US:Former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson has received a big boost in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, winning the endorsement of the powerful National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).
The group said that Mr Thompson, who is best known outside the US for his role as Arthur Branch in the TV series Law and Order, was the pro-life candidate with the best chance of winning the nomination.
"The overwhelming consensus has been that he is best positioned to top pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination," its executive director, David O'Steen, said.
Mr Giuliani leads in national polls but some conservative Christian groups are determined to block the nomination of the former New York mayor, who has been married three times and has supported gay rights as well as abortion rights.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is wooing the religious vote but some conservatives are uneasy about his history of support for abortion and gay rights and the fact he is a Mormon.
As a Baptist minister, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is the candidate with the purest record on abortion and other conservative Christian concerns, but the NRLC concluded that he is unlikely to win.
"Our endorsement is a testament to senator Thompson's long-standing pro-life record, his commitment to unborn children, and our belief in his ability to win," said its president, Wanda Franz.
As a senator, Mr Thompson was a consistent supporter of anti-abortion legislation but he opposes a constitutional ban on abortion, arguing that each state should make its own laws.
Rivals have also asked questions about Mr Thompson's post-senate career as a lobbyist, when the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association hired him to lobby President Bush in support of abortion rights. "That was private life," Mr Thompson said last month. "Those people are coming out of the woodwork now because I'm their worst nightmare. I proceeded to go to the United States Senate and vote against them consistently for eight years so now they're trying to defeat me."
Although he is second to Mr Giuliani in most polls, yesterday's endorsement could define Mr Thompson as the conservative choice for Republicans.