Bernie Sanders defends abortion at pro-life, conservative Christian university

Democratic Presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at a Christian university this week and was asked about his support for abortion. Sanders began his speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, by acknowledging that he has a different view on abortion than most of Liberty’s students.

“I came here today because I believe at the bottom of my heart that it is vitally important for those of us who hold different views to engage in civil discourse,” he began, saying it is important to find common ground.

In his speech, Sanders said the Golden Rule summed up his view of how you should treat people, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” he said.

Reading from the book of Amos, Sanders called for all people to be treated with respect and dignity. This seems to fly in the face of his staunch support for abortion, as abortion procedures terminate the lives of actual human beings. And as we have learned from The Center for Medical Progress’s undercover videos, the body parts of those children may then be harvested for research.

Sanders quoted several scriptures in promotion of his socialist views while ignoring some of the most obvious passages against the taking of human life. On health care, Sanders stated, “When we talk about morality, what we are talking about is all of God’s children. The poor, the wretched, they have a right to go to a doctor when they are sick.”

His definition of family values was not to advocate protecting life inside and outside the womb, but to push for government-mandated, paid medical leave, which would allow mothers to stay home after birth:

In my view, there is no justice when low income and working class mothers are forced to separate from their babies one or two weeks after birth and go back to work because they need the money that their jobs provide.

Sanders, while failing to note that the most vulnerable time in a baby’s life is when he may legally be aborted from the womb, claimed, “All of us believe in family values… but… the most important moments in time of a human being’s life is the first weeks and months after that baby is born. That is the moment when mother bonds with the baby. That is what a family is about…. The United States of America is the only country on earth that does not provide paid medical leave.”

The Democrat Senator, who is polling well against Hillary Clinton for the party’s nomination, responded to questions following his remarks. Sanders was asked, “You’ve talked in your campaign how it’s immoral to protect the billionaire class at the expense of the most vulnerable in society – the children. A majority of Christians would agree with you but would also go further and say that children in the womb need our protection even more. How do you reconcile the two in your mind?”

Sanders’ responded:

Understand, this is an area where we disagree. I do understand and I do believe that it is improbable for the United States government or state government to tell every woman in this country the very painful and difficult choice that she has to make on that issue. And, I honestly don’t want to be too provocative here, but very often Conservatives say, “Get the government out of my life. I don’t want the government telling me what to do.” But on this very sensitive issue on which this nation is divided, a lot of people agree with you, a lot of people agree with me.

But my view is, I respect absolutely a family that says, “No, we are not going to have an abortion.” I understand that. I respect that. I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government telling them what they have to do.

CNN reported that most in the crowd “were not convinced by the self-described socialist’s economic and social agenda”:

“The biggest inconsistency is the woman’s right to control her own body,” said Cameron Swathwood, a student [at Liberty] who attended the speech. “That assumes her body is the only one in question. … But if the unborn is in fact a human being which science and philosophy say it is, that killing the unborn is a grievous moral wrong.”