SNEAK PEEK: Free to Make Decisions

Thompson Wins Backing of Anti-Abortion Group

ByABC News
February 19, 2009, 1:19 AM

November 12, 2007— -- Fred Thompson's effort to present himself as the "consistent conservative" in the G.O.P. race gets a boost Tuesday when he is expected to pick up the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee.

Thompson's opposition to a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution has been criticized by Mike Huckabee as representing "cut and run" more than "stand and lead."

But the backing of the NRLC could give the former Law & Order actor an opportunity to remind voters of his "100% pro-life voting record" during his time in the United States Senate.

It will also give him an opportunity to discuss how the sonogram of his now four-year old shaped his personal views on when life begins.

On the gun control front, the Supreme Court may announce Tuesday whether it has agreed to hear a case that could affect gun control laws nationwide.

At issue is a DC law banning handguns in the home. A lower court ruled last that the law violates Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The ruling created a deep division in the lower courts across the country as a majority of them have found that the Second Amendment protects a state's right to arm militias and not an individual's right to possess a handgun for purely private uses.

Per ABC's Ariane DeVogue, Jan Crawford Greenburg, and Dennis Powell, it has been nearly 70 years since the Court has heard such a case. If the Court agrees to hear the case it will be argued later in the year and will be one of the term's biggest cases.

Rudy Giuliani -- who has voiced support for the pro-Second Amendment lower-court ruling -- spends Tuesday meeting with voters in Glendale, Calif., the heart of California's Armenian community.

On Monday, Giuliani's campaign manager predicted that the former New York mayor will emerge from Feb. 5 with a "triple digit" lead in delegates. LINK

"We are the only candidate on Feb. 5th who has right now a large number of delegates that we essentially can count on," said Giuliani campaign manager Mike DuHaime. "So when you start to look at this," he continued, "most likely, you are looking at the mayor having a triple digit delegate count lead coming out of Feb. 5th."