Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

PENCE And DANNENFELSER: Conservatives Can Save America From Decay With A Bold Pro-Life Agenda In 2022

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Since the Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, more than 62 million unborn children in the United States have been aborted. In other words, nearly 20% of the U.S. population is gone — lives of incalculable promise were ended before they were born.

Unborn children have been segregated into a caste of second-class citizens devoid of the most basic human rights. Precious babies have lived outside the protection of our laws, at the mercy of a culture that devalues them, and an abortion industry that profits from their suffering.

Today, the Biden administration is continuing to advance abortion on demand at home, allowing foreign aid to be used for abortion overseas, and President Joe Biden has even announced his support for taxpayer funding of abortion.

In 2022, conservatives have a once in a lifetime opportunity to save America from decline and decay brought on by left-wing policies, and to build a true governing majority that could last for generations. But in order to win, conservatives must unite our movement around a bold, forward-looking agenda that offers a clear and compelling choice to the American people.

That’s why our advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, has released a detailed Freedom Agenda developed with the help of nearly 50 of the brightest stars in the conservative movement.

The Freedom Agenda provides a clear roadmap for conservative leaders and candidates looking to connect deeply with the American people on their top priorities by encouraging conservatives to proudly embrace fundamental truths the left deems heresy. It is built upon the belief that Americans want to create more economic opportunity, restore American leadership on the world stage and are proud of traditional American culture and want to preserve it.

The Freedom Agenda encourages conservatives to embrace policies that will honor the God-given dignity of all people and restore the sanctity of human life to the center of American law.

First, the Freedom Agenda calls for ending federal taxpayer-funding for abortion once and for all, and reinstating the ban on funding for Planned Parenthood passed under the Trump-Pence administration. And to prevent liberal politicians like President Biden from erasing our progress, conservatives should pass a law permanently banning funding for abortions overseas.

Second, conservatives should work to end all federal funding for destructive fetal tissue research, which treats the bodies of aborted unborn children like a commodity. Instead, we should support ethical, non-destructive research using adult stem cells.

Finally, the Freedom Agenda calls for an end to the assault on faith-based adoption and foster care agencies that will only place children into families with one male father and one female mother. Conservatives should also work with state and local governments, churches and non-profit organizations to promote adoption, foster care, and crisis pregnancy centers.

Merging traditional conservative values with the successes of the Trump-Pence administration is a proven formula that will lead to extraordinary growth for our nation.

Today in America, what’s at stake is not just the outcome of future elections — what’s at stake is the very survival of the American nation. In 2022 and beyond, the American people will choose more than which party controls their government. Voters will decide whether their children and grandchildren stand tall as citizens of the freest nation on earth, or whether they are forced to live in the economic, moral and spiritual poverty of socialism.

The Freedom Agenda will help conservatives build a bigger, broader and bolder majority. Most importantly, it will help usher in a world where every child, born and unborn, is protected by law and cherished in life as a precious gift from God.

Mike Pence served as vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and is the founder of Advancing American Freedom, an issue advocacy organization.

Marjorie Dannenfelser is the president of Susan B. Anthony List, a political organization that advances the pro-life movement.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.