Heath Shuler: Rare pro-life Democrat in Congress

May 12, 2008
by Tom Strode

Excerpt:
Despite his status in a party that is overwhelmingly committed to abortion rights, Shuler, a Southern Baptist, says he feels no pressure to conform when a vote on a "life" issue approaches.

"They know who I am, how I stand, and they never ask any questions," he told Baptist Press. "They can go find someone else to push on, because they know they'll never get it out of me."

Even some of the leading pro-life Republicans rated no better than 85 percent in NRLC's 2007 ratings. New Jersey's Chris Smith -- widely considered the pro-life leader of the House -– along with Ohio's Steve Chabot and Virginia's Frank Wolf all received scores of 85. Like Shuler, they voted for a Medicare prescription bill that NRLC opposed because it believed the measure would prevent the elderly from spending their own money on drugs.

Shuler, though, extends his pro-life stance beyond such issues as abortion, embryonic stem cell research and cloning. To be pro-life, for him, means voting for government proposals in support of prescription benefits for the old and health care for the young. Also unlike many conservative Republicans, he has declined to endorse a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, though he opposes "gay marriage." the rest image