Mike Pence Purple
October 7, 2020

Pro-Life and Catholic Voters Need to Pay Attention to the Vice-Presidential Debate; Religious Bigotry and Misuse of the Law against Political Opponents must be Addressed

“Using the law to punish people you don’t agree with sets a dangerous precedent and should be openly debated on Wednesday,” says SFLAction’s Kristan Hawkins. “The Pro-Life Generation wants to know how a Biden-Harris Administration will compare to the Pro-Life accomplishments of President Trump and Vice President Pence. Given the records of these two individuals, surely the moderators can find the time to ask a question on abortion.”

WASHINGTON D.C. and SALT LAKE CITY, UT: (10-7-2020) – Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins called on Wednesday’s debate moderators to address the human rights issue of our day – abortion – in tonight’s Vice-Presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris. “The records on the abortion issue that each of the Vice-Presidential contenders bring to their tickets provides plenty of material for conversation,” Hawkins observed.

Recently, Hawkins addressed critical issues with Harris’ record on abortion as well as on religious bigotry in an op-ed for USA Today, headlined: Catholic voters can’t ignore abortion or Kamala Harris’ religious bigotry in 2020 election.

She observed: “In this election, stark contrasts also exist between candidates on issues like ‘codifying Roe,’ a term of art that means creating a federal law to allow for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, sometimes with taxpayer funding. Getting rid of the Hyde Amendment — former Vice President Joe Biden’s position — means support for taxpayer funding of abortion. Eliminating the Mexico City policy means taxpayer funding of abortion worldwide. ‘‘Medicare for All’ could equal forcing abortion coverage into all health care. The tragic passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a clear reminder of the ever-present issue of judicial appointments as a reason to vote for those who want to see life protected in law.”

But Harris’ track record regarding people of faith is troubling. Hawkins wrote: “In hearings of multiple recent judicial nominees, senators — including the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris — attacked candidates like Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who is on President Donald Trump’s short list for the Supreme Court, for actually believing the tenets of their church. Harris has a troubling record. While attorney general of California, Harris arranged for an armed raid on the home of pro-life journalist and activist David Daleiden, who had dared to document Planned Parenthood employees’ engagement in exchanging money for aborted infant body parts, and she did this after advocating for Planned Parenthood as part of her Senate campaign. Her abortion platform while running for president included using the Department of Justice against states that attempt to pass pro-life laws.

“Last year, Harris introduced the Do No Harm Act in the U.S. Senate, which would water down the federal 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, among other laws designed to protect people of faith. In effect, that change would empower governmental authorities to force people of faith to comply with laws they find morally objectionable, such as pay for or perform abortions in health care if they receive some state or federal funding.

“This is not a small threat as twice the nuns of the Little Sisters of the Poor have been forced to go to the Supreme Court because they did not want to pay for birth control and abortions, or provide insurance coverage for contraceptives.”

Looking at today’s debate, Hawkins said, “Candidates’ positions on the human rights issue of our day – abortion – tells you everything you need to know about whether they want to protect the weak and helpless or whether they want to give in to the demands of a billion-dollar, predatory industry, wasting our tax money in the process.”

In this election, Students for Life of America has a #VoteProLifeFirst campaign currently running in 46 states, while SFLAction is engaged in a #Justice4Life effort. For up-to-the-minute reaction to tonight’s debate, follow SFLA and SFLAction across social media platforms.

For Interviews, e-mail Kristi Hamrick at [email protected]

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Students for Life Action (SFLAction) is the 501c4 sister organization of Students for Life of America (SFLA), the nation’s largest, pro-life, student organization with more than 1,240 groups on middle, high school, and university campuses in all 50 states. Students for Life has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.

Students for Life of America (SFLA) is the nation’s largest, pro-life, youth organization. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, SFLA serves more than 1,240 groups on college and university, middle and high school, medical and law school campuses in all 50 states. Student pro-life organizations work to confront policies on their campuses to support pregnant and parenting students, to end Planned Parenthood’s relationships with schools and communities, and to change minds of their peers about abortion. SFLA has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.