From the SFLA Blog

The Stakes Could Not Be Higher in this Election

Image
Brenna Lewis - 24 Sep 2020

 

Voters cannot depend on the Democratic Party to communicate its egregious position on abortion. If people knew, most would reject such an agenda. Democrats keep quiet because the stakes are so high, for both parties.

The Democratic Party, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, supports abortion on demand, for any reason, and paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Pro-abortion politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are determined to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bars elective abortions being paid for through Medicaid, funded by taxpayers. Harris, who is still serving her first term in the Senate, sponsored the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Woman Act of 2019, which would repeal the Hyde Amendment.

In June 2019, Biden’s campaign revealed that he no longer supported the Hyde Amendment, despite doing so for years.

The Hyde Amendment has been passed each year with bi-partisan support. Numerous polls consistently show that a majority of Americans support Hyde.

There is plenty of testimony and evidence that preborn babies can experience excruciating pain during an abortion by 20-weeks, likely sooner. Federal legislation to protect preborn children from most of these abortions has not been passed because of pro-abortion politicians in the House and Senate. This includes Harris, who is particularly vocal in her opposition. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans support this legislation. Still, the United States remains one of seven nations which allows for elective abortions past 20-weeks.

Democrats won’t even allow for legislation which requires that babies born alive after attempted abortion receive medical care. Senator Harris voted against that too. President Trump is committed to doing what he can with an Executive Order, news he broke on September 23. Further action may still be needed though. Such protections will be under danger with a Biden/Harris administration, even though a majority of Americans support this commonsense legislation as well.

This administration would even prevent pro-life legislation from being passed at the state level. Harris also sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) of 2019, which would require states to ensure their legislation would not violate parameters set by Roe v. Wade. The Biden campaign website reveals that his administration would codify Roe. While running for president, Harris released a plan in which the Department of Justice (DOJ) would require certain states to obtain pre-clearance before passing their pro-life laws.

Pro-lifers can’t expect Biden appointed judges to help them. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harris questions judicial nominees during the confirmation process. For several nominees, this involved a hyper-focus on their faith and pro-life values. She particularly took aim at those men involved in the Knights of Columbus, a charitable, fraternal organization which is Catholic.

Examples include:

  • Jason Pulliam, who in July 2019 was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, by a 54-36 vote. Harris focused on a 2018 endorsement from the Texas Leadership Institute for Public Advocacy, when he ran for but ultimately lost the opportunity to serve on the Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals.
  • Brian Beuscher, who in July 2019 was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, by a vote of 51-40. In her submitted written questions, Harris expressed concern about his membership in the Knights of Columbus.
  • Peter Phipps, who in July 2019 was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District, by a 56-40 vote. Harris questioned his membership in the Knights of Columbus.
  • Paul Matey, who in March 2019 was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District, by a 54-45 vote. Harris also asked about his membership in the Knights of Columbus.
  • Eric Murphy, who in March 2019 was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth District, by a vote of 52-46. In her written questions, Harris questioned his amicus briefs on behalf of states defunding Planned Parenthood.
  • Jonathan Allen Kobes, who in December 2018 was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in a 50-50 vote. Harris questioned his status as a member on the board for Bethany Christian Services.

Harris is far from the only pro-abortion Democrat to address a judicial nominee’s faith in such a manner. Judge Amy Coney Barrett is now front-runner to be nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A line of questioning in 2017 from Senator Dianne Feinstein has resurfaced, when Barrett was being considered for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

“The dogma lives loudly in you,” Feinstein claimed about Barrett, continuing “that’s of concern.” If Judge Barrett is indeed nominated, similar contentious hearings focusing on the Catholic faith and pro-life values of nominees will take place.

We won’t have to imagine what kind of hearings such nominees will have in a Democratic administration with a Democratic Senate because they’ll never be nominated in the first place.

That doesn’t even speak to those Biden would nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court, to be confirmed by the Senate. Students for Life of America is determined to overturn Roe v. Wade in our lifetime. The chances of that happening diminish with each justice Biden nominates who gets confirmed. Though Biden refuses to release a list of potential nominees, he has committed to nominating a black woman who will uphold Roe. This is of a particular concern if Democrats get their way and add more justices in order to “pack the Court,” to ensure a more favorable outcome to upholding the judicial activism which gave us Roe in the first place. The Biden/Harris administration is further dangerous as they plan to codify Roe anyway.

Life under a Biden/Harris administration would be a frightening time. There would be little to no hope for pro-lifers to be able to successfully advocate for legal protection of the preborn.

Such an administration would not be moderate on this issue. Intensely pro-abortion policies would take center stage as a priority. To say otherwise only denies the reality of what’s at stake.

Share this post