Pro-life progressivism in Tennessee: Whitman for Congress

My former student, Bill Whitman, is running for Congress, as a Democrat, in Tennessee's the Ninth District.  (Rep. Harold Ford is vacating the seat, to run for Congress).  Here is his statement, taken from his web site, describing his pro-life stance:

I follow the "Consistent Life Ethic" approach to life issues.  The Consistent Life Ethic calls us to defend and protect all persons who are threatened or marginalized by forces such as abortion, the death penalty, economic injustice, euthanasia, violence and war.  It requires us to a build a culture that affirms and defends life from conception to death.

I am opposed to abortion.  Protecting the sanctity of life is one of my first priorities as a legislator.  Being pro-life and being a Democrat are not mutually exclusive.  As Democrats, our first and most important principle should be to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.  This charge does not exclude unborn children.  There are at least ten pro-life Democrats in Congress, including one from Tennessee.  Democratic leaders are rethinking their strict adherence to the pro-choice agenda.      

Memphis is a great city for many reasons, not the least of which is the strong moral and religious convictions of our citizens. Virtually all of our religious institutions teach us that life begins in the womb, as does biology.  Therefore, we must protect unborn children who cannot defend themselves.

Protecting unborn children does not just mean opposing abortion.  We must ensure comprehensive health care to pregnant women; we must provide resources to parents who experience unplanned pregnancies; we must create a culture that welcomes children; and we must encourage adoption.

Other related issues have surfaced recently in Congress.  My positions:  I oppose partial-birth abortion; I support restricting access to abortions in federally-funded hospitals; I believe that religious-affiliated hospitals should not be required to perform abortions; and I will defend the free-speech rights of all.  Furthermore, I am in favor of a constitutional amendment defining the right to privacy, which excludes the right to an abortion.

And, here is what Bill has to say about capital punishment:   

I am opposed to capital punishment, and will work to abolish this practice with respect to federal crimes. 

Capital punishment should be abolished for several reasons.  First, there are extreme racial disparities in the application of the federal death penalty.  Second, there always exists the possibility that we will execute innocent persons.  Furthermore, the death penalty encourages us as a society to resort to violence to solve our most difficult problems. 

As many religious leaders have implored, we cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing.  As a country, we have the capability to punish criminals with life imprisonment without parole, and this is how we should punish the most heinous crimes.  We need to work toward a more just society by ending the death penalty.   

If elected, I will support a bill to end the federal death penalty.  I will work tirelessly to persuade this community to abandon the use of the death penalty.

The Democratic Party's nominee will almost certainly win the seat, and so those of us who might be reluctant to support even a pro-life Democrat, because of (what we perceive to be) the downsides of tipping the House to the Democrats, might want to consider supporting financially Bill's campaign.  Bill's campaign strikes me as a powerful witness.

It is interesting to contrast Bill's straightforward pro-life position with those of Virginia's newly elected governor, Tim Kaine.  Kaine is a practicing Catholic, and was often described, during the raise, as a pro-life Democrat.  Kaine opposes capital punishment -- and worked actively against it as an attorney -- but told Virginia's voters that (quoting CNN) "his moral objections to capital punishment are rooted in his Roman Catholic faith and . . . [pledged] to carry out death sentences 'because it's the law.'"  And, on abortion, Kaine's position was: 

I have a faith-based opposition to abortion. As governor, I will work in good faith to reduce abortions by:

1. Enforcing the current Virginia restrictions on abortion and passing an enforceable ban on partial birth abortion that protects the life and health of the mother;
2. Fighting teen pregnancy through abstinence-focused education;
3. Ensuring women's access to health care (including legal contraception) and economic opportunity; and
4. Promoting adoption as an alternative for women facing unwanted pregnancies.

We should reduce abortion in this manner, rather than by criminalizing women and doctors.

Too often politicians are interested in scoring political points, rather than in reducing the number of abortions. Many of the legislative proposals introduced in the General Assembly, like the ones to require unnecessary building standards for doctor's offices that perform abortions, are just political grandstanding. They encourage division and lawsuits rather than contributing to the goal of reducing abortions.