The GOP primary race for retiring Rep. Darlene Hooley's (D-OR) seat took an interesting turn early this week when it was revealed one of the two self-proclaimed "Pro-Life" candidates paid for a girlfriend's abortion. America, are you paying attention to the lessons in hypocrisy brought to you by the social conservative wing of the GOP? Today, Oregon Right to Life is calling on Mike Erickson (R) to quit the race. But Oregon Right to Life knew about this during his 2006 campaign and sat silent, even after determining the woman's story was "credible."

PolitickerOR had the initial story:

"I was surprised to see that the Mike Erickson, who in 2000 was having wild parties involving cocaine use on his house boat, was running for office," the e-mail states. The author said she was driven to speak out by campaign literature that discussed Erickson's pro-life stance. According to the Mannix campaign, the woman wrote "where were these ideals in the year 2000 when he drove my friend (whom he impregnated) to an abortion clinic in NE Portland, handed her some cash, and left her at the door."

But according to the Portland Tribune, the incident happened before Erickson's 2006 run for the same seat, and Oregon Right to Life knew about it then, but covered up the incident. Apparently abortion is okay as long as your politics are in synch with Oregon Right to Life:

Lois Anderson, the Oregon Right to Life political director, confirmed in an interview earlier this month that she talked to the woman at length in 2006 and was convinced she was credible. “In her mind, he knew she was pregnant and she told him it was his child,” Anderson said.

Leaders of the group spoke with Erickson about the allegations during the 2006 race.

With another anti-choice candidate in the race, Kevin Mannix, Oregon Right to Life in 2008 is calling on Erickson to drop out. Where were they for the past two years? Why with this knowledge didn't they speak up sooner or use the political clout they claim to have to keep Erickson out of the race?

Wizbangblue.com points out the hypocrisy, linking it to a pattern that has long been known to exist among anti-choice leaders who say one thing and do another:

The Erickson abortion bombshell story is yet another example of GOP candidates for office attempting to paint themselves as "pro-family" to conservative voters, even if the truth may be far from the reality. During the 2000 election campaign, HUSTLER Magazine publisher Larry Flynt hit candidate George Bush with allegations that he got a 15 year old girl pregnant in 1971 while serving in the National Guard in Texas, and that his father's Congressional office might even have been used to help arrange an abortion which was illegal under Texas law back in 1971, prior to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The Bush family may even have acted to quiet down any family scandal that might hurt the father's standing among voters in his Texas Congressional district according to the story. However, in the case of the Bush abortion story, while the woman denies the story in the Erickson case the woman involved now confirms the story to two major Oregon newspapers, THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE and THE OREGONIAN.

But Erickson, in his first public comments on the issue, is denying he knowingly paid for an abortion or ever encouraged the woman to get one:

Speaking publicly for the first time... Republican congressional candidate Mike Erickson denied that he knowingly paid for an ex-girlfriend's abortion. He acknowledged dating a woman named Tawnya for "a couple of months" in 2000 and helping her with financial problems but said he was unaware she became pregnant or had the procedure."I never asked anybody in my life to have an abortion," Erickson said. "Did I pay for an abortion? Absolutely not."

Even anti-choice blogger Jill Stanek gets this one right, and you know how it pains me to say that. She writes:

Oh, come on. He gave her $300 but didn't know why? He drove her to a doctor's office but didn't know what for?

Oddly, though, neither Jill nor Oregon Right to Life discuss the issue of hypocrisy. That's okay, the voters are doing that already.