The obligation to vote pro life

The basic principle of pro-life voting is the following: being pro-abortion (or "pro-choice") disqualifies a person for public office. This includes those who claim to be "personally opposed" to abortion, but are unwilling to do anything to stop it.

The right to life is the fundamental human right, on which every other right depends. It follows that no matter how attractive a particular candidate's policies on other issues may be, if he is anti-life, he is unworthy of support.

Pro-lifers are often accused of being "single-issue" when it comes to voting. This is true, in a sense. If you believe that the killing of innocent human beings is gravely wrong, your conscience will not permit you to vote for someone who is pro-abortion - no matter what.

On the other hand, the "single-issue" accusation is quite false. Pro-lifers are concerned about a host of life issues which are distinct from abortion, like euthanasia and reproductive technologies - not to mention the spectrum of pro-family concerns which pro-lifers generally share.

No issue comes close to being as important as the abortion issue. Some people say that other "social problems" are equally important; but how many of those problems involve the deliberate killing of well over 100,000 Americans every year?

Sometimes it happens that there is more than one pro-life candidate, in such a situation, a pro-life voter should then consider other things: which candidate has the stronger pro-life record; which candidate is more likely to be elected; which candidate's overall platform is more attractive; and which party is more worthy of support.

Often it happens that there is no pro-life candidate , in such a situation, a pro-life voter might choose to mark each of the spaces, or, if space permits, write, "No pro-life candidate," (In other words, there is no pro-life candidate running for the party which that voter would otherwise support.)

This is not a waste of a vote. On the contrary, the party will take note if their candidates' support for abortion has cost them votes. And since "spoiled ballots" are recorded ,this act of conscience is not merely private. But even if this were not so, however, voters should remember that the only "wasted" vote is the vote cast for a candidate which the voter does not truly support. Choosing the "lesser of two evils," in other words, still leaves us with evil.

Whatever the situation, pro-lifers should go to the polls on election day. The absence of a pro-life candidate is no reason to stay away.