Pro-Life Stance is Best for America

Steve Beren, November 5, 2007
www.berenforcongress.com/abortion.html
www.steveberen.com

(please feel free to forward this commentary to those who are interested)

Last week, in the chilly pre-dawn hours Friday morning, I participated in a prayer vigil organized by the Seattle affiliate of 40 Days For Life. The vigil took place across the street from the Seattle offices of Planned Parenthood, part of a local round-the-clock effort, and part of a national campaign by the national 40 Days For Life organization (www.40daysforlife.com).

I joined a group of six young people (five women and one man). I was very impressed with their commitment to the pro-life cause, to their knowledge of the issues, and to the power and sincerity of their prayers. Although the Planned Parenthood offices were not yet open to the public at the early hour, I was confident that our witness and our participation, as part of a great national movement, will ultimately have a positive effect on our nation - weakening the culture of death, increasing respect for life, and saving lives.

On Sunday morning, Grammy award winner and Christian musical artist Israel Houghton (of Israel and the New Breed) was at my church, Christian Faith Center. In his testimony, he noted that he was half Black, and half white. His mother is white, and when she was a pregnant teenager, her parents presented her with an ultimatum - get an abortion, or be disowned. Fortunately, Houghton's mother chose life. The world is now blessed with Israel Houghton's musical talents - how many millions of babies never were born due to abortion? How many dreams, inventions, discoveries, and talents were snuffed out due to abortion?

I am committed to the protection of innocent, unborn human life. Our Declaration of Independence proclaims that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." We have many rights, but it is no accident that our founding document lists the "right to life" first of all.

Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided - I oppose abortion on demand, partial-birth abortion, and Federal funding of abortion. On the national level, I support a human life amendment.

I oppose medical experimentation with embryonic stem cells. When an abortion clinic seeks to perform an abortion on a minor, her parents should be notified and should have the right to intervene and block the abortion. A pharmacist or physician who is morally opposed to abortion should not be forced to go against their religious convictions.

Some state legislatures are making efforts to expand protection of the unborn, and I applaud such efforts. Progress toward increasing the rights of unborn children, and success in eventual passage of a human life amendment, depends to a large extent on the pro-life movement influencing the national debate over abortion.

I am encouraged by recent developments in this regard. While partial-birth abortions represent a small percentage of all abortions, the discussion on partial-birth abortion has increased knowledge about the horrific details of abortion, and has increased support for the rights of the unborn.

During my 2006 campaign for Congress against far left Democrat Jim McDermott, my opponent was endorsed by the pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America, which stated: "Rep. McDermott was elected to Congress in 1988 and is being challenged by anti-choice Steve Beren. McDermott has earned a fully pro-choice voting record from NARAL Pro-Choice America." Source: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/elections/2006/states/endorsed-candidates.html

If I run for Congress again in 2008, I will continue to support the King County, Washington State, and national GOP platforms, which reflect the pro-life views of the party membership and grassroots. President Reagan had the right idea on this issue - see, for example, the following three quotes from President Reagan on the subject of protecting the unborn:

Debate with Walter Mondale, 10/7/84: "I believe that until and unless someone can establish that the unborn child is not a living human being, then that child is already protected by the Constitution, which guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all of us."

State of the Union, 2/6/85: "The question of abortion grips our nation. Abortion is either the taking of a human life or it isn't. And if it is - and medical technology is increasingly showing it is - it must be stopped. It is a terrible irony that while some turn to abortion, so many others who cannot become parents cry out for children to adopt. We have room for these children. We can fill the cradles of those who want a child to love. And tonight I ask you in the Congress to move this year on legislation to protect the unborn."

State of the Union, 1/25/88: "Tonight, I call America - a good nation, a moral people - to charitable but realistic consideration of the terrible cost of abortion on demand. To those who say this violates a woman's right to control of her own body: Can they deny that now medical evidence confirms the unborn child is a living human being entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Let us unite as a nation and protect the unborn with legislation that would stop all Federal funding for abortion and with a human life amendment making, of course, an exception where the unborn child threatens the life of the mother."

Steve Beren 2007 Speaking Tour
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