Issues

Position on Abortion

I am Pro-Life. This issue is so inherently complex, so emotional, yet most Americans do not vote on this issue. Questions can be presented to voters that, because of the wording, can be assured of a pro-life answer, or worded another way, could assure a strong pro-choice answer. I believe a complex issue, like abortion, with its complex dynamics, requires a certain skill in handling it for political purposes. I believe I have developed such a way for a New Jersey Conservative to handle this issue. Abortion is a finesse issue. As far as defining myself, I do not believe conservative’s can be one-dimensional or single issue candidates and be successful. Voters need to see the entire candidate within the moral framework of valuing human life. Part of this is to acknowledge that abortion is a deeply personal and sensitive issue. It is comforting to know that pro-life candidates have been elected at all levels of government; a definite reflection of America.

Moral Component

As a Catholic, my Christian faith has taught me that life begins at conception. All life has inherent value and should be afforded basic tenets of human dignity. Life in the womb is innocent human life. Innocent human life should not be equated with a career criminal who murders or rapes for a living. I feel comfortable separating the two. This means I am pro-life and pro death penalty. The two should not be confused with each other.

We live in a society today that has over 30 years of Roe v. Wade (1973) as the law-of-the-land. With approximately 800,000 – 1.3 million abortions each year since Roe, that equates to approximately 44,000,000 abortions. That is an enormous amount of life that has been extinguished. Some proponents of abortion expound that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. I believe America has made abortion medically safe, it certainly is legal; however, we are not doing so well in the ‘rare’ arena. Because America has had over thirty years of abortion protected by our Constitution, we need to be patient when thinking about changing our society when it comes to this issue. Hearts and minds will have to change if we want to see the above numbers decline. This will take time. Building a culture of life is difficult when our parts of our own government, judiciary, and popular culture are working against us.

Privacy Component

The most sensitive area for this issue is the ‘privacy’ aspect of abortion. Privacy was the constitutional basis for determining Roe. Proponents of abortion will usually set forth the supposition that women need to be empowered to decide the fate of their own pregnancies. According to proponents, if society does not allow for this, then women are discriminated against because they are not empowered as individuals with decision making over their own lives.

This is where I am confident that I can make in-roads to politically independent women who lean toward pro-choice candidates. We have to counter the notion that conservative’s oppose empowering women. We, of course, do not do this. The imperative here is to effectively communicate our core principles. I believe if all the issues are presented to the voter, then it is very clear to see that we do empower women so they control their own lives. For example, take the following issues:

• Tax cuts and individual economic decision making – your paycheck
  
• School Choice – your child’s education
  
• Health Savings Accounts – your health care
  
• Retirement Savings Account – your retirement
  

The above issues represent the majority of your working adult years and retirement years. Compare this to how many abortions a woman may have throughout her childrearing years; I dare say women will be earning more paychecks than having abortions. This arrangement places the issues in a more focused and relevant context.

As conservatives, we advocate that American workers need to keep more of what they earn because we believe that the individual should be making their own economic decisions. We believe that nothing is more important to parents than their child’s education. School choice empowers parents to decide where, and how, children are educated. There is nothing more personal to an individual than their healthcare. A health savings account promotes individual privacy and choice. Finally, a private savings account is owned by the individual and builds wealth for the individual worker over a lifetime of employment. Conclusion: Conservative’s empower the individual on the most prevalent and meaningful issues, whereas liberals have one issue where they empower the individual – abortion.

As a Reagan conservative, I will present the issues to the voter in this manner, drawing a sharp contrast between policies that promote individual rights, and policies that promote government or collective decision making. I believe this will help us in the debate over this issue as we attempt to connect with the all-important independent voters. My approach safeguards our pro-life principles; it does not require that we abandon our principles and become pro-choice, as some republicans suggest we do.

Abortion Funding

I adamantly oppose using taxpayers’ dollars to fund abortions. Roe established a ‘negative’ right for a woman to have an abortion. This means the government cannot stop a woman, or create undue burdens, as developed in Casey, to having an abortion performed. The government is not obligated to pay for abortions. However, as we in New Jersey know, taxpayer dollars, through Medicaid, are used to fund abortions. This is an area of this issue where we conservative’s should assert ourselves. Respecting someone’s right to an abortion is one thing, forcing taxpayers to pay the bill is quite another. I adamantly oppose using taxpayers’ dollars to fund abortions. In fact, a Zogby Poll conducted in April of 2004 (www.nrlc.org) showed that 74% of respondents opposed using tax dollars to fund abortion. I support the Hyde Amendment of 1997, and currently the Vitter Amendment, s 1200 and H.R. 3043.

Partial Birth Abortion

I strongly oppose the inhumane practice of Partial-Birth-Abortion, with the exception that the mother’s LIFE, not health, is at stake. Legislatively, I support the ban on partial birth abortions, and salute the U.S. Supreme Court decision in April 2007 rejecting a challenge to the ban. The graphic details do not need to be recited here, except that such a heinous act has no place in a civilized society.

Parental Notification

I support parental notification laws. Nothing productive will result from parents not being involved in their children’s lives. I believe statistics show that states that have parental notification laws realize a decrease in the number of abortions after those laws went into effect. Public policy efforts like these help promote a culture of life and have my full support.

Closing Thoughts

As Jack Kemp stated in his acceptance speech, in San Diego in 1996, to be the Republican nominee for Vice-President, ‘we need to be a pro-life party.’ It is a core belief that conservatives have and should maintain. At a time when America seems more and more to lack the value of human life, and refuses to protect our children, the Republican Party needs to be the political institution that espouses pro-life values. We can only do that if we nominate and elect pro-life candidates. To be certain, there are states and districts across America that simply will not elect a pro-life candidate. However, we as Republicans, can differentiate ourselves from democrats in that we truly have a debate within our party, and elected Republican officials at all levels of government that are Pro-Life and Pro-Choice.