By Katherine Sheets, Executive Editor
During the 1970s, American political parties began to split resolutely over the single issue of abortion. Fighting for the right to choose was deemed a progressive ideal while the anti-abortion camp sat behind conservative borders. Somewhere along the line, anti-abortion became wrongly synonymous with “pro-life.” Almost 50 years later, America is still dividing over an issue that should, in theory, be able to unite us all. Pro-life should not refer to one’s stance on abortion and should not be a view singularly held by Republicans.
It would be morally ridiculous to say that there are people who are anti-life. In theory, all Americans are pro-life, no matter their stance on abortion. Being pro-life should first encompass the right to have life and secondly the right to have a life as high quality as achievably possible. The care of one’s quality of life should be considered under this idea, which suggests that pro-lifers need to take a good look at American issues such as prison reform or caring for the poor and needy.
One should not stand under the guise of “pro-life” and simultaneously brush off the cyclical poverty experienced in America. Often those living in poverty are in the trap of dead-end jobs, where their income keeps them living in poorer sections of town and attending poorly-funded schools, unable to afford higher education and hence being hired for low-wage jobs. Though not impossible, the cycle is difficult to break.
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 39.7 million Americans were living in poverty in 2017, based on a family’s makeup and income and measured before taxes, not taking into consideration programs like Medicaid or Food Stamps. Historically speaking, addressing poverty has not been a strong conservative platform. The most well-known government attacks on poverty were implemented by Democrats in FDR’s New Deal in the 1930s and LBJ’s declared “War on Poverty” in the 1960s.
Instead of focusing on the fact that conservatives disagree with current welfare programs, they should seek to find the common ground in the individual needing welfare. If we are all truly pro-life, conservatives and progressives should be working together to implement an effective welfare system that does not lend itself to permanent dead-end jobs but to solutions which improve an individual’s well-being and chance for prosperity.
Similarly, the criminal justice system and prison reform should also be treated as pro-life issues. Traditionally speaking, a more progressive view supports lighter punishments, increased quality of facilities and abolishment of the death penalty; harsher punishments, facility budget cuts and a more “you reap what you sow” stance belongs to conservatives. But if being pro-life means we truly support a life lived to its fullest capacity, we need to look at our justice system and pursue restoration and mercy, not sentences that discourage the chance for rehabilitation.
Prison Fellowship is one such non-partisan organization focusing on the restoration of prisoners, advocacy of victims and healing for families involved. Holding restorative values as its primary concern, Prison Fellowship works with both those in and out of prison in order to create safer communities all around. The organization has warden training and prisoner rehabilitation programs specifically targeted to prepare incarcerated members to reenter society in a healthy way.
If we dismiss the need for rehabilitating inmates or encourage long sentences that ignore a person behind bars for 25 years, how can we realistically ask them to rejoin society and make healthy, positive contributions? Pro-life means caring about the lives of people and giving them the opportunity to start again, despite traditional societal stereotypes against prisoners. Being pro-life means giving accused persons and those justly punished the chance to start over instead of abandoning them.
The pro-life stance isn’t merely an abortion-haters club. It’s a topic that, when truly encompassing all areas of life, both sides of the political spectrum can — and should — find common ground for which to fight. Whether it’s the need to compromise on productive welfare reform or prison rehab, both progressives and conservatives need to expand their definition of and unite under the pro-life label.
