Marko: Pro-Life and voting for Obama

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A while back I was looking for people who were "Pro-life" and voting for Obama. Mark Oestreicher, known to the blogging world as "Marko," has come out today with this type of position... (This is only His position and not that of Youth Specialties)
and, while this could very easily come off as johnny-come-lately jumping onto the bandwagon of popularity: i’m an obama supporter. i can’t be a single-issue voter anymore; and while our country and republican leadership haven’t done anything (or been able to do anything? place the blame where you will — it’s not critical to this point) significant about abortion, i’ve found myself embracing a broader view of the value of human life, which includes all the other aspects of valuing human life and god’s creation that seem to be much more inline with democratic values.
I am making some assumptions here, but from his full article you can get a glimpse of some of his reasoning.
  1. He doesn't want to be a single issue voter.
  2. He feels that our present leadership has done little towards dealing with abortion.
  3. He believes the "pro-life" issue is about more than just abortion. It's about all of life and the value of that life.

I can identify with being marginalized by some as being a "single-issue voter." But I'd venture that most voters aren't making their decision based on abortion alone. And while I believe that abortion is probably the most significant issue, I think we should prayerfully consider many issues as we make decisions on any of our choices for public office. It is a great privilege and responsibility to vote.

When I look at the current leadership, I actually feel like we have made some forward progress as it relates to "life." We have more conservative justices on the bench, we've seen a pretty strong stance in the stem cell debate, and we've even passed a partial birth abortion ban. It was upheld in 2007 by the "new" court. I have to agree with Marko. There is more to pro-life than conservative justices and legal "bans," but I think these things are good. I'm hoping for more progress.

I also agree that there is more to "pro-life" than just abortion, but I still think abortion takes priority. If not we may start to sound like this...

"There's more to life than being born"

None of the unborn has ever been able to give their political opinion. Kind of one sided isn't it?

I appreciate Marko's willingness to share his position. And while I'm not in agreement with it, it does give me a better understanding of why some are pro-life and voting for Obama.

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