Ron Kelsey is the archdiocesan consultant for the pro-life office. You can email him at: profile@archkck.org or call him at (913) 647-0350.
by Ron Kelsey
Recently we have seen both encouraging and discouraging votes on pro-life issues.
Encouraging: In the state of Kansas, Gov. Brownback signed two pro-life bills regarding unborn child pain awareness and parental consent. Discouraging: At the national level, Congress voted “no” to defunding Planned Parenthood and thereby continues federal funding for the largest provider of abortions in the United States.
What can be done to correct this pro-abortion problem with the U.S. Congress? First, let’s analyze this problem while, at the same time, avoiding any possible partisanship by looking only at facts. We see that the House voted strongly to defund Planned Parenthood 241 to 185, but the Senate vote failed 42 to 58. Analyzing further, we see that only 10 Democrats out of 243 Democrats in Congress voted to defund Planned Parenthood.
The vote cast among Democrats shows the well-known pro-choice position of the Democratic Party — but not all Democratic Party members. This pro-abortion position is reinforced by the pro-abortion plank in the Democratic Party platform, a portion of which follows:
“The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.”
Such a strong pro-abortion position makes it very difficult for pro-life politicians within the Democratic Party. But, fortunately, there are courageous Democrats who strongly disagree with this pro-abortion position and who vote pro-life.
Rep. Dan Lipinski of Chicago is one such example and we should pray that he and others, by their example, will be able to help remove this pro-choice plank. Our society desperately needs all political parties to support and defend the lives of all human beings, born and unborn. Each of us can also help to make this change by voting for only pro-life politicians — regardless of party.
Once society demonstrates with its vote that being pro-choice is unacceptable, politicians will become pro-life, at least politically. This will also then positively influence the judicial system. And these are necessary steps in defending the lives of millions of unborn babies and in building a culture of life.
Please become a part of the pro-life momentum and pray and work and vote to build this culture of life. Stay abreast of important pro-life issues by subscribing to the free St. Joseph EBriefs at the Web site: www.prolifeKC. com. We are winning.
Mary, mother of life, pray for us.
