Pro-Life Is About
Caring Deeds, Not Political
Battles
Legislative battles and the court
system serve to obscure pro-life ideals and generate hostility to the
cause, without achieving substantial pro-life results.
The pro-life message is most
effectively spread person-to-person through persuasion, effective
alternatives, goodwill, and modeling positive behavior.
Roe v. Wade is irrelevant to
the pro-life cause and a distraction used by dishonest politicians to
manipulate voters.
Roe v. Wade challengers
generate hostility, hate, and an atmosphere of oppression.
Roe v. Wade challengers are
often aligned with issues and people bearing little genuine concern for
human life and the environment.
Roe v. Wade challengers are
often appealing to single-issue voters and encouraging them to turn a
blind eye to the anti-life actions and positions of their
candidates.
"Pro-life" candidates often have
little concern for the overall common good.
Single issue appeals trivialize the
complexity and importance of pro-life action.
Single issue campaigns often seek
to distract from the full range of important issues and install
politicians with little regard for all people and issues.
George Bush Policies Have Led
To
An Increase In The Number of Abortions
George Bush Policies have resulted
in a dramatic increase in the number of abortions performed in the
United States.
The number was declining in the
1990s, but reversed under the Bush administration.
In 2002, approximately 52,000
more abortions occurred than would have under the prior
trend.
Lack of medical insurance, social
supports, and financial security has clearly contributed to this
increase in the number of abortions.
The Rest of George
Bush's
Anti-Life Record
Reckless and deceitful crusade
exposing Americans to death and injury in Iraq.
Shocking "arm-chair machismo"
taunting Iraqi guerrillas to attack Americans: "bring 'em on."
As of October 8, 2004, 1,068
American military dead in Iraq, at least 7,453 U.S. troops wounded in
action; conservative estimates by private groups place the Iraqi toll at
10,000+.
Lack of consideration for children
and other loved-ones of Americans sent to Iraq.
George Bush's disregard for life
and the truth came out very clearly in the September 30 debate when he
repeated, then contradicted, his lie that Iraq attacked the United
States. The simple fact is that, in his opinion, American life and
simple truth are expendable in the pursuit of the Bush
fantasies.
Failure to renew the ban on assault
weapons.
Dismantling of environmental
protections in favor of polluters.
Dismantling and de-funding social
programs aimed at helping families and young people.
Economic policies resulting in an
estimated 1.9 million jobless workers.
Failure to prioritize skyrocketing
health care costs, resulting in inadequate medical attention.
Freezing of funding for child care
and Head Start programs.
Reducing the federal match to state
Medicaid spending, forcing many states to cut health care services to
the neediest and most defenseless.
Tax policies shifting the tax
burden away from the wealthiest Americans to the middle class.
Household incomes falling for the
third straight year, with 1.3 million more in poverty and 1.4 million
more losing health coverage.
While Governor of Texas, capital
punishment was widely used, and, in the words of Amnesty International,
"riddled with injustice ... including inadequate defense representation
and prosecutorial misconduct." He could have done a great deal to cure
these problems, but didn't. He is even reported to have made fun of a
woman who was executed on his watch--mocking her pleading "don't kill
me."
Bush has no credibility: many
sources overwhelmingly demonstrate Bush's pattern of lying and employing
dirty trick specialists and "born again" rhetoric to manipulate groups,
religious congregations, and the general public while carrying out
policies dominated by polluters, big money interests, and corrupt
profiteers.
Overall, Bush policies have
demeaned the sanctity of life in America, set an example of lowered
standards for our youth, misspent tens of billions of dollars, and
dishonored the nation.
The Real Religious Record of
George Bush
The Bush campaign has used churches
as part of the Bush-Cheney campaign: they have ordered churches to
send their directories to the campaign and also order parishoners to
work for the Bush campaign. Click to
view
George Bush has failed to disavow
connections to bizarre religious sects advocating wholesale devastation,
such as "rapture" and armageddon; and he has failed to renounce claims
that he is "chosen."
He has failed to disassociate
himself from questionable figures who use religion to promote their
political agendas: On July 16, 2004, Jerry Falwell was quoted in the New
York Times as saying: "It is the responsibility of every political
conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic,
every traditional Jew, every Reagan Democrat, and everyone in between to
get serious about re-electing President Bush." Earlier, in January 2004,
Pat Robertson had announced that he was hearing from the Lord that the
election was going to be a blowout for President Bush: "The Lord has
just blessed him. ... It doesn't make any difference what he does, good
or bad. ..."
George and Laura Bush have
questionable anti-abortion records: Running for Congress in 1978, Bush
was interviewed by a reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, who
wrote: "Bush said he opposes the pro-life amendment favored by Reese and
favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question. 'That
does not mean I'm for abortion,' he said." In January 2001, Laura Bush
told the Today Show she did not believe Roe v. Wade should be
overturned.
Bush policies have followed “the
way of death” as cited in the Pope's 1995 Gospel of Life: “drive
away the needy, oppress the suffering; ... advocates of the rich and
unjust judges of the
poor....”
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A ROMAN
CATHOLIC DISCUSSION:
JOHN KERRY AS THE MORAL
CHOICE
AN OPEN
LETTER
TO THE PRO-LIFE COMMUNITY
Voting For Pro-Life Candidates
And Supporting Pro-Life
Issues
Pro-life voters should support John
Kerry for President and urge other pro-life voters to do the
same.
The Kerry-Edwards platform includes
extending affordable, high-quality medical coverage to 95 percent of
Americans, including every child.
Support other candidates who seek
to target the problems of teen pregnancy and adoption reform with
intelligence and concern.
Avoid counseling reliance upon
abstinence-only approaches, which have been shown not to be
effective.
Support funding of programs
offering abortion alternatives.
Encourage involvement of fathers in
the decision to keep and raise the child.
Discuss possibilities for care of a
child by the extended family.
Work in your community to create
real support and meaningful alternatives for women at greater risk for
unwanted pregnancies.
Support candidates who advocate for
social supports and respect for life.
Carefully scrutinize "tax cut"
proposals; ask if they would reduce money necessary for effective social
programs aimed at supporting pregnancy-related services.
Reject and challenge efforts to
manipulate your religious congregation or other group through the
abortion issue, or via claims about armageddon and "rapture" or that a
candidate is "born again" or "chosen."
View with suspicion single-issue
organizations masquerading as "pro-life."
Resist the appeals by organizations
and individuals using extremist tactics and seeking to incite.
Look for opportunities in your
family, neighborhood, and community to offer non-judgmental one-on-one
support for someone involved in a pregnancy issue.
Offer to provide special help with
day care and other needs.
Can you help by providing tutoring
for school-age parents?
Is information readily available
about avoiding unintended pregnancies?
Talk to young people and others
facing a pregnancy issue; demonstrate your genuine care and concern for
them and their situation.
Contact and support organizations
that pursue a balanced and thoughtful program for genuine pro-life
activities.
Locate organizations providing
pregnancy counseling (such as Birthline), infant foster care, crisis
nursery services, and other resources; support their activities through
volunteering, political action, monetary support, and
referrals.
Model respect for the unborn and
other life.
Vote for candidates who demonstrate
true concern for life in all its complexity.
Support adoption: support funding
for adoption social services; adopt a child yourself; encourage the
adoption alternative for those facing a pregnancy issue; educate
yourself about the possibilities for private adoption in your
state.
Encourage discussion of the beauty
of children and sanctity of life.
Pro-Life Discussion Topics
Why Is The Road Uneasy for
Pro-Lifers?
Why Have So Many Pro-Lifers
Abandoned The Cause In Favor of Simplistic Appeals?
How Can Pro-Lifers Perpetuate The
Freedom to Choose Life?
How Can Pro-Lifers Reach
Higher?
How Can Pro-Lifers Better Connect
With People?
How Can Pro-Lifers Best Create a
Difference We Can Feel And See?
How Can Pro-Lifers Make The World A
Better Place?
Pro-Life Issues and Action
October 2004
An
Open Letter to The Pro-Life Community
Re: Advocating A Caring
Approach For Pro-Life Action
Dear Member of the Pro-Life
Community:
If you share our concern about pregnancy and children,
and genuine respect for life, would you please take a moment to look at
our new web site and share its ideas with your members and other concerned
individuals?
It is the product of our legal and social work
experience, along with research into the causes of abortion and ways
society can more effectively approach the issues.
One of our
conclusions is that concerned pro-lifers can best serve the cause by
focusing upon personal contact and ensuring social supports, rather than
the largely pointless and highly-manipulated anti-abortion wars in the
courts and legislatures (e.g., Roe v. Wade).
"Single-issue" groups
have seriously undermined the pro-life movement by supporting unworthy
politicians and promoting hostility, division, and scorn.
We also
conclude that John Kerry and John Edwards present the best option for the
pro-life voter because of their potential for a caring and realistic
approach to issues surrounding pregnancy and abortion.
The
Kerry-Edwards platform includes extending affordable, high-quality medical
coverage to 95 percent of Americans, including every
child.
The record demonstrates George Bush's opportunistic
manipulation of the abortion issue and the Bush administration's callous
disregard for life while seeking to create the opposite impression through
carefully calculated misleading claims asserted in the press and
circulated through its "base" groups.
George Bush's disregard for
life and the truth came out very clearly in the recent debate when he
repeated, then contradicted, his lie that Iraq attacked the United States.
The simple fact is that, in his opinion, American life and basic honesty
are expendable in the pursuit of the Bush fantasies.
Four more
years of the Bush rampage will be devastating to everyone genuinely
concerned for life.
Feel free to add a link to our page; if you do
so, please let us know so we can advise you of any changes to the
address.
Thank you.
Pro-Life Issues and
Action
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