Why Candidates Unwilling to Defund Planned Parenthood Shouldn’t Receive a Single Conservative Vote

With all of the recently released Planned Parenthood videos which expose all kinds of horrific practices — you know, other than that practice they don’t hide: murdering children — you’d think every single Republican would have the courage to take a stand against them.  (Actually, every single human, regardless of party should be able to see the atrocities.)

Not so. David French writes:

Yesterday Donald Trump indicated that he was open to continuing to fund Planned Parenthood, saying, “What I would do when the time came, I’d look at the individual things they do, and maybe some of the individual things they do are good. I know a lot of the things are bad. But certainly the abortion aspect of it should not be funded by government, absolutely.” Of course it’s not truly possible to wall off Planned Parenthood’s abortion work from the rest of the organization. Half a billion dollars of taxpayer money helps keep the nation’s largest abortion provider alive. Funding Planned Parenthood funds abortions.

Unless Trump backtracks from this position and vows, like most of the rest of the Republican field, to defund Planned Parenthood entirely, he shouldn’t receive a single conservative vote. Not one. This applies to every candidate in the race. Pledge now to defund Planned Parenthood or face relentless conservative opposition.

Yes, I know the objections: “But what about the border?” “What about ISIS?” “What about China?” “There is more than one relevant issue in the race!” Yes, there are certainly many issues, but an unwillingness to defund Planned Parenthood — especially in the aftermath of videos that show its true, blood-red colors — tells me all I need to know about the candidate’s moral courage and moral reasoning.

I totally agree.  David goes on to say:

When push comes to shove, if a candidate will give on a matter of life or death, what won’t he give on? Where, exactly, is his line in the sand? Can you trust a candidate to defy the full fury of popular culture and build a wall when he can’t defy the full fury of popular culture on life? In fact, recent history shows that the very failure to impose “litmus tests” has brought the conservative movement to grief again and again — see, for example, Republican Supreme Court appointees Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, and Sandra Day O’Connnor.

Sometimes the phrase “litmus test voter” is used derogatorily.  Not any more.  Not after those videos.  Any Republican who ignores the pro-life movement will do so to their detriment.  Now is the time – it’s actually past time — to  start protecting those who have no voice.

Read more on the Patheos Faith and Family Channel, follow Nancy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram