Dear Dan,
Your political campaign is pressing hard to encourage Oklahomans to repent of being "pro-life", and declare themselves committed to one thing... "Abolitionist" of abortion.
I'm in my late 50s and I have been diminished by people who are seeking to change a 45 year old term into a derogatory. Your campaign is featuring videos of people openly repenting of having been pro-life. You're trying hard to make that term a slur and associated with phoniness, compromised convictions, & deceptiveness of intent.
Let me tell you how I joined the cause of honoring the dignity of life.
Your political campaign is pressing hard to encourage Oklahomans to repent of being "pro-life", and declare themselves committed to one thing... "Abolitionist" of abortion.
I'm in my late 50s and I have been diminished by people who are seeking to change a 45 year old term into a derogatory. Your campaign is featuring videos of people openly repenting of having been pro-life. You're trying hard to make that term a slur and associated with phoniness, compromised convictions, & deceptiveness of intent.
Let me tell you how I joined the cause of honoring the dignity of life.
- As a Catholic child I supported many efforts for racial equality, honoring the life of the unborn, & dignity for the elderly.
- I fought against abortion as a 12 year old in central Minnesota, in 1973, with the MCCL.
- I held public school debates as a 14 year old high school freshman.
- In the 80s and beyond my wife & I opened our home to homeless mothers who had aborted previous pregnancies, in partnership with Catholic Charities.
- We have done sidewalk counseling, marches down public streets, & lobbying at the capitol, with Tulsa Christian Fellowship.
- We gave liberally of our limited funds, and voiced our protests in the media.
- We have preached in churches and city parks.
I believe it is worse than mockery and far beyond glib, to diminish the many manifestations of the larger effort to defend life. If you or Randy Brogdon have some misgivings about your legislative service, you can certainly follow your convictions and make your peace. But you're promoting yourself as the rightful candidate for the political aspiration of governor.
I do not make the term 'Abolitionist' a denigration. Jeff Durbin is a nationally-known Abolitionist, & he has been an inspiration to me. I've admired his message for years. I do agree with Jeff Durbin, that there are 'abolitionists' who are a grave threat to the Abolitionist movement because of their lack of honesty and their ulterior motives.
I have no idea why you feel so compelled to press your political correctness, but it's just as wrong a tactic as when a raving liberal does it. You're trying to reframe the debate, but you're disparaging multitudes who have fought this fight since maybe before you or I came around.
What I will not support is a veto of some legal efforts just because those efforts weren't perfection and the complete end of the bigger battle.
There was a pro-life movement before Roe-v-Wade; and there will be a pro-life movement after the overturning of Roe-v-Wade.
What I hope we can stop is the tactic of politically-driven redefinitions which denigrate the bigger effort to honor the dignity of every life, at every age, and of every color.
I do not make the term 'Abolitionist' a denigration. Jeff Durbin is a nationally-known Abolitionist, & he has been an inspiration to me. I've admired his message for years. I do agree with Jeff Durbin, that there are 'abolitionists' who are a grave threat to the Abolitionist movement because of their lack of honesty and their ulterior motives.
I have no idea why you feel so compelled to press your political correctness, but it's just as wrong a tactic as when a raving liberal does it. You're trying to reframe the debate, but you're disparaging multitudes who have fought this fight since maybe before you or I came around.
What I will not support is a veto of some legal efforts just because those efforts weren't perfection and the complete end of the bigger battle.
There was a pro-life movement before Roe-v-Wade; and there will be a pro-life movement after the overturning of Roe-v-Wade.
What I hope we can stop is the tactic of politically-driven redefinitions which denigrate the bigger effort to honor the dignity of every life, at every age, and of every color.
