GOP contender Rick Santorum to headline annual Right to Life banquet

EVANSVILLE — Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who won 11 states during last year’s Republican presidential primary campaign, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Right to Life of Southwest Indiana annual banquet April 18 at The Centre.

Santorum lagged behind in early polls during the GOP primaries, but his campaign picked up steam as some other contenders faltered. He earned a narrow victory in Iowa and later carried 10 more states in the nomination battle won by Mitt Romney.

Santorum is known as a staunch social conservative, and he advocated anti-abortion legislation during his 12 years in the Senate.

“He is 100 percent pro-life and committed to our cause,” said Mary Ellen Van Dyke, executive director of Right to Life of Southwest Indiana.

During his campaign for president, Santorum spoke often of his 4-year-old daughter, Bella, who has a rare chromosomal defect called Trisomy 18.

Santorum’s biography states that Bella’s “miraculous life has only strengthened Rick and Karen’s (his wife) belief in the dignity of each and every life.”

Santorum will be the latest in a string of conservative heavy-hitters to appear at the Right to Life of Southwest Indiana banquets.

Recent keynote speakers have included former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate; former “Growing Pains” actor Kirk Cameron; Pam Tebow, mother of professional football player and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow; and author Michael Reagan, adopted son of former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman.

“We shoot for the stars,” Van Dyke said of banquet speakers. “We work with an agency, and we try to bring in someone we think our members would like to hear.”

Also appearing at the April 18 event will be Steve Amerson, a studio singer who has been heard on the soundtracks of numerous movies, television shows and commercials. He will provide music and also be the event’s emcee.

Listed as a “special guest” is Sammy L. Davis, an Army retiree and recipient of the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam. Footage of Davis’ Medal of Honor award ceremony was used in the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump,” with actor Tom Hanks superimposed over Davis.

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