"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized--the right to be born, the right to live, the right to grow old.
"I share the confidence of those who feel that America is working to care for its unwanted as well as wanted children, protecting particularly those who cannot protect themselves. I also share the opinions of those who do not accept abortion as a response to our society's problems--an inadequate welfare system, unsatisfactory job training programs, and insufficient financial support for all its citizens."When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfil its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception." (Sen. Edward Kennedy, August 3, 1971)
Since writing this letter, Kennedy has become a leading abortion proponent in the Senate. He sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, is a primary supporter of the criminalization of abortion protest, votes for taxpayer funding of abortion, and wins awards of appreciation by the abortion industry.
"There are those who argue that the right to privacy is of [a] higher order than the right to life...that was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned.
"What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person and what kind of a society will we have 20 years hence if life can be taken so casually? It is that question, the question of our attitude, our value system, and our mind-set with regard to the nature and worth of life itself that is the central question confronting mankind. Failure to answer that question affirmatively may leave us with a hell right here on earth." (Rev. Jesse Jackson, writing January 1977)Rev. Jackson switched to a pro-abortion position before he ran for president in 1988.
"I am opposed to abortion and to government funding of abortions. We should not spend state funds on abortions because so many people believe abortion is wrong." (President Bill Clinton, writing Sept. 26, 1986)As president, Mr. Clinton has not only signed into law five bills heavily promoting the practice of abortion and harvesting fetal tissue, but is now asking taxpayers to pay for every abortion via his national health insurance plan.
(The quotes, by the way, were taken from an Americas United for Life Forum in February 1994 which were reprinted in the May/June 1994 issue of Eternal Perspectives. I came across them while reading through EPM's excellent website.)
I encourage you to print these quotations and keep them around for use in your conversations, your letters to politicians and news editors, and for your kid's school projects.
