Republicans Lobbying Pro-Life Congressman Paul Ryan to Run for Speaker of the House
Who will become the next Speaker of the House following pro-life Speaker John Boehner’s retirement and pro-life Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s decision not to run for Speaker is anyone’s guess. The divide between the most conservative members of the House and so-called establishment Republicans is huge but one person’s name keep coming up as a possible Speaker who could bridge the gap between the two: Congressman Paul Ryan.
CNN has more:
Rep. Paul Ryan is telling House Republicans privately he is considering running for speaker, several members say.
Ryan informed several members on the House floor of his deliberations, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, told CNN. Stewart added that he urged Ryan to run, with the Wisconsin Republican replaying that he was “thinking and praying on it.”
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who shocked Capitol Hill by deciding Thursday not to try and succeed retiring Speaker John Boehner, also said Ryan is weighing a run.
“Paul’s looking at it but it’s his decision,” McCarthy said on CNN. “If he decides to do it, he’ll be an amazing speaker but he’s got to decide on his own.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, said that Ryan told him privately he is thinking about it as well. “I think he’s gone from a ‘hard no’ to he knows he has to consider it,” he said.
Ryan has been a strong pro-life advocate during his time in Congress and holds a 100% pro-life voting record. Most recently, Congressman Ryan voted for the House measure that would de-fund Planned Parenthood and the companion bill to ensure the continuing resolutionwould de-fund Planned Parenthood.
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“I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith. Our faith informs us in everything we do. My faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable, of how to make sure that people have a chance in life,” Ryan said during the 2012 presidential debate. “Now, you want to ask basically why I’m pro-life? It’s not simply because of my Catholic faith. That’s a factor, of course. But it’s also because of reason and science.”
“You know, I think about 10 1/2 years ago, my wife Janna and I went to Mercy Hospital in Janesville where I was born, for our seven week ultrasound for our firstborn child, and we saw that heartbeat. A little baby was in the shape of a bean. And to this day, we have nicknamed our firstborn child Liza, “Bean.” Now I believe that life begins at conception,” Ryan continued.
“That’s why — those are the reasons why I’m pro-life. Now I understand this is a difficult issue, and I respect people who don’t agree with me on this, but the policy of a Romney administration will be to oppose abortions.”
When it comes to abortion, Ryan said “the Democratic Party used to say they wanted it to be safe, legal and rare. Now they support it without restriction and with taxpayer funding. Taxpayer funding in Obamacare, taxpayer funding with foreign aid. The vice president himself went to China and said that he sympathized and wouldn’t second guess their one child policy of forced abortions and sterilizations. That to me is pretty extreme.”
“We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people through their elected representatives in reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process should make this determination,” he said.
