Why is abortion the only platform?

Question

Why is abortion the only platform conservatives seem to care about and are so bent on electing politicians who use this rhetoric to get elected?
I find it strange that conservative people care so much about the unborn, but not about people who are alive and struggling today. I understand the thought that abortion is not moral, but isn't war, murdering innocent people, unnecessary poverty, prejudice, taking from the poor and middle classes to become wealthy and powerful also immoral? Should the abortion platform be the MOST important issue when you are voting or is there a much broader range of important issues to be thinking about?

Proud Marine Wife. First of all, I thank you and your husband for the sacrifice you are making for the politicians who have put your family in the position you are in. I did not mean that your husband is over in another country murdering people per say, but people on all sides are loosing their lives for politicians who acted very quickly to have a war with a country who doesn't have WMD and it definitely was not the citizens of the country who are terrorists. I can't help thinking about all of those innocent people serving and living through a war to enable someone else’s power and money. Innocent people do not benefit from this. I thought that our military was for the protection of American soil.

Abortion is killing a poor baby who hasn't had the chance to live, but we have all been babies and we are all somebody’s babies and we all deserve a chance to live.

Answer 1

amen. libby you covered this topic, i cant even add anything to it.
except maybe healthcare, immagration, social security issues.
i totally agree!!

I HAVE TO EDIT THIS AFTER READING MARINE WIFES REPLY ..... first of all, i am from a marine family. one of my life long best friends deploys next month. my best friend is a marine wife. having that said, i would like to say - ur a moron. u REALLY think abortion should be a bigger topic than the war? ur marine and all his buddies are going over there risking their lives for WHAT? what? i support our troops to the utmost, but the issue of when theyre coming home - that should be way more important than abortion! dont u want him home? dont u want our trillions of tax dollars to stay in america?! - and abortion is the most overdiscussed topic! its a personal choice that effects NO ONE but the parents. unlike this war, where people die, drugs, where families are torn apart, and so on, the abortion effects ONLY the decision maker. the laws as they are set states that an abortion must be performed before the baby is technically 'living' - isnt that fair enough? isnt that a fair balance between the two sides of the issue? i swear, people like you disgust me. i mean, the issue has been discussed and comprimised on in the past. obviously uve never been put in a position that an abortion was the best choice. its none of ur business unless its ur baby. gosh, honestly, i appreciate your husband and what he does for our country and all ... but is ur closed-minded-self really being supported by my tax dollars??? i dont think thats deserved.

Answer 2

"about people who are alive and struggling today."
You do know that conservatives Christians give more of their own time and money that do liberals

"isn't war, murdering innocent people," Yep and after 911 we need to stop it and happy thoughts won't do it.

"unnecessary poverty, prejudice, taking from the poor and middle classes to become wealthy and powerful also immoral" Class envy won't cut either just because some work hard doesn't mean it was taken from them.
US is the only country where the poor have their own homes, cars, and TVs they live better than most middle class in other countries.

How about conservatives Bush dump more money for stopping the spread of HIV than Clinton.

There are missionaries going to other countries all the time to help rebuild they come back with reports how when they go back the people there don't do anything. At some point people need to take responiblity.

Abortion if Pro-Choice would be a little more forgiving in their stance and understand regulations should be inplace maybe could find a soultion but NOPE. You believe that even if the mother & fetus is healthy at 9 months and before going into labor a mothers can have the baby's brian suck out and skull crushed without question.

That is why you have people who make abortion a issue.

Answer 3

As a pro-life Republican, maybe I can shed some light on the problem. The Republican party serves (poorly) three different conservative constituencies. It is an awkward alliance, with each group gaining ascendancy at different times.

First, the libertarian wing of the party doesn't care much about abortion. They are more interested in avoiding the liberal "nanny state," in which the state controls the minutia of everyday life. That would include environmental land-use laws that prevent people from buiding homes on their own land, laws dictating what kind of grocery bags you are allowed to use, and laws dictating where your coffee must come from.

Secondly, you have the corporate interests, or the "country club" Republicans. These are the people that are represented by your Karl Roves and Dick Cheneys. They are the first in line for their corporate welfare checks. Frankly, many conservatives are fed up with them, since they give all of us a bad name. Again, they are not very engaged in the abortion question.

Finally, you have the social conservatives such as myself. These are the ones that oppose gay marriage, favor strong law enforcement, and are strongly pro-life. This group may have some progressive ideas about helping the poor and opposing war, but their pro-life convictions make it impossible to vote for Democrats on the national level.

Maybe this analogy might help: Imagine a candidate who is a staunch feminist, pro-choice all the way. This candidate is a true environmentalist, and makes Marx look like a captain of industry. Now, imagine that this candidate is an unrepentant racist. Could you vote for her? Probably not. I believe that the current practice of abortion is such a heinous act that it overshadows most other considerations. It may even cost Giuliani the nomination.

Now, a quick outline of why I oppose abortion on demand. First, a fetus is human life. It is living tissue, and in all ways it is genetically human. Is it viable, able to live without the mother's support? No, but then again, all newborn infants are incable of living on their own. A human fetus is a potential human life, valuable for that potential. In addition, there is no moral equivalence between an innocent child and an adult murderer, so don't give me any "but what about capital punishment" garbage.

Secondly, being pro-life does not mean that I oppose a woman's right to choose whether or not to bear a child. I just think the decision should be made BEFORE the sex act. I believe that contraception is perfectly acceptable, and that men should always respect a woman's decision NOT to have sex. In fact, I can accept abortion in cases of rape and incest, where a woman may not have had a choice. The same goes for danger to the mother. However, only a total idiot would believe that sex was not designed to produce offspring, and should be respected as such. I believe that people must consider the consequences of their actions before they act, and must accept those consequences.

Yes, we know we're being taken advantage of by the country club Republicans. But here's where the difficulty lies: Do we vote for the candidates who merely pay lip service to our convictions, or the ones who heap abuse and contempt on us on a daily basis? I'm sorry, but people like Jon Stewart have made it impossible for me to EVER vote for a pro-choice Democrat.

Answer 4

I am a strict Conservative, and i believe in a woman's right to choose. The big issue with most Conservatives is not Abortion. It is in the reduction of the size and scope of government. The fact is, that Conservative politicians have to gain the support of the base of voters in the religious right in order to win the primary elections. Conservatives believe that the person running for office should have a strong resolve. After all the reduction of government is a very tough job, and cannot happen if the leaders are making decisions based on popular opinion at the moment.
One of our biggest problems is the simple fact that George Bush is not a conservative. He is a liberal spender and won based on a lie, that he would be conservative. And won the second election based on the fact that no quality candidates ran against him.
A real danger of the self annihilation of our country and a movement towards socialism and massive increase in bureaucracy is about to happen. The liberal democrats will destroy our freedoms and economy when they take control of the government in 2008.
Hillary Clinton will inact national health care, and going to the doctor will resemble going to the dmv. Not something I am looking forward to.
The federal government is the largest employer in the nation, and taxes us to death already. In Canada, for example, they spend one third as much tax dollars on each of their citezens as we do here in the USA. This is due to the fact that over taxation and a massive governing body has destroyed their economy. And they cannot collect enough taxes from income to sustain their government.
The liberal plan will do the same thing here in the USA.
My personal belief is that our founding fathers had it right.
with the exception of slavery and other prejudice beliefs of the time, they had an idea of a free country without government tyrany.
If you believe you are not capable of making your own desiccions, and government rule is needed to take care of us, then by all means vote for the communists in the liberal democrat party.
If you believe that you are an intelligent and capable person able to make your own desiccions about what you buy and from whom, what doctors you see, where you work, what you do in your free time, what cars you drive, how you raise your children, what those children learn in school, and how much money the government rapes from your income, then you need to vote accordingly. Hillary and Barack care nothing about the poor and middle classes, and will unwittingly destroy this nations economy.
In this country right now, there are much bigger problems than the poor and weak. Believe it or not, there is a job for every man and woman willing to work.
A real problem right now is our boarders. I hope someone will step up and take that as a real issue.
Borders, language, culture. That is the basis of every nation.
something we are about to loose.

Answer 5

Politicians and especially conservatives, have historically chosen specific highly emotive issues usually related to religious subjects ,to keep the dumb,lemming idiots "AKA the voters" from thinking about issues that really count in the "here and now".

If it isn't abortion it's homosexuals and gay marriage.

As most of the the dumb,ignorant voters allow themselves to be sucked into these diversions,the conservatives which will will simply call the CONS are ripping off the public wealth of ordinary citizens through a meriad of quid pro quo corruptions especially things like Bush's tax cuts.

While these monumentally stupid voters are played with and taken for fools that they in effect they are ,these morally bankrupted anti-Christians who call themseves Christian fundamentalists ,while all outraged over abortions have NO morall problem with the war monger Bush having waged an illegal war of choice based upon a pack of decidedly anti-Christian LIES that has so far seen the SLAUGHTER of over 400,000 innocent Iraqi civilians.

The reason that I LOVE DEMOCRACY is that the majority of people get EXACTLY WHAT THEY VOTED FOR and these vile conservatives astoundingly re-elected the evil one BUSH.

Answer 6

Abortion isn't the only platform that conservatives care about. Everyone has their own issues that are more important to them than others, that doesn't mean that they only vote on that issue. I vote on a variety of issues, but Abortion is key issue. Kind of hard to worry about health care or being poor if you're not alive. For a lot of people who have Abortion as a key issue for them it's not about it just being "not moral" as you say, it's about murdering innocent Americans who will never have the chance for their voice to be heard. You say it's not murdering innocent people, I say that's exactly what it is.

BTW, I also vote based on my stances on immigration, the economy, taxes, states rights, the war, national security, values, etc. That doesn't mean I don't care about poor people or prejudice or other issues, I just don't agree with how change should come about. To think otherwise, is foolish on the opponents part.

Answer 7

I can assure you that abortion is not the only issue conservatives care about. I know from the person in my family who most influenced my decision on this issue had strong views on a lot of platform issues. The problem is that the liberal media and bloggers want to make everyone think this is the only issue of importance to conservatives.

Answer 8

Not all conservatives are pro life, not all liberals are pro choice. The Democratic party uses the abortion issue just as much as the Republicans... it is a hot, sensitive topic used to fuel anger in voters to make them more passionate about their candidates and politics. Its used as a tool and tactic... Honestly, I don't think that abortion is the #1 issue for the majority of voters. Things like taxes, healthcare, Iraq, military funding, education, etc. all have a deeper impact on our day to day lives.

Answer 9

I am a pro life Christian green liberal, which include the Iraqi people.

Most important issues

Restoring Constitution and Judiciary integrity
Resolution to Iraq failed occupation
Undoing damage done to Environmental laws in the past 8 years
Undoing damage done to Employee and Consumer laws in the past 8 years
Universal Health Care
Global Warming
Oil Addiction
US Credit Crisis
Fair Trade policies & exporting jobs
Terrorism
Immigration Reform

Answer 10

I t is politically strategy, long in the usage. This separates the voting majorities by their faith, and sense of devotion to it. It is like a litmus test of voter turn out, a sick straw ballot issue if you will. Let's not forget that is a much more straight forward response when questioned; as opposed to actually having to try to come up with a true solution to in depth problems like the war, health care, and the environment.

Answer 11

Abortion is not the only platform but it is a very important platform to anyone who cares about lives. If you don't consider abortion an issue, then I would say that you don't care about lives. Look at this link and then tell me why killing them is not one of the most important issues.
http://www.truthnet.org/abortion/

Most American citizens are not in agreement with our elected officials at the moment - I have included a link to a recent poll.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070815/us_nm/usa_politics_poll_dc;_ylt=AhMPyhh_Y6I2y.JMaOAHe5as0NUE

Most Americans care about the issues you talk about and want the same thing regardless of political party. By saying we have other issues does not lessen the Holocaust of the unborn children.

Never would I consider saving the lives of the unborn child rhetoric. I consider it a necessity.

When I look at the candidates, I don't care what Political Party they represent or if they say they are conservative or liberal. What matters to me is what they stand for on the issues.
1) Pro Life
2) Against Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
3) Pro 2nd Amendment Rights to Bear Arms

For me, these are the top three issues. If a candidate supports these issues, then I narrow down my selection according to what other issues are important:
Ending NAFTA, the North American Union, SPP, dumping chemicals in water from places like BP and factories, poisoning our food with Bovine Growth Hormones and Antibiotics, shipping our jobs overseas and getting the products back with poison.

I could go on all day about the problems we need to deal with and they are all important, but the life of an unborn baby - that is a precious gift from God and needs to be protected. They can't protect themselves from the cruel practices of their mothers and doctors. Burning a child to death in saline solution - with no pain killers, cutting a child up into pieces - with no pain killer, I could go on but won't. We don't treat prisoners of war as bad as these innocent babies are treated.

Now you know why people care about the unborn baby. If a country can permit these tortures to continue, what kind of country are we? One with no respect or concern for life. I want leadership who care about life above all else and will protect every American born and unborn.

And I do NOT want my tax dollars paying to kill an unborn baby!