We Asked, You Answered: Your Pro-Life Platform

A person stands in front of the Supreme Court with a sign that reads “We are all humans / Todos somos humanos.” Image credit: Maria Oswalt on Unsplash

We posed the question on our Facebook page: “If you could design a pro-life platform, what principles & policies would it include?” Here is just a sampling of the 200 comments we received: 

April J.: (1) Better paid and more generous parental leave. (2) Cheaper, less bureaucratic adoption process. (3) Incentives to colleges/universities/trade schools that have daycare and/or on campus living accommodations for moms/parents in school.

John D.: Ending innocent defenseless human lives is wrong. This should be taught unambiguously in all public schools as well as those that receive any federal funds.

Multiple commenters: The platform of the American Solidarity Party.

David J.: Constitutional amendment protecting life in the womb.

Amy K.: Wow, where to start?? Classes on embryology, education and access to birth control, easier access to sterilization, support for mothers and their entire families during and after pregnancy, resources for nutrition, insurance, legal, housing needs, job training, continuing education, more aggressive child support enforcement…. I’m sure there’s a lot more and each of these has plenty of subcategories of course!

Manisha D.: Disability rights!!

JoAnn S.: Federal deposits into Social Security accounts for anyone staying out of the labor market on order to care for one or more children. Raising the next generation is beneficial to all even those without children. Children are not equivalent to pets. They are not optional to a society. Someone’s kid is going to dig our graves.

Austin S.: Not killing babies. The matter’s so simple to me. I don’t believe it’s ever okay to murder an innocent human. I believe doctors should always try to save every life possible. That’s their job—to help people. Currently they do a terrible job at that. We should value life. That’s the most fundamental, basic start towards decent society.

Jordan W.: I’m actually most interested in the core values of the movement. We’ve been lacking the clear core values needed to win. Here are just a few suggestions. (1) The ONLY thing necessary for membership in the pro-life movement is the belief that abortion is the unjustified killing of human beings and a commitment to save babies from abortion. No one can be excluded based on politics, religion, race, gender, or any other trait. (2) Principles over personalities. We must always put the mission over any person’s personal agendas, fame, or self interest. (3) Non-violence. We must be committed to non-violence as the way to end abortion. Anyone in the pro-life movement must be 100% committed to non-violence both as the reason to end abortion and the means to end abortion. (4) Pro-life means ending abortion. We can’t have add on agendas such as “ending abortion AND electing our favorite politicians”, “ending abortion AND converting people to my Christian denomination,” or “ending abortion AND converting people to Catholic doctrine on contraception.” There is plenty of time outside the pro-life movement for other agendas. When we are engaged in pro-life activities we are solely focused on the mission. No additional missions. These are just a few of my suggestions for core values.

Pamela M.: At a quick glance I didn’t see anything about perinatal and pediatric palliative care and hospice programs. Proper funding for medical childcare/daycare options, Early Intervention, Special Education, respite, in home nursing for the most medically fragile, adult day programs and vocational opportunities for individuals with disabilities, group/supportive living as well as residential care (when that is the best option for the individual), etc. As a mother of a child with severe disabilities due to being born with a rare life-limiting genetic diseases that is typically fatal in childhood we are more aware than most that many children who are aborted are terminated due to a prenatal diagnosis.