I would like to respond to the column from Nov. 11 by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson, “Democrats are pro-life, while GOP is just pro-birth.”

The column was heavy on accusations but names and examples of the so-called “many” political leaders she described were nonexistent. The reader came away with the impression that people who vote for GOP candidates care only about the birth of a baby but could care less for the child after the fact.

This is simply untrue. Unfortunately, Jennifer painted non-Democrat voters with a wide brush and didn’t stop to consider that there are many ways of being pro-life without resorting to a massive welfare state where the government assumes the role of a nanny. After literally trillions of dollars spent on social programs in the past 40 years, how well has the nanny state really worked for us? By all accounts things have gotten worse, not better, with an ever-expanding and runaway government.

The recent election proved that women voters rejected the phony war on women that the Democratic Party has been trumpeting ad nauseum. Exit polling showed that both women and men care strongly about having decent-paying jobs that they can support their families with.

Isn’t this pro-life? Over the past six years, we have all witnessed massive increases in government spending, debt and regulations, while small businesses, the backbone of any economy, took it on the chin. Stagnant wages and employers forced to cut hours have been the order of the day. Over 50 million people are now on food stamps when the majority of them would much rather have a decent paycheck. Then, there is the debacle of Obamacare with its expansion of abortion and attacks on religious freedom and it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to Democrats that they took a shellacking at the polls.

I agree with the premise Jennifer makes that if we are to be truly pro-life people, it must be across the board. However, I strongly disagree with her insinuation that the Democratic Party has the blueprint for being pro-life. In the hierarchy of moral beliefs, the right to life must be held in the highest regard. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have put the right to life first when describing every citizen’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Without the right to be born, all other rights mean nothing! With their rabid support for abortion on demand, the Democratic Party has failed miserably to uphold this high ideal.

In my humble experience, I have learned that the truth usually resides between the extremes. Imagine a nation that took the best of what each party offered and truly worked together to build a culture that welcomed and protected all human life from natural conception until natural death and worked together for the common good of all of its citizens. Is this too extreme? God help us if it is.

 

Scott Bute 

Alden