Congress should act this week to correct the current policy allowing for the separation of immigrant children from their parents if those parents have attempted to enter the border of the U.S. illegally. I realize that this statement may make some of you uncomfortable, but this is a Gospel issue as well as a pro-life issue that deserves our voice.
We should not fear a political backlash or a losing of our political street cred by calling out wrongheaded policies, regardless of who is in office. Bad legislation is bad legislation and consistency in our leadership and activism should be a hallmark we all wish to achieve, and frankly this policy has been a staple under both Democratic and Republican leaders. So no party is off the hook or has moral authority when it comes to this issue.
I realize that we are a sovereign nation that must respect the rule of law and protect its borders. I also realize that every human bears the image of our Creator and deserves dignity. These two things can be true at the same time.
I am proud to know that many on the pro-life side are calling for a policy change and some in Washington are hearing that call and seeking to, in a bipartisan fashion, make that change a reality. The interesting part of this discussion, though, involves those that find themselves siding with pro-lifers. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and other abortion activists are also calling this policy wrongheaded.
This baffles me, considering abortion clinics, as a whole, have separated roughly sixty million children from their parents since 1973.
As a matter of fact, these same groups a couple of months ago were fighting for an immigrant’s ability to receive an abortion after she illegally entered the country. They won this fight and successfully separated this child from its mother, forever. The irony is truly remarkable.
Separating children from their parents without explanation and placing them in a holding cell is bad policy. At the same time, separating kids from their parents via medical or surgical abortion is bad policy. This is not hard math.
It is not lost on me that some pro-lifers are either not entering this conversation or are refusing to see the border issue as a pro-life/human dignity issue. This, in my estimation, is a mistake. We must seek consistency in our advocacy.
I do not apologize for my stance on the current border policy that calls for the separation of families. I, also, do not apologize for my stance on the current abortion policies in our country. Governing is hard and oftentimes messy, but we must be a society that chooses to protect the most vulnerable, both in and out of the womb. Calling for families to stay intact at the border does not make us less patriotic or in favor of open borders. On the contrary, it makes us pro-life…and I am comfortable with that.
posted by Andrew Wood, Executive Director
