Jonathan Merritt writes:
The “pro-life” term was once a moral call to arms, but it’s now a mere political checkbox. Opposition to abortion is a non-negotiable for many conservatives, and a number of evangelical friends proudly admit to being “single-issue voters” who support only pro-life candidates. Other moral and political positions don’t factor into their decisions.
This faulty political ideology ignores, trivializes and even disregards dozens of issues of profound human consequence, such as police brutality, environmental degradation, state-sanctioned torture, unjust wars, alleviation of poverty and the mistreatment of minority groups.
Obviously, the Gospel of Life applies from natural conception to natural death. It means--as Democrats often ignore--protecting the unborn from abortion and the aged from euthanasia. But it also means--as Republicans often ignore--opposing the death penalty. As the American Solidarity Party platform stated, capital punishment should end because of its "disproportionate use against those with fewer legal resources, the impossibility of reversal, and the existence of alternative ways to ensure protection for the rest of society."
It also means looking for ways to protect the most vulnerable. Increasing the availability of affordable quality healthcare. Reducing homelessness. Criminal justice reform. Providing a social safety net. Adopting sensible immigration policies.
I disagree with Fr. James Martin on a lot of issues, but he was right when he said that "the problem with the term ‘pro-life’ is that it’s often used just to talk about the unborn, but pro-life means being pro-all lives, not just pro-some lives, because all lives are sacred.”
It is right and proper that those of us who are conservative pro-lifers have disagreements with our liberal friends about how to operationalize what the Church calls the preferential option for the poor. It is especially right and proper that we stand in opposition to those of our liberal friends who support abortion rights. It is not right and proper, however, that we limit our concern to the unborn. We need to be actively engaged in both the private and public squares in seeking solutions.
