October 19, 2018

Letters to the Editor

Submit a letter to the editor electronically | For our letter writing policy, click here

A vote for pro-life or pro-birth? Reader says there is a difference

Several days ago, I passed a Planned Parenthood facility. As usual, several protesters were out front with anti-abortion signs.

It got me to thinking about the upcoming election and how many of us are single-issue voters.

For example, many choose a candidate based upon his/her stance on abortion. This seems to be true for some Catholic voters. This concerns me and makes me question whether we are voting as pro-life believers or pro-birth believers.

Is there a difference? I think so. So many times, I hear how we are anti‑abortion, but I don’t hear any clamor when children are separated from their parents, as they cross our southern borders.

Where is the continued outcry as these children are kept in detention centers? I don’t hear any heated discussions/actions about cutting federal budgets for school lunches.

What I do hear is praise for the unrestricted right to bear arms, even as mass shootings happen on a regular basis in our schools and almost daily in the streets of our cities.

I do not often hear pro-lifers objecting to the death penalty. The continuum of life needs to be respected, nurtured and protected from conception to death.

Do we need to examine what pro-life means? Does it incorporate life from conception through natural death? If this is the case, does pro-life mean quality accessible prenatal care for those who need it? Does it mean support for good nutrition for everyone, even low-income families?

Does it mean quality education regardless of one’s zip code? Does it mean elevating minimum wage to a living wage? Does it mean affordable, accessible and humane health care for everyone, including the elderly?

Is our choice simply to advocate and to legislate for the birth of babies, or do we embrace the broader definition of pro‑life?

Let’s think about and pray about this before casting our votes this November.

Which is it? Pro-birth or pro-life?

- LaVerne Anderson | Indianapolis

Local site Links: