up his pro-life position by consistently voting pro-life while a member of Congress. I expect the same of him as a Senator. I’m not concerned.
being pro-life
Apr 28th, 2010
The thing is, being pro-life isn’t about what you believe personally. It’s about what you’re willing to do publicly. I am sick and tired of politicians claiming to be pro-life and doing nothing to back that up. Being pro-life personally is a vote getting statement, and it is horrendously offensive. And since when is voting for RU486 pro-life?
Ryan_in_DelCo
Apr 28th, 2010
Peg Luksik is like the crazy aunt most people have. She pops out of the woodwork every few years and does or says something that is more bizarre than the last time she appeared.
I am pro-choice and Toomey is pro-life, but the abortion issue is at the bottom of the list of my concerns. Toomey is getting my vote and support because he is in the right place on the issues that actually matter to me.
Right Wing Guy
Apr 29th, 2010
Ryan in Delco put it well. Peg is crazy.
Greg K., PA
Apr 29th, 2010
Being Pro-Life doesn’t stop at birth. Most people who claim to be Pro-Life aren’t Pro-Life at all, they’re just anti-abortion.
Next time you hear someone claim to be Pro-Life while also supporting capital punishment and war, you should call them out.
Libertarian
May 2nd, 2010
I appreciate the info about Luksik. I didn’t care for Toomey because I’m pro choice. Now I know he’s not quite as radical as Luksik in his viewpoint. My view on government getting involved in the abortion debate is “less government is better”. I don’t want someone else to impose their morals on me. As a Libertarian, I am pro Constitution, fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Why should I care how someone else leads their life if they aren’t harming anyone?
Joe Murphy
May 3rd, 2010
I hear alot of “peg is crazy” on here, but what exactly is crazy about her. I am not a republican, so I cant vote for either one, but what is it that makes Peg crazy and Toomey honorable?
Mommy
May 5th, 2010
Peg is crazy? Clearly you haven’t heard her speak or read her position on the issues. This woman is simply brilliant & we need more like her. As far as Toomey’s allegedly pro-life voting record while in Congress….he voted FOR RU-486, and he’s commented that he would have supported Sonya Sotomayor for Supreme Court. Really pro-life, huh? People, please inform yourself before you vote on May 18th. Toomey is an establishment, politics-as-usual flip flopper.
brian
May 14th, 2010
Glad that Toomey is more pro choice than he has been presented in the past. I can cast a primary vote for him happily.
Smart
May 17th, 2010
It’s a shame that Toomey isn’t strong enough to really be pro-life “Off the Record”. Taking a position for political expediency will come back to bite you in the end!
Smarter
May 17th, 2010
“Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions.”
– Gilbert Keith Chesterton
(1874-1936) British essayist, critic, poet, and novelist
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Gilbert.Keith.Chesterton.Quote.D443