Electing A Pro-Life President

 

2016 Presidential Politics: We cannot grow weary of doing good

Editor’s note. The following are the remarks of NRL Political Director Karen Cross delivered at Friday morning’s Presidential Candidate Forum.

Karen Cross

 

Good morning!
I am thrilled to be here with you today to hear from these excellent pro-life candidates. What an encouragement to all of us that the republican presidential candidate field is filled with those who understand, as we do, that without the right to life all other rights are meaningless.
Choosing a candidate to vote for in the primary will be a very difficult decision. What a wonderful problem to have!

As we enter the presidential election year you will hear a lot of distracting chatter about a lot of different issues, but we are here to cut through the noise and focus on the most fundamental issue of them all: The Right to Life.

Each individual has many issues that they find important on varying levels.
And, as we proceed through what will be undoubtedly a long election (laugh) it’s vital that we hold to this most important position and support candidates who stand for life and protect the vulnerable.
I have a confession to make: I love politics. And I am here today to convince YOU to love politics – or at least to convince you of the importance of your political action. Some of you may be rolling your eyes right now, but hear me out.
In November of 1984- don’t do the math!- at my very first pro-life meeting, I said I would do anything at all to help women and their babies: Just don’t ask me to get involved in politics. I definitely flip-flopped on that issue! I guess I can’t run for president!
I sat in that meeting, just like you’re sitting here, listening and learning, and choosing to dedicate my time and efforts to make things better for women and their babies. Just please, please, don’t ask me to be involved in politics.

But as I continued my pro-life journey, I learned how many lives could be saved through political action and came to the undeniable conclusion that in order to protect the innocent and the vulnerable, my efforts had to include electing pro-life leaders.

We celebrate our pro-life leaders whose dedication and efforts have led to the passage of laws such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act- WHICH JUST PASSED YESTERDAY IN WISCONSIN!!, the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Act, and the Hyde Amendment which has been attributed with saving at least one million lives since its inception. ONE MILLION LIVES.

One million people alive today who could have, would have, been aborted. Why are those people alive? Why are some of them maybe even in this room? Because of the dedicated political activity of pro-lifers just like you who prioritized the life issue above all else and worked to elect officials who shared their pro-life convictions.
There are a lot of important activities that you will do this year.

• You will register to vote and
• You will make sure your friends and family (who are pro-life!) are also registered.
• You will educate your community about where the candidates stand on life issues, and
• You will work for our pro-life nominee for President.

But among these vital actions, there are even more important things to remember.
In your zeal to protect life remember that we’re often working against a biased media, and we must ensure that our efforts to elect our personally favored candidate do not, even inadvertently, harm other pro-life candidates. When the time comes to vote, I know that pro-life men and women will cast their ballot for the pro-life candidate, and we are SO blessed that nearly every person vying for the republican nomination fits that bill.

YOUR dedication is evident, but I have heard from pro-lifers who have been so upset that their personally favored candidate didn’t win the nomination, that they have opted to simply not vote. NOT VOTE? Not vote for the pro-life candidate? I know it sounds absurd- it IS absurd!
We need the efforts of ALL pro-lifers to support the pro-life nominee, whoever that may be.
You must make a decision right here and right now that the issue of life trumps all else. Some candidates may share different views than you do on other issues.
I know this might come as a shock to you- but there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. (looking at candidates) – Sorry guys. In lieu of that, we work for those who will protect life.
And when we do, pro-life candidates win!

According to a May 2015, Gallup poll, 21% of Americans will “only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion.” That means that for 1/5 of the population, this issue, this all-important issue, will shape how Americans cast their vote. That same poll showed that among these voters, the pro-life candidate wins the advantage. This pro-life advantage has held true in election after election since 1980.

Earlier this year, honoring pro-abortion champion Hillary Clinton for her tireless efforts to expand abortion, the pro-abortion political group EMILY’s List boasted that in their 30 year history, beginning in 1985, they have elected 19 pro-abortion women to the US Senate and more than 100 pro-abortion women to the US House.
I won’t bore you with too many numbers, but these are too impressive not to share. I’d like to do a little boasting myself.
Since 1992, National Right to Life PAC has elected 64 pro-life US Senators, and 260 pro-life Congressmen and women!
Now wouldn’t you say that’s worth celebrating?
And the reason those elections were possible were because of voters like you who worked for the pro-life candidate—even when their favorite candidate wasn’t the nominee.

So what do we look for in a pro-life candidate? We look for someone who understands that abortion harms mothers and their unborn children. Who knows that human life has value no matter age, location, or level of ability. We look for someone who will uphold the basic value that a society who preys upon the weakest and most vulnerable members of our human family is a society that cannot stand. Compassion for women demands better options than the violence of abortion, and pro-life candidates can rest assured knowing that the majority of

Americans stand behind them in opposing the violent and extreme doctrine of Roe v. Wade which forced abortion on demand for any reason upon our country.

In 2014, National Right to Life, our political entities, and our state affiliates worked hard to expose the stark differences between the candidates on life issues, including candidates’ positions on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the use of tax dollars to pay for abortion, and the pro-abortion, pro-rationing Obamacare law.

The effort paid off!
National Right to Life Political Committees actively worked in 74 of the most competitive federal races nationwide. We won 56 of those races. That’s 76%!
This year’s net gain in the U.S. Senate translated in pro-life leadership in both houses of Congress, and saying bye, bye to Harry Reid’s stranglehold on pro-life legislation.
But when we talk about the political successes—the successes that lead to the direct saving of unborn babies through passage of pro-life legislation—that is entirely due to the efforts of YOU on the ground, voting, and making the key political differences. The pro-life movement doesn’t have swelling coffers like EMILY’s List. At a recent event they claimed to have raised over four hundred million dollars.
FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS! And yet, despite the seemingly insurmountable financial odds, we consistently defeat their candidates. In fact, last election we defeated 73% of their candidates in head-to-head competitive races!
Being involved in political action can be difficult, frustrating, and certainly challenging. But, I love a good challenge.
This year our challenge will be to focus our collective energies on defeating the pro-abortion democratic nominee. With this field of pro-life candidates we know that the republican nominee will be a stalwart defender of life, working with us to protect the smallest members of our human family.
Part of your challenge will be to remind your prolife community how vital it is that we all make a difference and not just a statement.

Let me be very clear- a vote for a third party candidate is just a statement, and a poor one at that. The political realities are such that if you vote for a candidate you personally favor more to make a statement, you will indeed make a statement.

However, babies will not be saved by statements. Children are dying and will continue to die when we allow stubbornness to dictate our votes. Your preferred candidate may not get the nomination. With such a great field, that is almost a guarantee for many of you. But working against that candidate, or not working for them at all, will end only in the destruction of more human life.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard someone say they could not – in good conscience – vote for a particular candidate.

Pro-lifers who support the third-party, or who choose not to vote at all, may feel like they have not compromised their principles. But when their actions help to elect a candidate who will allow the killing of unborn babies to continue, they have compromised away something far more important: Children’s lives.

How can anyone “in good conscience” allow the pro-abortion candidate to win? How can anyone “in good conscience” allow the blood of the children who COULD have been saved to be on their hands?
I would ask how many of you will be involved in the 2016 election, but I know every hand would raise, because, “in good conscience” we cannot sit this one out.
Sometimes political action means we need to be bold – even brave. Sometimes political action might not be our favorite thing. Because we are pro-life, we have to do it anyway.
We cannot be weary in well-doing.

The energy in this room will translate to your communities, your churches, your neighbors, and will lead to the election of a pro-life president.
Together we can make America a welcoming place for all—born and unborn.

Source: NRLC News