Ron Paul: "Too many laws already" to protect babies in early pregnancy

Last night's Google/Youtube/Fox News debate in Orlando, Florida, focused on jobs and the economy, but there was one question on abortion. It went to Ron Paul: "Congressman Paul, you have said that you believe that life begins at conception, and that abortion ends an innocent life. If you believe that, how can you support a rape exception to abortion bans, and how can you support the morning after pill? Aren't those lives just as innocent?"

Where the issue of abortion should be legislated--state level or national level--is one thing. It's quite another to say that unborn lives don't deserve protection because "we have too many laws already." He says laws against the morning-after pill (not clear if he includes older unborn babies conceived through rape in this) are too hard to enforce. A pragmatic answer to a question of principle. Hmmm. These drugs are only on the market because the FDA has approved them. If you ban the drug, the supply goes away. Sounds pretty easy to enforce to me.

Let's also be clear. The morning-after pill doesn't treat a disease that a rape victim might have. It kills a baby that may have been conceived. Rep. Paul confuses the issue by suggesting the pill might be used to treat a sexually-transmitted disease.

He closed with this statement: "Only the moral character of the people will eventually solve this problem, not a law." In a representative government like ours, laws are a reflection of the moral values of the people. Morals are where we need to start, but morals lead to laws against evil. Murder should not be legal in any form.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of this video is the amount of applause Paul received. He should have been booed off the stage for his impassioned defense of murder under pretense of futility or federalism.

We in the pro-life community have much work to do so that Americans can no longer claim to be "pro-life" while accepting the slaughter of the unborn for any reason.

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Wesley Wilson is the President of Let Me Live, a nonprofit dedicated to saving babies by showing the beauty and value of life to women considering abortion. Please learn more about the Let Me Live pro-life billboard campaign. Donations are tax deductible.

Disclaimer: Let Me Live does not endorse or oppose any candidates. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not represent an official position of Let Me Live or its board of directors.

Ron Paul Views License as Liberty. Life Loses.

Although I've never agreed with Ron Paul's isolationist foreign policy, some of his answers at the Values Voter Debate on Monday evening should cause great alarm among pro-life and pro-family supporters. He showed a lack of understanding of true liberty, which explained his "No" answer on these two questions:

Bobby Schindler: My beloved sister Terri Schiavo was starved and dehydrated to death in the land of abundance while the world watched – because she was disabled and unable to speak for herself. Would you pursue or support legislation that would protect the cognitively disabled and vulnerable people from being dehydrated to death by having their food and water taken away?

Dr. Rick Scarborough: Will you agree to prosecute the broad range of illegal adult pornography rather that just the most extreme material, and prosecute all violators of federal obscenity law, including the new, so-called "white collar pornographers"?

(For a transcript of questions, see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57685)

How could Ron Paul--widely hailed as a pro-life candidate--refuse to support legislation to protect innocent life? He explained his reasoning (libertarian more than conservative) in his closing statement:

We cannot go to Washington to dictate to us how we improve our personal behavior. You don't dictate--you don't legislate virtue.... You do that from your family, your friends, and your neighbors, but not from the federal government.

We come back to a fundamental question: What is the role of government? I agree with Rep. Paul that our federal government has greatly exceeded its proper role. But the Bible teaches that God established government to restrain and punish evil. (See Genesis 9, Romans 13, and I Peter 2:13-14.)

Moreover, the liberty that Rep. Paul prizes was given to man by God at creation. God gave us the ability to decide our own actions. But God placed limits on those actions. True liberty exists only within the boundaries of morality. No porn addict can legitimately claim he is exercising freedom. He is a slave to his own sinful desires. Although governments cannot break that slavery--only the blood of Jesus does that--governments have the responsibility to curtail it as much as possible to restrain evil, promote good, and protect the innocent victims of pornography.

As Alan Keyes has said, "No one has the right to do wrong."

We don't want to take this idea to the extreme of having government dictating our faith, but we must understand that every law is an attempt to dictate someone's idea of virtue. It is wrong for Mexicans to flood our southern border to take advantage of our benefits without putting back into the system, so we made it illegal. It is wrong for other nations (or terrorists) to attack us, so we have a strong national defense. It is wrong to murder, so we have laws against it--unless you are not yet born or are disabled.

Before Monday, I thought Ron Paul was firmly pro-life, but now I know better.

Monday night he made it clear that he doesn't believe the government has any business protecting the disabled from "being dehydrated to death by having their food and water taken away."

So the list of announced presidential candidates with a clear and consistent pro-life record includes: Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, John Cox, Alan Keyes, and Hugh Cort.

Wesley Wilson

Wesley Wilson is the President of Let Her Live, a nonprofit dedicated to saving babies by showing the beauty and value of life to women considering abortion. Please learn more about the Let Her Live targeted pro-life billboard campaign. Donations are tax deductible.

Disclaimer: Let Her Live does not endorse or oppose any political candidates, and political views expressed on this blog represent only the personal views of their authors.