A few weeks ago I was asked how conservatives are able to simultaneously support the death penalty and oppose abortion. This is a valid question and the answer is found in the discussion of when an individual gains, or loses, their right to life. Although I have my opinion (which I will naturally share), I cannot give a definitive answer here. However, I can, perhaps, shed some light on the question and open the avenues for constructive debate.
The social conservative accepts the view point that a person receives the right to life at (or very shortly after) conception and may lose that right when they choose to maliciously take away (or destroy) the life of someone else. Conversely, the social liberal follows the perspective that a life is not a life until it is born, that the “state” knows better how to care for a life than do the parents, and that, once life is attained, the right to that life can never be taken away for any reason, regardless of the choices that person makes.
In my ongoing quest to encourage people to vote the issues, rather than turning our race for our nation’s presidency into another popularity contest, I hope that voters will find the candidate that best matches their own position on this important issue and votes for them. Obama and Clinton both feel that a woman has the right to choose not to have a child well into her pregnancy and so it is important to them for women to be allowed to terminate the life of an unborn child. McCain, on the other hand, believes that we must protect these, our most vulnerable, citizens and, therefore, abortion should be curtailed. The right to not have a child ends at conception.
What many people may not be aware of is that Senator Barbara Boxer (California’s most liberal and most expensive senator in history), has legislation in process that would not only further extend the right to murder children under Roe v. Wade, but would remove the ban on partial birth abortions signed into law by President Bush.
For more information on saving unborn children and stopping Sen. Boxer and others like her visit the National Right To Life Website.
