"I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country," Romney said in a statement at the time. "He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer funded abortion and partial birth abortion. I look forward to working with Dr. Willke and welcome him to Romney for President."

Jack Willke may not be a household name, but he is a major figure behind the scenes in the anti-abortion movement and featured in media promoted by activist organizations in states across the nation. He was founder of Ohio Right to Life and president from 1981 to 1983 and 1984 to 1991 of the National Right to Life Committee, which has affiliates in 50 states and over 3000 chapters.

He is featured in the video "Pro-Life Doctors Speak Out" with former surgeon general C. Everett Koop and Dr. Bernard Nathanson, described as a "powerful presentation of the basic medical arguments against abortion."

President George H. W. Bush recognized Willke when speaking to the "Rally for Life" in 1990 by phone from the White House.  The transcript is available through the George Bush  Presidential Library.

Well, thank you, Henry Hyde. Thank you for the introduction, and thank you, as well, for your commitment to life. Incidentally, this magnificent rally looks very, very good on television. How do I know? Because I've seen some of it.
I want to pay my respects to our able Vice President, Dan Quayle -- thank him for his commitment -- to other Members of Congress that are there, to Dr. Willke, to Dr. Dobson, and a special greeting to my friend -- Your Eminences Cardinal O'Connor and Cardinal Hickey and others that might be in attendance.

Willke is also featured in "The Hidden Holocaust" described as,

"...featuring Christian commentator Charles Colson, Dr. C. Everett Koop, NRLC President Dr. John Willke, Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Jeremiah Denton, plus many others. Suitable for junior high age and older."

Willke is the voice behind "Life Jewels," short commentaries for radio that were broadcast over a period of 18 years, according to his Life Issues website, "on over 1,000 stations in English and Spanish, with 50 in Australia, 30 in South Africa and many stations in Brazil."

"Since 1984, hundreds of Christian radio stations (and a few secular ones) have been airing Dr. Willke's five-minute daily commentary. For 12 years Dr. Willke has informed and educated hundreds of millions of listeners to the reality and after-effects of abortion. As a result, people are changing the way they view abortion in our society today.

Nearly 1,000 CDs were sent to Christian radio stations, free of charge, and the response from the radio broadcasting industry has been overwhelmingly positive. Life Jewels has filled a need of sound educational information where there has previously been none. The CD format is very user friendly, and as a result, station personnel are airing the spots multiple times each day, educating a new audience every time."

The opening page of the website for the "Heartbeat Bill," being promoted to "end almost every abortion in Ohio," prominently features a link to "Dr. Willke's Hard-Hitting Ad." That links to,

"Open Letter from Dr. Jack Willke Who Founded the Right to Life Movement Forty Years Ago"

Many of you know me as founder and longtime president of Ohio Right to Life, National Right to Life, and International Right to Life. I am now 87 years old and thought I would not live to see the end of abortion. However, since passage of the Heartbeat Bill (H.B. 125) in the Ohio House, I have renewed hope.

Willke has provided testimony to the House in support of the bill. Next to the letter are the names of the Ohio supporters in addition to the 53 Ohio state representatives co-sponsoring the bill, and request for supporters to contact Ohio senators.  The bill would criminalize an abortion of any fetus with a detectable heartbeat.  Some supporters of "Personhood" bills have claimed that the Heartbeat Bill does not go far enough, because it allows for abortions to save the life of the mother and does not call for murder charges for the mother.

Dr. Willke was near the top of the list of the signers of the letter to the U.S. Congress in 2011 calling on the GOP to refuse to compromise on the defunding of Planned Parenthood.  Willke signed as president of the International Right to Life Federation, following just behind the signer representing the Susan B. Anthony List, Lila Rose, and signers representing the Family Research Council and Concerned Women of America.

Dr. Willke expounded on his theory that rape seldom results in pregnancy in his writings, including a 1999 article in his Life Issues Connector titled "Rape Pregnancies Are Rare."  Willke's claims have been refuted by studies, including those used by the CDC, which show that about 5% of rapes result in pregnancy.

Other politicians have promoted this pseudo-science, including former Pennsylvania State Rep. Stephen Freind who told an interviewer in 1988 that the odds of rape resulting in pregnancy was "are one in millions and millions and millions." Freind stated that he got the information from Dr. Fred Mecklenburg. According to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mecklenburg was the author of "Abortion and Social Justice" funded by Brent Bozell's Americans United for Life and included conclusions by Mecklenburg taken from tests done by Nazi doctors on women in concentration camps.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch article also points out,

The dissemination of Mecklenburg's article may have had more to do with the influence of the doctor's wife, Marjory, an early opponent of abortion rights who was a chairwoman of the National Right to Life Committee, an adviser to Gerald Ford's 1976 presidential campaign and director of the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs in the administration of President Ronald Reagan.

The 2012 Republican Party platform reportedly calls for a constitutional ban on abortion with no stated exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. GOP Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan co-sponsored Personhood-style legislation with Todd Akin titled the Sanctity of Human Life Act 2009, which declared that human life begins at fertilization and would have given states the right to criminalize all abortions with no exceptions and possibly criminalized some forms of birth control.  

The Romney-Ryan campaign would like for Rep. Todd Akin and his medieval ideas to appear to be an anomaly, but the use of pseudo-science to promote extreme ideology is widespread throughout the party on this and other issues.  It's much easier to criminalize all abortions, even in the case of rape, if you have voters that believe "legitimate rape" does not result in pregnancies.

*Willke recently retired from his position as president of the International Right to Life Federation. He is still listed as president on the website.

Article updated after posting with additional information from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.