Dear Brian, What is the meaning of "life"?
For too long abortion was seen as the only "life" issue in our culture and politics, but there is a growing conviction among Christians that poverty, disease, war, the health-care crisis, human trafficking, the death penalty, nuclear weapons, and the worldwide deaths of 30,000 children every day from preventable causes are also key life issues.
In these last few weeks before Election Day, will you join me in raising a new call for "life" to our presidential candidates?
Sojourners and I have advocated for a holistic and "consistent ethic of life" approach for years, and it is good to see the broader life issues receiving more attention. However, I also believe our nation is ready for a new kind of politics and leadership on the issue of abortion. The abortion debate has too often been used to score political points, rather than to identify what kinds of church practices and public policies could actually prevent and reduce abortions. But with a tragic 1.2 million abortions a year in the United States,* Christians must work together to stop the politics of blame and work toward common solutions. If you believe that all human life is sacred, tell the candidates to commit to common-ground solutions on abortion reduction during this week's debate and for the remainder of their campaigns. While many Christians disagree on the legal questions surrounding abortion, together we can and must pursue practical steps that actually reduce abortion rates. Three-fourths of women who have an abortion say a primary reason is that they cannot afford to raise a child,* so reducing poverty and supporting low-income women is a good place for our candidates to start. Recent research affirms that social and economic support for women and vulnerable families are effective solutions to lowering the abortion rate, including greater access to health care, poverty reduction, adoption reform, and pre- and postnatal care.** Republicans and Democrats must learn to work together on this issue – tell the presidential candidates to lead the way, beginning at this Wednesday's debate. We must look forward to the day when both poverty reduction and abortion reduction are nonpartisan issues and bipartisan causes.
Both Senators McCain and Obama have offered themselves as agents of change, anxious to transform the culture in Washington. They could start at Wednesday night's debate by offering a comprehensive "life" agenda and committing to work with both sides of the political aisle to dramatically reduce abortions in the United States.
Despite their differences over issues of choice, both the Democratic and Republican platforms open up the prospects for serious abortion reduction. And Christians could and should hold both political parties accountable for protecting human dignity and life from "womb to tomb."
With the final debate Wednesday night, there is still time to ask the candidates to cross old divisions and support life and human dignity.
Sojourners will continue working with both Republicans and Democrats in the next Congress to push for common-ground efforts to reduce the number of abortions in the United States.
Will you join us? Click here to take action today.
In faith,
Jim Wallis
President, Sojourners
P.S. Supporting a consistent life agenda could be led by the church! We strongly urge you to send this message to your friends and family after you e-mail the candidates, especially those who might have different opinions. See if you can agree on expanding the consistency of all the "life" issues, with a real commitment to reducing the number of abortions through common-ground solutions. *See "Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States" published by the Guttmacher Institute. **See, for example, "Reducing Abortion in America: The Effect of Economic and Social Supports," a new study put forward by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.
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