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I bumped into him in the hallway of the Washington, DC Marriot Hotel. He had just finished delivering the keynote address to a packed hall at the Conservative Political Action Conference —this speech being the first I and a number of others around me in the audience had ever heard of him. He introduced himself: “I’m Marco Rubio, what’s your name?”

We chatted very briefly—at that point, the now-famous senator was still quite a bit behind in his senate race with former Governor Charlie Crist. Rubio was running in Florida—I had just come from Florida, where I had gone to several university campuses with the Genocide Awareness Project. I mentioned this to him, and he expressed his unequivocal support for the pro-life cause and commended us for engaging the culture in this fashion. I have to say I was a bit pleased—we don’t have politicians lining up to support our activism very often—but also a bit cynical. Marco Rubio, as eloquent as he’d been while riling the conservative crowd, was still a politician.

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Marco Rubio went on to defeat the pro-choice Governor Charlie Crist and has become one of the most prominent rising stars on the conservative movement. However, unlike many politicians who attempt to shy away from the controversial abortion question as soon as expediency allows them to, Rubio has not. His 2012 speech to the Susan B. Anthony List Gala contains one of the most powerful pro-life statements by a politician in recent memory:

“I’m just sharing with you why this issue’s important to me. And I’ll tell you why—because I’ve felt the same pressures. I’ve had people tell me, gosh, we love your tax policy, we love your fiscal policy, just don’t do the social stuff on us. I don’t want to hear about it…and it gets to you sometimes…and then you realize that, you know, the office that we have is important, but this stuff’s all fleeting. Comes and goes, you’re a Senator today, you won’t be tomorrow, you’re in office today, you lose your next election. But at least my faith teaches that this life will end, you live – you’re lucky, you live 80 years …and then you’ll be held to account. Whatever your faith teaches you, they almost all teach the same thing: You will be held to account.

“At least in my case, I’m gonna be asked very squarely, I know this. Look at what I gave you, God will say. I brought your family out of extraordinarily bad circumstances, and gave them opportunities. I gave you the opportunity to do things that your family never had a chance to do. I blessed you with children, who are healthy and vibrant and make a lot of noise. I blessed you with parents that encouraged you to dream, and a wife that supported you in pursuit of those dreams. I opened doors for you that you never thought were possible. When you polled below the margin of error in the first polls they took in your Senate race. When the only people who thought you could win your election all lived in your house. And when most of them were under the age of 10! I gave you the ability to speak to people and influence people. What did you do with it? And what am I gonna say, oh I had really good poll numbers. I got re-elected three times. I raised more money than anybody ever had. I was popular, people loved me; they patted me on the back, they gave me nice introductions. That’s what I’m gonna say I did with that? The more you are given, the more that is expected of you.”

Rubio ended the speech by urging the crowd: “This is the great cause before us. And I encourage you to stay engaged and involved. If I falter at some point, remind me of the speech tonight. I hope not to. I don’t expect to.”

Finally, a politician with a sense of moral perspective. He could not be more correct. When the history books recording this era are written, the names of those politicians who decided to take a stand against injustice will be recorded. The names of those politicians who were personally against the injustice, but too afraid or too lazy to speak about it, will either be considered quislings or quietly forgotten.

Tax policy, trade deals, and the size of government are without doubt extremely important. They pale, however, in comparison to the all-important questions of universal human rights, and whether or not we cared enough to protest the slaughter of pre-born children.