MCCL Sees Only One Pro-Lifer In The CD6 race... And It's Not Tinklenberg

In last week's Weekly Report, we wrote that Sixth Congressional District DFL candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg is pro-life, which is what his campaign told us. We quickly heard from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life executive director Scott Fischbach, who said, "You can call yourself whatever you want. We'll make sure voters know in detail where he stands."

To Fischbach, the Tinklenberg campaign's claim that their guy is pro-life is misleading because Tinklenberg won't restore protection of the unborn by addressing Roe v. Wade.

"Tinklenberg put out rhetoric he knows will play in the district, without committing to life," Fischbach said. Fischbach concedes that Tinklenberg might understand abortion isn't good; however, that's not enough to earn a pro-life label in his book. MCCL's mission is to "restore protection for unborn children and their mothers," and to Fischbach, that requires a commitment to support work that will overturn Roe v. Wade, something Tinklenberg is on record as opposing.

Tinklenberg disagreed with Fischbach's definition of pro-life, describing this limited definition of pro-life as a "punitive, legalistic approach," that has resulted in little progress for children and pregnant women. He considers himself pro-life, and said it is his goal to reduce the number of abortions in the country.

"It is not my mission to eliminate the protection provided in Roe, or criminalize the relationship between a woman and her doctor," Tinklenberg said. To him, there is more to being pro-life than overturning Roe v. Wade. A broader definition is more productive, he said, pointing out that part of protecting the unborn is providing assurance of economic security in the areas of housing, health care and employment, as well as providing quality education on pregnancy prevention.

"I want to end inefficient polarizing debates and start working towards solutions we all can agree on," Tinklenberg said.

Fischbach said Tinklenberg was in a tough spot: To win, he needs to be pro-life; but if he were truly pro-life, support from state and national DFL party groups would diminish.

Tinklenberg again disagreed with Fischbach, saying, "I have no problem sticking up for what I believe. I'm too old to try and impress anybody." He said he aligns himself with the DFL pro-life voices of U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN8) and U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson (MN7). Oberstar currently has a 71% rating on the National Right to Life scorecard, while Peterson garnered 85%. Tinklenberg's opponent, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN6) has a 100% rating.

Tinklenberg has not completed any MCCL candidate questionnaires because he considers MCCL's definition of pro-life to be too narrow. Fischbach said it's because he doesn't want to make a commitment.

"His campaign may try to mislead pro-life voters in the sixth district, but our federal PAC will do what it has to do to make sure pro-life voters know Michelle Bachmann is pro-life and Tinklenberg is not," Fischbach promised.