A Voice For Conscience
October, 2002
The reason many pro-lifers are disgruntled these days has little to do with the advocates of baby killing. It has a lot to do with organizations that really should be our friends since they publicly decry the wholesale murder of the unborn. Most of you have seen the little cards that come out at election time and mimic those of the political parties. Only these cards list candidates who are called “pro-life”. Often they come in the mail with nice letters and solicitations. For many folks, this is the extent of their pro-life activism – voting for the good guys and against the bad guys – according to the little card. I've always found them very helpful. Except for a few noted incumbents, we do not usually know precisely how the candidates stand on Abortion.
But a while back a problem began to appear. Sometimes when crosschecking candidates before the election, or worse after the election, we would find candidates who were not pro-life being recommended on the little card. There is great disappointment felt at friends who were not telling the complete story on supposedly pro-life candidates. It had become obvious over time that some organizations were using subjective criteria to pick and choose who to endorse as “pro-life”. Our biggest problem with that is not that it is done – we are all forced to do that on Election Day – the problem is that we do not know the subjective standard by which the so-called “pro-life” candidates are selected.
I know politics is the “art of compromise”. But why are we always expected to compromise with the murder advocates from NOW, NARAL or Planned Parenthood? No, we will not compromise! Either a candidate has the courage to publicly state, by words and actions that each human life begins at conception and deserves to be treated as such or they are not worthy of a pro-lifer's vote.
Great, you say in your heart. Tough you say, but not practical! And we all know that to succeed in the political arena you must be “practical”. However, after more than a quarter-century of being practical, the killings continue practically unabated! But, you say, third party candidates cannot be expected to win and they are often the only ones we will be able to endorse. Maybe. But we do not think that is so bad. We are one-issue people, remember? The issue is much more important than any candidate. If third party candidates are the only ones with the courage to back the issue, so be it.
Now you know this is nuts, right? Everyone knows that “half a loaf is better than none.” Wrong! Our half of the loaf keeps getting smaller and smaller. This last election is a good example. Life was a non-issue for the major candidates. We fully understand the position of pro-lifers who backed Bush. We just do not agree.
But you say third parties will probably not win. That is true. Since the election of 1964, rarely have I backed a candidate thinking they might win. The value of third parties is clearly not their inability to elect people. Last election I never heard anyone say that they supported Buchanan or Phillips because they would lose!
No, the great value of third parties is their ability to clarify issues. Bush and Gore were so close on some issues that they looked like a couple doing a slow dance at the Senior Prom. Buchanan and Phillips did a great job of keeping to the ignored issues. That made Bush and Gore uncomfortable. That is why Bush and Gore did not want them in the debates. You see, the “major” candidates are forced to consider the “little” guys. Buchanan helped to sway the Florida vote, just as Nader did. One-issue people realize that the “major” parties would like to reduce elections to personality contests. Or, as Ben Stein said, student council elections. So third party voters do not waste their vote as they are so often told by their friends. Friends who are always preoccupied with “winning”.
There needs to be a voice for the conscience of those who will not bend principle to vote for a candidate who approves of even one awful abortion. There has always been a place in politics for conscience; there has to be! It is vital that we remember that we are not, and should not be, connected to the political parties; we are connected to the babies.
Lance Lohr serves as Board Secretary for the 100% Pro-Life PAC (PO Box 1601, Havertown, PA 19083) www.prolifepac.com. Mr. Lohr is a Religion teacher at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor, PA. He and his wife, Sue, are the parents of six children.