"This Election and Abortion"

My friend Chris posted this on his Facebook page today. It is worth reading, so I reproduce it here.

This Election and Abortion
Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 6:09pm

I've been tempted many times over the last few months to write this note, but I've been chicken to. It just isn't fashionable to talk about abortion, and Supreme Court Justices, and this election. Anyway here goes.

I'll start by saying that I realize there are many Christian believers who think that abortion is not morally wrong. I have to admit that I cannot get inside your head and understand how you reconcile the self-sacrificing Christ with abortion, an act that is so self-serving. Whatever. I can't convince you and I'm not trying.

What is more unfathomable to me are those Christians who believe that abortion is morally evil (though they may stop short of calling it murder) but who plan to vote for Barack Obama. It is well known that Obama supports broad abortion rights, and would most likely sign into law a bill that codifies abortion rights at the federal level. Even more importantly, he almost certainly would appoint Supreme Court justices who would uphold Roe, thereby continuing the flow of abortions in this country for decades to come.

Maybe I am an idealist, but if you think abortion is morally wrong, I cannot see how you can vote for a President who will encourage them. Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, healthcare, energy; all these pale in importance when compared to death by abortion.

I became politically aware in 1984, the year I entered college. The Cold War and overturning Roe were 2 political realities that dominated the 1980s and they dominated my political landscape. Now, more than 20 years later, there is a chance to overturn Roe. Back in the 1980s, I could never have imagined that so many Christians would vote against the man who could appoint the justice(s) to rectify this great wrong.

If you're reading this and you're planning to vote for Obama (and you're a Christian who believes that abortion is morally wrong, if not evil) please reconsider your vote. Make history in 2008, but not for the wrong reasons.

And no, I'm not a single issue voter. I'm voting against Obama for 100 reasons other than abortion.