Christians should lament over the fact that 41 Democrats in the Senate voted against a pro-life bill (S. 311). The bill simply requires health care workers to administer lifesaving care to a newborn baby who survives an abortion. Presidential hopefuls, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), all chose campaigning for the presidency instead of showing up to vote for a bill to save all newborn life. AFA supported this bill and urged others to contact their senators and tell them to vote for the bill.
The vote was 56 to 41, but 60 votes were required for the bill to advance for a final vote. All 53 Republican senators and 3 Democratic senators – Bob Casey (D-PA), Doug Jones (D-AL), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) – voted for the bill.
Prior to the vote, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) went on record to defend the absence of the presidential candidates. Durbin, serving as the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, rose to his feet in the Senate and declared Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren "are necessarily absent" from the vote. In essence, Durbin said that the senators' presence to protect all newborn life is not necessary, that these presidential hopefuls are not necessarily bound to protect the constitutional right-to-life of all newborn babies.
The implications of Durbin's statement should serve as a chilling reminder of the Democratic Party's warped value of human life. The Democratic Party platform states that its members "believe unequivocally that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion." (Emphasis added.)
The Democratic Party platform forsakes the biblical value of both unborn and newborn life. The Democratic Party also forsakes direction from the nation’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, that states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." All babies, born and unborn, are endowed with the God-given right-to-life, and our nation's founding document recognizes and guarantees this right.
Not only should Christians lament the Democratic Party's callousness toward newborn babies, but they should also be motivated to stand for righteousness, to stand for the innocent who cannot stand for themselves, and to be a voice for the voiceless. If Christians remain silent and refuse to let their light shine in the darkness (Matthew 5:14-16), then the evil of abortion will only broaden to include other means of murder such as euthanasia.
The liberalism and ungodliness we see in politics is the product of a self-centered culture. One way you can make a difference is to pray for church leadership, government officials, and Christian revival. Also, you can be an informed voter. Use the AFA Action iVoterGuide to see where candidates, including presidential candidates, stand on a host of issues.
