‘Personally pro-life’ politicians: Are they truly pro-life?

Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential nominee, may be the best, most recent example of politicians who say they believe one thing, but refuse to act on it and thus abandon their beliefs for politics.

Live Action News has extensively covered Kaine, who claims to be personally pro-life. Kaine has said of abortion, “I don’t like it personally. I’m opposed to abortion.” But Kaine, who says he is Catholic, even failed to stand against the Democrats’ push to get rid of the Hyde Amendment (which prevents other taxpayers from funding abortions). In a way, Kaine may have used his “personally pro-life” claim to mask the truth: that far too often, politics trumps human rights.

As governor of Virginia, Kaine once had a campaign platform and voting record aimed at reducing abortions. However, his vote score and bill sponsorships in the U.S. Senate, as well as his debate performance against now Vice President-elect Mike Pence, show a voting record on par with politicians who embrace their pro-abortion records and don’t bother claiming to be personally pro-life.

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Perhaps Kaine assumed that by being personally opposed to abortion while still advocating for it at a political level would earn him, his ticket, and his party votes, but this wasn’t a winning bet.

As a senator and former governor, it ought to be his job as a public servant to use his position to advocate for the rights of all his constituents, including preborn children. But each and every one of us has a voice and the ability to advocate for life or death for the most innocent and vulnerable among us. Being “personally pro-life” is definitely not good enough if one is publicly advocating for pro-abortion policies.

Kaine is only one of many politicians who claim to believe something, but then refuse to act on it and abandon their beliefs for what they think may be a winning position in politics. Yet those who hold the same position as Kaine have it half-right. They must be personally pro-life for some reason, perhaps because they recognize the humanity of the preborn and that abortion ends that human life.

Why, then, is it acceptable to hold a pro-life position for one’s own children and not for the children of others? Acceptance of the fact that life begins at conception and that abortion destroys a human being isn’t a belief that can merely be applied to some preborn humans and not others. If one child is worthy of life, then all are, because we’re all human. The person who rejects that position isn’t actually pro-life, but is accepting of abortion… and may be in denial or may just not be ready to admit it.

If someone is personally pro-life, we can assume that in his own personal circumstances he wouldn’t choose an abortion for the children he’s fathered. That’s good for those children, but all preborn children are worthy of protection under the law from abortion, not just those who are fortunate enough to be the children of those who are “personally pro-life.”

Being planned, wanted, or conceived in families who are against abortion is not what makes us human or valuable.

Simply being a human makes us valuable.