Pro-Life Truck Sent to Democratic Debate in Houston

You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.

See All Plans

HOUSTON, Texas (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pro-Lifers across the aisle are teaming up to bring the pro-life message to the forefront of the 2020 elections. Joining with Pro-Life Democrats, Texas Right to Life commissioned a pro-life billboard truck to circle the Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, where the third Democratic presidential debate was held on Thursday.

The message of the truck was "Abortion separates children from their families."

Church Militant spoke with Kimberly Schwartz, director of media and communication for Texas Right to Life, who said Democrats are trying to increase support in Texas despite the pro-abortion agenda being "monumentally out-of-step with Texans' pro-life values."

"As you saw in the previous two debates, Democrats and the media don't want to talk about their extreme belief that abortion should be legal and even taxpayer-funded until the moment of birth," Schwartz said. "We sent the truck to force the issue."

She explained there were "a slew of liberal protests" and was surprised to see that there were three pro-life demonstrations. Texas Right to Life, Pro-Life San Francisco and Created Equal all engaged voters outside the debate.

Schwartz said they wanted voters "to consider the extreme abortion position held by every Democratic candidate on stage that night."

"We knew that our pro-life message would not be welcomed at the debate," Schwartz explained. "This total rejection of pro-life values comes from the very top of the Democratic Party, the party leaders who try to oust Pro-Lifers from the so-called 'big tent' at all costs."

The pro-life rally was organized by Pro-Life Democrats, a new political action committee (PAC) with ties to Pro-Life San Francisco that is advocating for pro-life Democratic candidates in all levels of government. The rally featured speakers from Pro-Life San Francisco, Students for Life of America, New Wave Feminists, Democrats for Life, Texas Right to Life and others.

"Our party's presidential aspirants are not seeking the support of millions of Democratic voters who would like to see abortion less necessary and less common," Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life said. "Instead of advocating for deregulation of the abortion industry and easing abortion time limits past fetal viability, we urge the candidates to seek a more progressive solution to women experiencing crisis or unplanned pregnancies."

Numerous polls have shown Democratic voters do not support decreasing limits on abortion. Not only do approximately one-third of Democrats consider themselves pro-life, but only 7% of the Millenial generation supports the Democratic Party's push for taxpayer-funded abortion up to the moment of birth.

Thursday's debate was the third for the Democratic presidential hopefuls, and abortion hasn't been discussed at any of them. Instead, this debate focused on socialized medicine, trade, gun control and immigration.

Democrats and Catholic bishops alike are constantly speaking out against the Trump administration's enforcement of immigration laws. In 2018, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a condemnation of the policy of separating children from their families in detention centers — a policy started under the Obama administration.

The bishops' conference rang out with applause in response to the statement decrying the separation of babies from their mothers at the border as immoral, but very few of those bishops have decried the separation of millions of babies from their mothers' wombs.

Schwartz said there was a lot of media coverage of the event and wasn't surprised that only conservative groups were willing to talk about abortion with them.

"The media know just as well as the candidates that abortion is a losing issue for Democrats," she said. "Mainstream media, including debate moderators, refuse to discuss the fact that 94% of Americans oppose the Democratic Party's platform of abortion up until the birth of the child, and 92% disagree with Democrats that abortion should be legal during the third trimester."

Democrats are also blocking the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act that would provide life-saving care to those babies that survive an attempt to kill them in utero. House Republicans have tried to bring the legislation up for voting 80 times but have been blocked by House Democrats.

Several of the presidential candidates — Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar — also voted against a bill designed to protect newborns against infanticide.

While the Democratic candidates were preparing to go on stage, the Trump administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services, announced a plan to spend $374 million in federal funding on maternal and child health programs. This included $23 million for new programs aimed at improving maternal health and decreasing maternal deaths.

Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.

We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.