Why pro-life candidates should support Kennedy
The response below was written in response to a comment I received on Facebook in which the person responding to me said she "could never" support Kennedy because of his pro-choice position on abortion. Below is my argument to conservatives for why arguments against Kennedy on the issue of abortion simply do not hold up.
Voting for no one would have to be your option if you want a true pro-life candidate. If Trump remains the front-runner for the Republican Party and becomes their nominee, then you may strike him from your list if you are a person who values the sanctity of life. Trump has moved more to the middle on the issue of abortion, and so has almost every other elected Republican in our government. If pro-life issues matter to you, then I am sure I don't have to remind you what played out in our own state government last legislative session. When Republicans in our state were given the first opportunity to fight for strong pro-life legislation following the overturning of Roe v Wade, they missed the window of opportunity to fight for the strongest pro-life legislation that they could get.
I knew before the legislative session even began that our elected Republicans were not going to fight hard for a strong pro-life bill to pass. They won't do it for the same reason that Trump has moved more to the middle on the issue. Remember when Trump was criticizing candidates for losses in the mid-term, claiming that they were too hard-line on the issue of abortion? I can tell you from firsthand experience of having run as a Republican candidate, having seen how pro-life issues are viewed by our elected officials--and ALSO by a large number of Republican voters--that staunch pro-life positions are not politically popular. The truth is that, when I was a candidate, I spoke with MANY voters who do prefer the view of allowing for abortion through the first trimester. That is the compromise on the issue that has been reached and that Republican voters have essentially come to accept, and I don't see any measures to move back from that being taken by any Republican politicians.
The window of greatest opportunity to have passed stronger pro-life legislation has passed, for the time to have done it was in the first session following the overturning of Roe v Wade. The compromise has been made and it is going to be as difficult as overturning Roe v Wade to move the needle back from the "new normal" on abortion being a ban after the first trimester. You might not like to hear that, but it is the truth. The reason that "new normal" was allowed to take hold is because the Republican Party kept getting rewarded by people who will vote for the "R" on the ballot, no matter what, believing that the "R" indicates that the candidate is the one who is the most pro-life. The Republican Party and their candidates campaign on pro-life messages, but they do not keep to the promises they make to the people to fight hard on the issue. Never forget that the initially proposed legislative bill to ban abortion after six weeks (the "Heartbeat Bill") was extended to a twelve week ban by a Republican senator. I've often said that Senator Riepe must have drawn the short straw on that one, but the truth is that when it was all said and done, the Republican Party cheered that twelve-week ban as a step forward for pro-life voters.
My argument is that voters need to get more honest. The Republican Party has been allowed to get so squishy on pro-life issues (and on other issues as well that are NOT in alignment with the core values of the party) because voters have continued to reward the Republican Party with their loyalty--to the point that the "R" next to one's name on a ballot matters more than the issues actually do. Because if we are honest in our assessment of Trump, Biden, and Kennedy as presidential candidates, then we have to acknowledge that they are ALL pro-choice candidates. Many have tried to smear Kennedy on the issue of abortion, but those who are honest and who seek out his own words on the matter will see that his view of abortion is in alignment with the legislation that was recently passed in Nebraska to ban on abortion after the first trimester. Again, that is legislation that was cheered as a win by Republicans. And Trump has indicated his own willingness to reach the same sort of political compromise on the issue. So if you are sincere in your assertion that you won't vote for any candidate that is pro-choice, then the only way to hold to your word and to your convictions would be for you to stop supporting the Republican Party altogether, for the unofficial position of the Republican Party (as evidenced by the legislation that they have passed and for which they have been lauded) is that a ban after the first trimester is acceptable. And that is exactly where I've heard Kennedy state (multiple times) that he is on the issue as well.
We need to be more honest with ourselves and stop being loyal to party politics and to politicians whose words do not match their actions. We also need to be sincere and consistent in the positions that we hold, for there is much hypocrisy when Republicans who support Trump and consider him “pro-life” are quick to turn a blind eye to daily news reports indicating that the COVID-19 shots--that Trump has claimed we owe all of our thanks to HIM for—are being attributed as the cause of millions and millions of deaths. Despite Trump’s role in bringing those shots into existence, Trump is being given a pass and has not been called upon to speak to this issue by those who claim to value the sanctity of life. If all life matters, then ALL life matters—to include the lives being lost (reportedly in the millions) to the COVID shots that Trump has, many times in the past, insisted that we would not have if not for HIM. I would invite any pro-life advocate to make the argument for why it is acceptable for Trump to now be silent on these deaths which are being attributed to a shot for which he himself has claimed as an accomplishment and success of his.
We need to be more honest. The real irony is that Kennedy is actually the BEST option for pro-life voters to choose. I’ve already explained why it is that I think the only candidates that voters will have to choose from for president are all pro-choice. But here is why Kennedy is the best hope that there is for pro-life voters. Kennedy’s run as an Independent candidate offers a reset of our political structure. The corrupted two-party system has perverted all meaning of the core values of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Declaring our independence from those parties--neither of which is offering representation to its constituents--offers an opportunity to FINALLY hold both the Republican and Democratic parties to account. We have an opportunity, which I believe very well may be our last, to stand up the the establishment Uni-Party and say “NO MORE.”
So while Kennedy’s values may not align with your own on every issue (and, if we are honest, which candidate ever truly does), what he is offering to Americans at this crucial moment in our nation’s history is the opportunity for the kind of radical change that is going to be necessary for us to ever have any hope of restoring our constitutional republic. I will say it again (and again and again)--we have to be more honest than we have been. Conservatives need to get past being triggered by the use of the word “democracy.” I do understand the fine points of the arguments which call for accurately speaking about the form of government upon which our nation was founded. We ARE supposed to be a constitutional republic. But are we? See—that is where we need to be more honest. We are a constitutional republic in name only, at best—if even that! On the whole, conservatives (and also many who consider themselves to be liberal) are in agreement that our government is not functioning as a constitutional republic should. People on both sides of the aisle have lost faith in the fairness of our election process, and people on both sides of the aisle are finding themselves with no representation in government. Congress runs amok, our Executive branch is perpetually engaged in overreach, and our Judicial system has become one that operates on multiple tiers and in which Justice is no longer blind and impartial. If we can be honest enough to acknowledge that our country is being run by political elites who no longer view the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, then we might still have a chance to put up an effective fight to save our country. But there will be no effective fight—and surely no win—if we continue to lie to ourselves about the problems which we face.
People should form their opinions of Mr. Kennedy by hearing him speak in his own words. He may rub conservatives the wrong way with his use of the word “democracy,” but if you listen to ALL of the words that Kennedy speaks, then you will find him to be a man whose vision is in alignment with those who seek to restore to us the constitutional republic which we have lost. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is imploring Americans to declare their independence from a tyrannical government that is dominated by a corrupted and elitist two-party system that no longer offers us any representation, but which views “we the people” as its subjects. We really need to take an honest look at the big picture here, because regardless of which political issues matter the most to you, the sad fact is that NONE of them will matter one whit if your government offers you no representation.
The “Declaration of Independence” instructs us to take action if our government no longer offers us representation. Kennedy offers us an opportunity to take back our government. Fortunately, for us, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We don’t need to institute a new form of government. We simply need to return to the U.S. Constitution which those who hold the political power in our nation have abandoned. Our government, at present, consists of bad legislation piled upon bad legislation—all deemed “necessary” as a result of the failures of our government to hold to their oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. Kennedy is inviting Americans to join him in restoring government that is truly of, by, and for the people. The “hot button” issues in politics that politicians use to get themselves elected ARE all important issues. But not a single issue that we care about matters at all if we have no representation. The best way for us to take back the power that is rightfully ours is to divorce ourselves from the two-party system by withdrawing our support from it. Kennedy’s candidacy as an Independent gives us an opportunity to do that.
To that argument above, I will add one more thing regarding the concerns that I often hear from conservatives who claim that they "could never" vote for Kennedy because they fear he would "take their guns." BE MORE HONEST. I think that it is very valid to hold concerns about Second Amendment issues. That is an issue that is of the utmost importance to me as well. But, again, I would point to a tremendous level of hypocrisy that there is in making the argument that Second Amendment rights have been faithfully upheld by Republicans and that voting for the Republican candidate is the best way to ensure that your Second Amendment rights are going to be upheld.
Elected Republicans in Congress put our Second Amendment rights on the table as bargaining chips in their negotiations with Democrats; and Trump--who is likely to be the nominee for the Republican Party--has a history of some comments and actions that are concerning for staunch Second Amendment supporters as well. Let's not pretend that's not the case. Kennedy has stated many times that he does not believe that taking people's guns offers any solutions to the concerns expressed by those who oppose guns. And Trump has said that he DOES favor taking the guns first, in some instances, and following with due process second to the taking of the guns. So let's just be honest in our assessment of all of the candidates and stop aiding the corrupted two-party system that expects us to bend the knee and to show loyalty and allegiance to party by continuing to adhere to the misleading idea that an "R" or a "D" next to one's name on the ballot offers any assurances of our rights being upheld.
I'm supporting Kennedy because I don't believe our nation can survive if we don't do something NOW to try to break free from the enslavement of a two--party structure that isn't serving Republicans or Democrats, but is only serving itself.
You can learn about Kennedy's positions on the issues--in his own words--at the link below: