Democrats Pass Bill To Reduce Abortion

Led by pro-life Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) and a pro-choice Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the Democrats have now passed an initiative in the House of Representatives to cut down on the abortion rate.

From Congressman Tim Ryan....

“By funding this initiative, we are offering policy solutions that promote life and support parents beyond the birth of their new child. We are affirming the need to prevent unintended pregnancies and to help women with the economic pressures that may lead them to choosing an abortion,” said DeLauro. “And of all the important goals this initiative can help us reach, perhaps the most important is that it helps move us all forward on this issue – beyond the question of the legality of abortion and toward actually reducing the need for abortion and providing critical investments for families.”

“It is our moral obligation to address those issues with which all sides agree. Whether you are pro-life like me or pro-choice like my friend Congresswoman DeLauro, the common ground we must build upon is our serious desire to reduce the rate of abortions,” said Congressman Tim Ryan. “This package accomplishes that goal by increasing or creating funding streams for programs that have been shown to reduce both unintended pregnancies and abortions. ”

With $647 million in funding, the initiative will have the resources to make an impact on reducing the number of abortions in America. It is focused on the need to reduce abortion in our country, while also providing supports for new parents to strengthen their families. Read more about the measures here.

Back in September and January I wrote about the efforts of House and Senate Dems to pass Prevention legislation that would help reduce the abortion rate. Finally such legislation has passed!

Abortion has been effectively used as a wedge issue for many many years now. It's great that a majority of our House are willing to find common ground and pass a measure that will actually help reduce the abortion rate.

HT: Jesse Lava of Faithful Democrats

The Faith of John Edwards

Last week, Sen. John Edwards was slurred by the bad-mannered vixen, Ann Coulter.

This week Sen. Edwards sat down for an interview with Faith-Based whistle-blower, David Kuo.

The topic of discussion? The Religious Faith of John Edwards.

A few of the Senator's responses below...

What parts of American life do you think would most outrage Jesus?

Our selfishness. Our resort to war when it's not necessary. I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs. I think he would be appalled, actually.

You've had a lot of experience with suffering. Part of your career has been representing people who we see as suffering. You've also had what you called "world stopping pain" and suffering in your own life. What has that suffering taught you?

It's been part of my own personal faith journey. Because I've done what I think a lot of Americans have done, which [is]: I was raised in a very Christian home and a Southern Baptist church, and baptized in the Southern Baptist church. My dad has been a deacon in the Southern Baptist church for many years. In fact, we went back to my church a few weeks ago and he was getting the Lay Person of the Year Award, which we were all very proud of him for.

But when I went away to college, I drifted away from my faith. Even after Elizabeth and I got married, I had drifted away. It isn't that we didn't exercise faith. We would go to church, but it was not the sort of dominant day-to-day living faith that it is for me today. And in 1996, on a day I'll never forget, my 16 year old son died. And the days after that, when I was trying to survive and Elizabeth's trying to survive, my faith came roaring back and has stayed with me since that time, and helped me deal with the personal challenges we've had. Not only the death of my son, but some of the politics and the difficulty of that on our family. Elizabeth's breast cancer. All the things that we've seen, which is not that unusual for families.

In 2004, John Kerry said that he wouldn't let his faith affect his decision making. Does it affect yours?

Yes, it does. I do believe in the separation of church and state. But I don't think separation of church and state means you have to be free from your faith. My faith informs everything I think and do. It's part of my value system. And to suggest that I can somehow separate and divorce that from the rest of me is not possible. I would not, under any circumstances, try to impose my personal faith and belief on the rest of the country. I don't think that's right. I don't think that's appropriate. But freedom of religion doesn't mean freedom from religion. And I think that anything we can do to promote the idea that people should express their faith is a good thing.

What are the biggest moral issues facing America today?

There are several. One is here within our own borders. The fact that we have 37 million people who live every day worrying about taking care of themselves and their family, living in poverty, I think is a huge moral issue.

I would say the same thing about the 47 million people who don't have health care coverage. I think those are the big moral issues here within our borders.

But I think there are big moral issues in other parts of the world, too. Global poverty, half the planet living on $2 or less a day. Three billion people.

I think this genocide that's going on in Western Sudan, Darfur, is a huge moral issue. Us continuing to allow kids to be born in Africa with AIDS because their mothers can't afford $4 medicine is a big moral issue.

While the media has been obsessing over Hillary and Obama, John Edwards has been lost in the shuffle. No doubt, Edwards comes across as a sincere and compassionate Christian who is genuinely concerned about the little guy.

Unlike Hillary, John Edwards doesn't seem to need two dozen advisors and pollsters to micromanage every word he utters. He's comfortable in his own skin and apparently quite capable of articulating his own personal statement of faith.

I hope mainstream news outlets will begin to take seriously Edwards candidacy.

Democrats Seek To Reduce Abortions

Democrats are seeking to govern from the Middle on social issues according to The New York Times. Check it out.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 — The promise may not outlast their political honeymoon, but Democratic Congressional leaders say they are committed to governing from the center, and not just on bread-and-butter issues like raising the minimum wage or increasing aid for education. They also hope to bring that philosophy to bear on some of the most divisive social issues in politics, like abortion.

In their first days in session, Senate Democratic leaders reintroduced a bill that they said was indicative of their new approach: the Prevention First Act, which seeks to reduce the number of abortions by expanding access to birth control, family planning and sex education.

In September, I blogged about this bill sponsored by Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid. As Christians we should be committed to reducig the number of abortions in America. Governing from the middle requires that politicians start listening to the wishes of their constituents not voices from the Religious Right. According to this poll, 89% of adults in the United States favor more access to birth control options and 81% agree that those options should not be limited by income.

The Democrat's Prevention First Act is the first step towards creating a society in which the desperate realities that entice women to abort are reduced in severity.