As you may have read, many speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference addressed pro-life sentiments in quite the encouraging manner. You may have also read that Dick Morris mentioned that the Republican Party needs to give up on the abortion issue. Well, thankfully, Morris isn’t all that influential with those of us who are true conservatives and for the right reasons. I didn’t even know he was appearing at the conference. His name is also not on the main speakers page.
Mitch McConnell
For day two, Senator Mitch McConnell was one of the first big speakers. Though the list is rather encompassing in describing the Republican Party, McConnell did remember to include “life” in there as an important issue, and life is one of those issues the party can have a comeback on once these ideas are cared about.
We are the party of compassion. We are the party of immigrants. We are the party of hard-working tax payers. We are the party of mobility, opportunity, growth, life, liberty, optimism, and innovation. And look, it’s time we started acting like it. And once we do, we’ll have our comeback.
And over the past few weeks we’ve since how it’s done… with conservatives who can articulate the enduring principles of constitutional conservatism and apply them to a rapidly changing society.
As life is an issue which McConnell included in what the Republican Party is about, it was refreshing and encouraging to hear him then refer to the importance of “articulat[ing] the enduring principles of constitutional conservatism,” for despite how our society may change, the Constitution does not, and the importance of protecting life does not.
McConnell later mentioned that “what we are beholden to is… the Constitution.” Those who feel this way about such principles still exist and know that such principles are right and important.
But I completely reject the notion that we have a winning message for a winning electorate that doesn’t exist anymore. Look, opportunity, growth, community, self-government, faith, family, life, innovation, choice and freedom in all of its varieties. These things never lose their worth or their power to motivate and inspire. Society may change, demographics may shift, but the principles that make us a free and prosperous society never do.
Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum has been a crowd favorite of CPAC attendees in the past, and it seemed to be the case today as well. Friday was Patriot Voices Day at CPAC, with Patriot Voices being an organization Santorum founded soon after he suspended his campaign for president in 2012.
Santorum’s speech was a deep and inspiring one, which is often the case. It was particularly emotional, though, as Santorum retold how his nephew had just passed on the day before.
In the heart of his speech, Santorum described the founding of our nation and our documents. It was noticeable what a man of faith Santorum is during his speech. As he mentioned, our rights are endowed by our Creator. He then also pointed out that God is mentioned four times in the Declaration of Independence, and that our “rights are given to each and every one of us from God.” He also went further in depth about the moral issue of America, and how important it is.
America in its essence is a moral enterprise, a moral enterprise focused on the dignity of every human person.
For those in our movement who want to abandon our country’s moral underpinnings so we can win? Permit me to paraphrase a great teacher, and ask, what does it prophet a movement to gain the country and lose its own soul? The left in America and around the world has made that Faustian bargain. For the sake of the country and our movement, we must not.
Santorum also gave further encouragement and advice regarding the strength needed to keep fighting for our morals:
How do we turn this around? How do we make a difference in America today?
But we don’t have the passion that they do, to in every aspect of our lives rise up and fight against what our Founders said what was the greatest threat to freedom: time. Time, the erosion, the erosion of our values over time, that we will lose that revolutionary fervor, that passion for truth… I would say to all of you, don’t look to Washington, DC to solve this problem… the answer is here.
We are the answer because in part we are the problem… in every aspect of our lives we have to fight for the principles which made this country great.
The greatest generation became great because when their country needed them, they met the challenge of their age.
The Fight for Religious Liberty: 40 Years After Roe v. Wade
As we enter the 40th CPAC conference, we also are in the 40th year since Roe v. Wade. Again, no matter what people like Dick Morris say, CPAC knows that the life issue is an important one. This inspiring panel was titled “The Fight for Religious Liberty: 40 Years After Roe v. Wade.” The video will appear at the end of this article.
Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal’s speech barely touched upon pro-life issues, but the governor of Louisiana, which has recently been ranked as the most pro-life state in the country by Americans United for Life, did make one important mention:
What does our future look like? How do we win this argument? Well for starters, we’ve got to recalibrate the compass of conservatism. Now we don’t need to change what we believe as conservatives. Our principles are timeless. We have to be comfortable with the fact that our liberal critics in the media will say that we haven’t changed anything unless we’ve endorsed abortion and socialism. My response to them is simple: we already have one liberal party in America, we don’t need another one.
Even Governor Bobby Jindal, whose speech was not about pro-life issues, still thought to remind conservatives not to abandon or compromise on these principles. It is encouraging to see politicians sticking to such important principles as we pro-lifers fight alongside them to protect life. And it is perhaps something Dick Morris should take to heart when trying to appeal to voters.
So please check out the video below! And be on the lookout for the pro-life round-up of day three at CPAC, as well as that piece on Kristan Hawkins!
