As the second presidential debate in the 2016 general election came to an end Sunday night, fact-checkers are working overtime and political operatives are at a fever pitch in spin rooms from St. Louis to Washington, D.C.
The dust is settling, and at least this much is true: There has never been a better time to own a dog or have a ballgame on—great win, Blue Jays!—and there’s never been a better time to belong to a Kingdom that is not of this world.
Three quick thoughts from the debate as we head into the week:
1. If You Cut Hillary, She Bleeds Abortion
The first primary candidate ever to gain an endorsement from Planned Parenthood in its 100-year history, Hillary Clinton has certainly done her part to defend and celebrate abortion as an inherent human right—for the mother, that is—whenever she gets the chance.
Clinton, who just last year compared pro-life Americans (i.e. those against the monetized killing of children inside the womb) to terrorists, was on her game Sunday night, calling adherence to Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges a prerequisite for nomination to the Supreme Court bench.
Responsible for taking the lives of close to 60 million preborn babies since 1973, Roe v. Wade is so central to Clinton’s outlook on the law, freedom and American jurisprudence that her knee-jerk reaction when asked about the Supreme Court doesn’t even need to include the word “Constitution”—it didn’t Sunday night—but it does need to include abortion on-demand.
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Not only so, unspoken Sunday night are Clinton and her Democratic Party’s promises to repeal the Hyde and Helms Amendments that prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions both at home and abroad. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, has saved an estimated two million lives in throughout its 40-year history.
Hillary Clinton, one-time adherent to the “Safe, legal and rare” designations for abortion, will have none of these limitations. And, if you disagree with her, that just proves the fact that you’re an extremist and, probably, a terrorist.
Last week, the Christian Post published an op-ed claiming to make a Christian, pro-life argument in favor of voting for the woman described above. Containing exactly one passing reference to Scripture—and an exceedingly odd one at that—the article curiously omitted any reference to either Hyde or Helms, but did manage to drudge up an 8-year-old video of Clinton touting her “Safe, legal, and rare” mantra.
That follows an article by Rachel Held Evans back in early August, where the author argues that Clinton’s social policies add up to big wins for women in unexpected pregnancies, and thus ought to make her the preferred candidate of pro-lifers who prefer life-saving acting to self-congratulatory talking.
Tweet This: If you cut HRC, she bleeds #abortion. #pregnancyhelp #prolife #debate
Again missing from Held Evans’ argument? References to scripture and references to Hyde or Helms.
What these omissions miss is the fact hiding in plain view: If you cut Hillary Clinton, she bleeds abortion. That much was clear Sunday night.
2. The Silent Gauntlet
Asked how she would be a devoted president to all the people in the United States, Clinton replied, “I have tried my entire life to do what I can to support children and families.”
Pointing to her work as a young lawyer and politician, Clinton highlighted her work with disenfranchised and minority citizens in criminal justice, voter registration and public education, adding, “I worked to make sure that kids with disabilities could get a public education.”
Taking her at her word, Clinton’s commitment to making sure every child gets an education, regardless of ethnicity or ability, is a worthwhile, commendable pursuit. What tragically goes unspoken is the gauntlet through which such children need to pass before they get a shot at free education—starting at the moment of conception.
Surely Mrs. Clinton knows that the same African-American children to whom she promises a free education are 3.6 times more likely than their non-Hispanic white brothers and sisters to be victimized by abortion. Even though African-Americans make up just 12.6 percent of the U.S. population, black women account for over 35 percent of abortions.
Similarly, Hispanics make up 16.3 percent of the population, but account for 25 percent of abortions each year.
Unborn children diagnosed with disabilities face a similar threat, with research from the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimating a 30 percent total reduction of the Down Syndrome population in the U.S. due to abortion.
Tweet This: Let's extend life to all children, not just education. #debate #prolife
All children, including those in minority demographics and those with disabilities, certainly deserve a high-quality education. What they don’t deserve is a life-and-death gauntlet to reach the delivery room in the first place.
Everyone agrees on the idea of a great education. We just don’t want the gauntlet.
3. We still have work to do.
Commenting on the video of Donald Trump’s deplorable conversation from 2005 released last Friday, Karen Swallow Prior tweeted, “A winning election for abortion either way. With one candidate you get supply. With the other, demand.”
Questioned on her meaning, Swallow Prior’s reply was excellent: “No one needs abortion more than philanderers.”
A winning election for abortion either way. With one candidate you get supply. With the other, demand.
— Karen Swallow Prior (@LoveLifeLitGod) October 8, 2016
We need to keep our eye on the ball. Abortion does not exist in a vacuum. It’s a cover-up. It’s the last resort, the last “decision” in a line of sinful, unwise choices—for one or both parties—that now ends in the death of a child and an assault on parenthood itself.
Like any business model, Big Abortion’s road to success lies at the crossroads of supply and demand. In the battle to make abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations, we seek to cut off both the “supply” line of abortion—in this case, federal funding—mainly through the electoral process, and the “demand” line by offering a better alternative.
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Regardless of who wins this year’s election, abortion is going to remain a reality in the lives around us. That means we have work to do, prayers to offer and love to extend.
Abortion may emerge the winner of this election season, but it doesn’t mean it has to conquer that next woman who walks through the door.
