The New Hampshire pro-life candidate is who?

By Mark J. Fitzgibbons

Pro-life groups I admire are scrambling to defend their endorsee Kelly Ayotte, the New Hampshire Attorney General and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, against a controversy involving whether she authorized lawsuit settlement payments to Planned Parenthood. I believe the pro-life groups about the controversy.

I am deeply troubled, however, that they endorsed Ms. Ayotte, who she stated she would have voted to confirm Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

The August 2009 vote on the Sotomayor confirmation was 68 to 31. Even at that relatively early stage in the Obama presidency, Bob Bennett, Lisa Murkowski, Pat Roberts and 28 other Republicans -- easily not the most constitutionally conservative bunch we would want in the Senate -- had the wherewithal or sense to vote against confirming Judge Sotomayor.

The National Right to Life said Judge Sotomayor will back abortion rights, but has defended Ms. Ayotte.

Color me confused.

The New Hampshire primary is this coming Tuesday, September 14. This is a year of the anti-establishment candidate, and Ms. Ayotte is the Republican establishment's choice in this race.

Then there's the constitutional conservative, consistently reliable pro-life Ovide Lamontagne.

Ovide is backed by Tea Parties, has surged into second place, and with the endorsement of the Union Leader as "the only proven, true-blue conservative in the race," Ovide's got the momentum.

I don't think the pro-life groups that endorsed Ms. Ayotte picked the candidate who will most consistently vote the constitutional small-government way that protects life from federal government encroachments, including those by pro-abortion federal judges. Candidates tend to get more aligned with the establishment once they get to Washington.

This is one race I hope the pro-life groups lose. I'm pulling for Ovide.