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Michael Francis Thompson, known as Mike Thompson (born November 21, 1942),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Michael Francis Thompson )〕 is a home builder from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972-1988. Thompson was a Democrat for his first six years of service, but he switched to the Republican Party for the balance of his tenure.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2016 )〕 He was defeated in the 1987 general election by a "No Party" candidate, who served only one term. Thompson is particularly remembered for his strong support of the right-to-life cause. A Roman Catholic, he graduated from Tulane University Law School. ==Supporting conservative causes== In 1976, as he entered his second term in the legislature, Thompson and several conservative colleagues, including Dan Richey of Ferriday, cast critical votes in the House Civil Law Committee against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, which lost 5-9 in the panel and was therefore not referred to the full House for an up-or-down vote. Thompson's right-to-life supporters organized against the ERA on the premise that if implemented it would have federalized family law. Therefore, they convinced the lawmaker to reverse his previously stated support for the ERA. Lafayette has been a center of anti-abortion activism since the United States Supreme Court issued the ''Roe v. Wade'' decision in January 1973, which legalized access to abortion. Certain Lafayette physicians signed a statement declaring that life begins before birth and vowed not to perform abortions, which remain rare in Acadiana, a term referring to French cultural Louisiana. The doctors said that, despite ''Roe'', ''"we feel compelled to continue to practice our profession in accordance with our moral beliefs, central to which is the preservation of life"''. In 2006, the Desormeaux Foundation, which funds a Lafayette crisis pregnancy center, honored three physicians at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement, as well as former Lafayette Republican Mayor Dud Lastrapes, and Thompson. In 1978, upon his switch to the Republican Party, Thompson was a candidate in Louisiana's 7th congressional district, since disbanded. He polled 42,247 votes (32.6 percent) to the incumbent Democrat John Breaux's 78,297 (60.4 percent). A second Democrat, John W. "Johnny" Myers, held the remaining 7 percent of the ballots cast. Thompson's strongest showing was his 37.6 percent of the vote in Lafayette Parish.〔Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Louisiana'' (Natchitoches, Louisiana: Northwestern State University, 1980), pp. 275-276〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Thompson (Louisiana politician)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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