U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, who represents Minnesota's 8th District (a large area that encompasses northeastern Minnesota) in Congress, will retire at the end of the current term. The election to fill his seat on Nov. 6 pits Joe Radinovich against Pete Stauber.
They have staked out sharply different positions on the right to life.
Radinovich calls abortion 'health care,' gets abortion industry endorsement
Radinovich spent two years in the state Legislature and produced a mixed record. He voted in favor of taxpayer funding of abortion. Abortion practitioners bill Minnesota taxpayers about $1 million each year for several thousand elective abortions. Radinovich also voted against measures to prevent mandatory abortion coverage in MNsure health plans.
After leaving office, Radinovich worked as campaign manager for Rep. Nolan, a strong supporter of abortion in Congress.
Now Radinovich is making his own run to replace Nolan. His campaign website calls the killing of human beings in utero "health care" and says, "Now, more than ever, we need to fight to protect women’s right to choose [abortion]." He has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading practitioner of abortion.
Radinovich declined to return MCCL's candidate questionnaire.
Stauber says every life is worthy
By contrast, Pete Stauber, a retired police officer and current county commissioner, provided a 100 percent pro-life response to MCCL's candidate questionnaire. On his website, he pledges to "always be a strong and constant voice for the right to life."
Earlier this year, in recognition of World Down Syndrome Day, Stauber wrote an article about his son Isaac, who has Down syndrome. "Every day with Isaac is a cause for celebration," he says, "whether he is surprising us with something new he learned or the happiness and joy he brings into every room he walks into."
Stauber responded to a then-recent article by the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus, who wrote that she would have aborted a child diagnosed with Down syndrome.
"Being different shouldn't be a crime punishable by death. After all, we are all different," Stauber writes. "I support life from conception to natural death and I will fight the rhetoric that one person's life is not worthy just because they are not what we thought we wanted."