National Catholic Register Interviews Catholic Presidential Candidate Sam Brownback

Here's an excerpt from the interview, which appears in the Feb. 4-10 edition of the Register:

...What do you see as the most vital battle in the Senate this year, or in this Congress, related to life issues?

Probably on embryonic research. It will be a defensive battle. The president will veto it, but we would hope to maintain at least [enough votes to prevent] a veto override. That will be the biggest issue that will come up. And we’re going to try to bring up a number of issues and force votes on them — on human cloning, we’ll try to put our set of ideas forward on that, as well. There’s also going to be a defensive battle that we’re going to have to try to maintain the prohibition [on patenting human embryos]. That’s an annual appropriations issue. And then we’ll have to fight to protect the conscience clauses [that bar federally funded hospitals from discriminating against medical professionals who refuse to participate in abortions]. We’ve got a lot of defensive battles we’re going to be fighting.


A lot of people wonder after this last election whether the pro-life movement hasn’t fallen back because people are so upset with Republicans and conservative ideas. Do you believe that is the case or not?

Our ideas didn’t get repudiated. Our lack of execution was repudiated. This was an election about the war; it wasn’t about life. Our issues still resonate. But our electorate is such that you have to both run on and believe in ideas. It isn’t one where you run on it and say, “Yeah, I’m with you.” You have to have a depth of conviction. But the country didn’t move ideologically in the last election cycle — it was primarily about the war and corruption.


We may have one more Supreme Court nomination before the next election. Can a nominee who does not swear obeisance to Roe v. Wade get through the Senate as it is composed now?

I think that a John Roberts or Samuel Alito type can get through, but you’re not going to know where they are on Roe v. Wade. I think we can get somebody through that has a conviction to uphold a stricter constructionist view of the Constitution, but it’s going to be a huge fight. It will be very difficult in the Judiciary Committee.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has already said that a few Republican senators — pro-life Republican senators like Mel Martinez of Florida and Mike Crapo of Idaho — would be acceptable choices for the Supreme Court to him. Do you see that happening?

I don’t have a prediction on it. I just know that we can’t give up now. We are potentially within one justice of overturning Roe. And the left in this country is starting to walk away from Roe. They see it’s not in the Constitution, a constitutional right to abortion. They have paid a heavy political price for carrying Roe. I think they’re more of a mind to say, “Let’s take it back to the states; let’s have the fight there.”

(emphasis added)