Proposed Bill would Ban Abortions Based on Race or Sex
- Dec 7, 2011 -
I deeply appreciate Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) for his leadership in introducing the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011, or PreNDA (H.R. 3541), which would prohibit abortion on the basis of sex or race. The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission strongly supports this legislation.
As you well know, protecting the sanctity of every human life is a fundamental concern of the overwhelming majority of Southern Baptists. Ending an unborn human life through abortion is tragic. Yet when an abortion is tied to selective processes that discriminate based on gender or race—sometimes a result of coercing the mother—it becomes all the more deplorable.
It is unconscionable that our nation has not already enacted a ban on this heinous practice. Appallingly, our government has called for laws against this crime in foreign lands but has yet to take any action at home. Congress has an obligation to cease its silent approval of these practices through its inaction.
While many on the left call the measure “anti-choice,” Franks has said, “It would simply say that you cannot discriminate against the unborn by subjecting them to an abortion based on their race or sex.”
As PreNDA notes in its findings, an overwhelmingly majority of the public agrees. According to a 2006 Zogby poll, 86 percent of Americans support a full ban on gender-based abortions. Regrettably, studies suggest that sex-selection abortion, once considered a practice isolated abroad, is happening here in the United States. Further, the prevalence of race-based abortion is evidenced by, for example, exposés showing Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, agreeing to accept financial donations designated for the express purpose of aborting black babies. These barbarisms must be addressed swiftly with the force of law.
Again, we are grateful for Rep. Franks’s commitment to end the scourge of sex-based and race-based abortions. We wholeheartedly support his efforts to stop these reprehensible acts and to bring justice to the abortion providers who engage in such practices. We hope his congressional colleagues will likewise lend their full support to the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act. We are hopeful that Southern Baptists and other citizens will communicate their support for this legislation to you and others in Congress.
Further Learning
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