America Endangered By Abortion Litmus Test

America Endangered By Abortion Litmus Test

The future of America as a free and prosperous democracy, "with Liberty and Justice for all" is in grave danger thanks to cynical politicians and certain church leaders who are attempting to define the question of abortion legality as a litmus test for voters. In practice this means that the "christian" voting bloc will continue to give a free pass to pro-war, pro-torture, anti-environment, pro-"loot the treasury" politicians like George Bush who favor outlawing all abortions. The result of this decades-long religious quest to overturn the Supreme Court's "Roe vs. Wade" decision is that the "Religious Right" has delivered nearly total dominance of government to "anti-abortion" politicians regardless of their overall competence to govern.

Here is an example of how this religious debate is being used in the 2004 election:

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Priests for Life announces "National Christian Voter Registration Sundays" for 2004

"The most important issue on which to evaluate a candidate is his or her position on abortion"

NEW YORK, January 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Priests for Life has announced "National Christian Voter Registration Sundays" for 2004. The effort to register voters at Catholic parishes nationwide is one part of the organization's overall strategy for the election year.

The dates for Voter Registration Sundays are Jan. 18, March 7, May 2, July 4, and Sept. 5. The exact process is described at http://www.priestsforlife.org/vote . Other Christian organizations are joining in the effort as well, and Priests for Life is urging that drives be conducted on a statewide and diocesan level, as was recently done in a few states.

Priests for Life, with a multi-million dollar budget and a staff of 40 full-time people, has made the 2004 Elections its primary focus this year. "All our activities are totally non- partisan," explains National Director Fr. Frank Pavone. "But non- partisan doesn't mean timid or half-hearted. We are working aggressively to impart a simple, three-fold message based on the teachings of the US Bishops in their 1995 document Living the Gospel of Life. Our message is

• a) Believers have a duty to get out and vote.
• b) The most important issue on which to evaluate a candidate is his or her position on abortion, because if a politician cannot respect the life of a little baby, how is he supposed to respect yours?
• c) Public servants who take a "pro-choice" position contradict Catholic teaching, the Gospel of Christ, and the founding principles of the United States of America."

During the year, Priests for Life will utilize mass media and extensive travels to all fifty states to disseminate its message. "It's not our job to tell people how to vote; it is our job, however, to give them moral guidance in exercising their civic responsibilities, and we intend to carry out that job with clarity and vigor," Fr. Pavone concluded.

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The question of "abortion rights" really boils down to this: should the U.S. government create a new black market for back-alley abortions by outlawing all abortions and attempting to put "outlaw" women and doctors in prison?

Sadly, the logic of the Right to Life politicians and church leaders in using abortion as a voting litmus test is devilishly flawed. Their train of logic goes like this: a candidate who is against creating new laws to outlaw abortion is "pro-abortion", and a person who is pro-abortion favors killing unborn children; therefore that person should not be in a position of authority; so therefore a "christian" voter should vote against that candidate.

The flaws in this system of "logic" are obvious:

• By voting as a bloc against politicians who don't want the government to be involved in creating a black market for abortion, all other questions that may be of more than minor interest to God (and Mankind) are ignored.
• This logic gives the anti-abortion politicians an incentive to extend the battle over abortion indefinitely; for if they ever succeed in actually outlawing all abortions voters might judge them using other criteria, such as their competence to govern.
• Outlawing abortion will not end abortion anymore than Prohibition ended the consumption of alcohol -- or than the Geneva Conventions prevented President Bush from sexually abusing and sadistically torturing Iraqi prisoners.

Constitutionally speaking, the job of  American government is not to outlaw practices that Christians define as "sin". Rather, it is the job of Christians themselves to abstain from sinning because they want to obey Jesus, not because they have elected politicians to pass earthly laws making sin illegal. They should personally abstain from sin because they fear God, not because they fear prison! Christians might ask themselves "What Would Jesus Do?" Would Jesus advocate creating a new black market for abortion and sending doctors and women to prison? I think not.



Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;