Election Year Tool For Pro-lifers

Pro-lifers should consider a practical new tool that they can use to kill two birds with one stone. In this election year will help to: (A) expose candidates who are do-nothing, lip-service only pro-lifers and (B) raise awareness of an issue that the pro-aborts don't want to have discussed in public -- and certainly not in a political contest where the media and the public would have to deal with this issue.

This practical tool for pro-lifers is a question -- one that can be raised by pro-lifers in every candidate forum, in town hall meetings, in letters-to-the-editor and in press releases. It would be something along these lines: "Mr. (Ms.) Candidate, In order to break the cycle of ongoing child sexual abuse, we need to prosecute sexual predators and those who cover-up their crimes. Given the recent evidence of their willingness to cover-up the crimes of child sexual predators, will you work to end all government funding of Planned Parenthood and will you call for the arrest of clinic workers, clinic owners or other family planning service providers who fail to comply with our state's mandatory reporting law?"

Candidates who are truly pro-life can raise an issue that works in their favor and declare their willingness to commit to practical, civic minded action (which advances the pro-life agenda), while their opposition is left in the position of having to stand with or support funding for a group that helps pedophiles evade detection by law enforcement.

This works in all 50 states, because all every state has a mandatory reporting law and the recent Life Dynamics undercover investigation (cited above) proved that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers fail to comply with these laws over 90% of the time -- across all 50 states. Something like this can be used in any race, but especially when abortion is a hot issue (for example, see http://www.detnews.com/2002/politics/0208/04/a10-553335.htm ).

My favorite thing to do during elections is to use the Democrats own words against them. You have a bunch of looney feminazis in the Dem Party who scream that anyone who doesn't support abortion on demand is an "anti-choice extremist".

So I go by their own logic and point out all the "extremists" in their own party. For example...the feminazi's here in Illinois are pushing Lisa Madigan for Attoneny General (a laughable lightweight who's never tried a case before in her life!) solely because her opponent is pro-life and will therefore "infringe on a woman's right to choose". Of course, what little Lisa's supporters seem to CONVINENTLY overlook is that Lisa's OWN FATHER, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (D), is a devout Catholic with a 100% pro-life record (though it didn't rub off on his daughter, and Mike is liberal on everything else). Mike's the one who toted his daughter for A.G. during the Dem primary and helped her win because of his famous last name. Why are the Dems so uncomfortable with a pro-life A.G. if they do whatever a pro-life Speaker of the House wants? Can they really trust someone so "anti-choice"? ;-)

The problem with this question is that a candidate who isn't already familiar with the statistics that you cite is not going to accept any "Given" statement without checking it first. Furthermore, the candidate may have a hard time understanding such an involved question in a crowded room with bad acoustics. Finally, no one else in the audience is likely to understand the question, much less the answer, unless the audience is comprised entirely of people who read the magazine cited.

If you are going to use this idea, may I suggest a different wording and application to specific situations?

For a federal candidate: Mr. Candidate, there is evidence that in 9 out of 10 cases, Planned Parenthood clinics fail to follow laws that require reporting of child sexual abuse. If you could confirm this evidence, would you be willing to introduce legislation to end all federal funding of Planned Parenthood?

For a state or local candidate: Mr. Candidate, there is evidence that in 9 out of 10 cases, Planned Parenthood clinics fail to follow laws that require reporting of child sexual abuse. What will you do to see that those who violate our laws are prosecuted?

I'll admit to being nitpicky, but I think there are some important "nits" here. First, the federal legislature has no place in enforcing state laws. Asking a candidate for Congress what he/she will do to aid enforcement of state laws is counterproductive. You either put the candidate in the position of endorsing federal intrusion into areas where it shouldn't or you make him/her appear to dismiss the issue. The federal legislature only controls the pork sent to Planned Parenthood, those candidates should only be asked about what they should control. Secondly, the converse is true for state candidates. They have no control over federal funding of anything, but they should have some way to see that state laws are enforced. Thirdly, I think both of my statements are simpler and would have more impact than the one originally posted.

WFTR
Bill

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.