“These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren" ~ Proverbs 6:16-19
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We are now 45 days from Election Day 2020. Often we hear this is the most important election of our lifetime, I believe with all that I am such a statement is an understatement. Over the next several blogs I am going to show a side by side comparison between the Republican Platform and Democrat Platform on various issues. I know it is difficult and time consuming to cull through all the information out there to find the various stances on issues so hopefully this will help.
When deciding who to vote for I believe we each have to ask ourselves the following question, "What am I willing to be complicit in?" We have a Representative form of government, so whomever we vote for we are giving permission to act in our stead and to speak for us.
I believe we are blessed beyond measure with our form of government and the right to vote. I also firmly believe that before we vote for someone it is imperative on us to do our due diligence on their stance on issues. I do believe we are accountable for how we vote and whom we allow to speak in our name in government. While it is impossible to foresee every single vote someone will make if we look at the platform they are running on we will have a good idea of their beliefs and how they will vote on any given issue.
We either approve of someone's stance on issues by voting for them or we stand in opposition to those stances by voting for the other person. Never in my lifetime has there been such a clear difference in the party platforms and stances on issues. I would also like to point out that not voting is still making a choice for one stance or the other, to not act is to act.
The first issue I want to show the platform stances on is the Sanctity of All Life. I believe we have paid and continue to pay a heavy price in the country because we do not honor the Sanctity of All Life (conception to natural death).
Please note that if a particular issue is not listed or has less detail on one of the platforms it is because either the Republican or Democrat party did not address it.
Democrat Position on Sanctity of Life
- Opposes all Federal and state laws that prohibit or restrict Abortion.
- Supports restoring taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood.
- Supports the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion services.
- Opposes restrictions on medication (i.e., non-surgical) abortions that are “inconsistent with the most recent medical and scientific evidence and that do not protect public health.”
- Opposes conscience-based exemptions that would allow medical providers, employers, and others to refuse to provide contraceptives and abortifacients.
- Supports a prohibition on the rationing of health care that refuses or diverts hospitalization, treatment, or supplies based on a patient’s disability.
Republican Position on Sanctity of Life
- Supports the sanctity of human life and affirms that the “unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed.”
- Supports a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.
- Opposes taxpayer funding of abortion. Calls for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and health-care plans that include abortion coverage. Opposes the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they “provide or refer for elective abortions or sell Fetal Body Parts rather than provide healthcare.”
- Supports codifying the Hyde Amendment and its application across the government.
- Supports a ban on human cloning for research or reproduction, and a ban on the creation of, or experimentation on, human embryos for research.
- Supports Congress’ ban on the FDA approval of research involving three-parent embryos.
- Opposes the FDA’s approval of Mifeprex, the abortifacient formerly known as RU-486. This drug “threatens women’s health, as does the agency’s endorsement of over-the-counter sales of powerful contraceptives without a physician’s recommendation.”
- Supports cutting federal and state funding for entities that endanger women’s health by performing abortions in a manner inconsistent with federal or state law.
- Opposes the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment from people with disabilities, including newborns, the elderly, and infirm.
- Opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide.
- Supports a restoration of a ban from the Drug Enforcement Administration on the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide.
- Supports the right of parents to consent to medical treatment for their minor children and urges enactment of legislation that would require parental consent for their daughter to be transported across state lines for an abortion.
- Opposes health-care providers being permitted to “unilaterally withhold services because a patient’s life is deemed not worth living,” and urges all states and Congress to make it a crime to acquire, transfer, or sell fetal tissues from elective abortions for research.
- Supports a Congressional ban on any sale of fetal body parts and calls on Congress to ban the practice of misleading women on so-called fetal harvesting consent forms.
- Supports our “moral obligation to assist, rather than penalize, women who face an unplanned pregnancy.”
- Supports legislation that requires financial responsibility for the child be “equally borne by both the mother and father upon conception until the child reaches adulthood.” Supports funding for ultrasounds and adoption assistance.
- Supports states protecting women and girls through laws requiring informed consent, parental consent, waiting periods, and clinic regulation, and condemns the Supreme Court’s “activist decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt striking down commonsense Texas laws providing for basic health and safety standards in abortion clinics.”
- Opposes infanticide and calls on Congress to pass a federal Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Acts prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks, the “point at which current medical research shows that unborn babies can feel excruciating pain during abortions.”
- Supports state and federal efforts “against the cruelest forms of abortion, especially dismemberment abortion procedures, in which unborn babies are literally torn apart limb from limb.”
- Supports a federal ban on sex-selection abortions and abortions based on disabilities. Opposes embryonic stem-cell research and federal funding of such research. Supports adult stem-cell research and urges the restoration of the national placental stem-cell bank.
- Supports the ability of all organizations to “provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral, or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty.”
- Supports the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.
The issue of the Sanctity of Life is one of great importance and it is in my opinion a black and white issue for Christians, there are no gray areas. (Any pastor/preacher who does not speak to what God says regarding the Sanctity of All Life from the pulpit this Election needs to resign immediately.)
Each and every life conceived is precious and it is incumbent upon each of us to stand for those who are voiceless and vulnerable.Today
Pray for the family of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. While I disagreed with almost every decision she handed down, hers was a remarkable life.
Pray for the new justice and their family that the President will nominate. While most recent SCOTUS nominations have been contentious (to say the least) this one is likely to be explosive.
Pray the nomination and confirmation process will be swift, many justices are confirmed in about 35-40 days. With the contention of this election we will need 9 sitting justices (imagine a 4-4 SCOTUS decision on the 2020 election).
Pray that those threatening violence over the nomination of a new SCOTUS justice come to their senses.
God's Promise for Today
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
