Christian Leaders Back Bipartisan Abortion Ad Campaign
An ideologically diverse group of Christian leaders came together this past week to support a new ad campaign calling for policies that will reduce abortions.
The Christian radio ad campaign began airing in 10 swing states on Wednesday and will run until Election Day on Nov. 4. The states the ad is airing in are Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri.
"We must move beyond the spiritually damaging culture war era," said the Rev. Rich Cizik, the National Association of Evangelicals' vice president for governmental affairs, in support of the ad campaign.
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"Deeply felt moral issues must no longer be leveraged for partisan gain. Let's all join together to be part of a positive strategy to reduce abortions in America that puts problem-solving above political posturing," he said.
Christian leaders supporting the ad are calling for Democrat and Republican politicians to find common ground solutions to reduce the number of abortions in America by tackling the root causes of abortion, including preventing unintended pregnancies and poverty.
"For decades now we've been stuck in a cycle of polarized legal debates that repeat 'pro-choice' and 'pro-life' mantras from either side while the number of abortions has remained mostly unchanged," said the Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners.
"What we need now is a new national commitment to pursuing practical and proven policies which could dramatically reduce the abortion rate in America."
The ad highlights statistics such as 1 in 5 pregnancies in America end in abortion and the number of abortions remains unchanged from 32 years ago to urge an end to "political posturing" and for people on both sides of the abortion rights lines to "get serious about protecting life."
Another idea highlighted in the ad is that while 2,400 late-term abortions a year is tragic, little is often said about the infants that die each year in America largely because of inadequate healthcare – a number 10 times that of late-term abortions a year.
"We need to ask ourselves what it really means to be pro-life and help move the conversation beyond bumper sticker slogans," the ad reads.
It praises lawmakers who are already working on solutions that will drastically reduce abortions by expanding programs that encourage adoption, increasing pre- and post-natal healthcare, preventing unintended pregnancies, and helping young mothers choose life.
"It's time for Democrats and Republicans to come together around solutions based on results, not rhetoric," the ad concludes.
Christian leaders that endorse the abortion reduction ad campaign include, among others, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Dr. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of the 12,000-member Northland, A Church Distributed in Florida; and Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.
Meanwhile, Christian right organizations such as Family Research Council and Focus on the Family are making their last pitch against Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's record on abortion.
FRC Action PAC announced on Friday its new TV ad in Virginia that targets Obama's effort to overturn bans on partial-birth abortion.
The FOTF Action's CitizenLink Web site, meanwhile, features as its top "Special Alerts" headline a broadcast titled "Obama's Abortion Extremism" and a video with the summary "Obama voted No 4 times on the Illinois Born-Alive Infant Defined Act."
