An Open Letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. Obama,

I write as a political independent and former city leader in the Campaign For Change in 2008.  I campaigned night and day alongside hundreds of new friends, all inspired by your intelligence, wisdom, and heart.  We saw in your candidacy hope for reconciliation and rebuilding of our just and great nation. Sadly over these past 3+ years we have watched the opposition master techniques of obstruction and propaganda, with demonizing lies circulated on a scale that previous generations would have called seditious.

Recently you came out in favor of gay marriage. I was deeply disappointed about this news, not because I judge people for their sexual orientation. I was disappointed because in the bigger picture, this was a seriously polarizing choice.  We the people are all already a house divided. My heart just sank when this news came out, at what may come of this.

But then I thought of a way to reconciliation. I have a proposal I urge you to consider.

For hope of reconciliation and prevention of  a new civil war, we must do what Thomas Jefferson did after 6 colonies rejected his first draft of the Declaration of Independence.  To unite the colonies, to get consensus, he listened to the opposition and compromised on the key issue of the day: he deleted his flaming criticism of slavery. Today I urge you, Mr. President, to likewise compromise on the key issue of the day. You must, sir, honestly address the one issue that can reunite this country: Abortion.

Here is my proposal, for you and for all of us liberals. First we must look within, with true honesty, and see where we have missed the mark. We must admit the truth.

Think about it.  Our children. The future of our nation.  Unborn babies. Innocently growing in the womb. Killed. On its face it is time we admit that, yes, abortion is a sin. And that the millions of  innocent American lives taken since 1974 is an absolute and utter TRAGEDY. It is time that we liberals admit that.

At the same time, recognize and affirm the greatest gift God ever gave to mankind: free will. And that free will extends to women as well as to men.

While there is a new innocent life involved, there is also an existing life involved, and to deny one over the other is not right. There has to be a middle ground. Why must this issue continue to divide us? Why can we not recognized BOTH?

Affirm that God gave us all free will and that includes women, but  also stand up and say, firmly and with authority, that abortion, the taking of innocent life, is absolutely wrong. It is a sin, it is a national tragedy, and to keep abortion legal but extremely rare–BY CHOICE AND BY HELPING EACH OTHER.  Not by guilt. Not by control. Not by force. But by doing it God’s loving way.

Announce a Democratic Initiative For Life, consisting of the following:

• Full 100% paid maternity and well child care to all pregnant women and new mothers for the first 4 years of a child’s life, with  education of unmarried single mothers a national priority. Pay for this initiative with taxes on the wealthiest Americans, with additional funding by donation. Replicate successful intervention programs like the one in Georgia that prevents teen pregnancy by taking loving care of  teen mothers during and after their first pregnancy, so that instead of spiraling deeper into poverty by having a second, third, fourth baby by the time they hit 20, which is what has been happening for decades, instead they receiving intervention and child care and financial support to help them finish their education, disengage in sexual behaviors, and focus on building heir lives responsibly going forward,  http://www.gcapp.org/    The initiative would also allocate funding to hire social workers tasked with streamlining the adoption process, to make adoption more affordable.  Create a space on federal tax returns to give all Americans the choice to earmark an amount or percentage additionally on their taxes, to finance the Initiative’s Value All Life Fund, that will cover these expenses, and also provide grants to teach children to respect their bodies and stay chaste.

• Affirm and support churches and other NGOs reaching out to women to teach them how holy they are, how holy their bodies are, how God loves them,  how sin hurts them, and assisting women in crisis make the choice for life.
• Establish the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative that has as its goal of inspiring absentee fathers to  coming forth and commit to lifelong fatherhood and support of their children, with a small cash incentive for each child and mother acknowledged. Tie this program to a WPA type program that creates jobs like outdoor maintenance, road work, infrastructure repair and child care, with preference given to the married father.  If they have children by more than one child, then it is time they stop their promiscuous behavior and settle down with one woman, while continuing to parent all of their children.  The goal: end single parenthood.

• Propose an Trinity Amendment to the Constitution that  recognizes the rights of the unborn who are connected to their mothers on whom they depend for their lives, to be given every chance at life, that only human beings and not corporations are people, and affirming the Creator’s gift of free will to all mankind including women.  Affirm the government’s interest in protecting the rights of the TRINITY of the mother, father and child.

• Finally .. Issue a Life Support Challenge  to surgeons the way Kennedy challenged scientists:  we transplant hearts and kidneys and other organs — let’s make it a national priority to find a way to transport a fetus to another woman’s body.

All of us, coming together to affirm the rights of  fathers, the mothers and children, will restore unity.

Keep abortion a safe and legal option, but make it an extremely rare, last option, by making the choice for life a GREAT option.  By all of us putting our shoulders to the grindstone by supporting financially and socially the choice for life, we can do more than end the abortion crisis: we can herald in a new era that values ALL life as sacred – BY CHOICE. This is, after all, what God wants, right? He wants us to CHOOSE Him; we are his children, not his slaves. Let us HELP each other CHOOSE Him.

In choosing not to outlaw abortion, explain that  you cannot fix one evil with another.  Given the nature of evil and mankind’s temptation to it, to empower the government, any government, to step in and make medical choices for anyone is also an evil. Your wife’s body and your daughter’s bodies does not belong to the state.  For too many centuries women’s bodies belonged to men, and we must affirm and acknowedge the gift and a privilege to live in a country where people are no longer considered anyone’s property.