An Open Letter to Senator Nelson
December 21, 2009
To The Honorable Senator Nelson,
I was so proud of your stand for life against the current health care bill. No matter what the President or other leaders might say, we all know that the ultimate goal is to craft a plan that will provide Federally funded abortions. That has been patently obvious with the rejection of every simple amendment to the bill that clearly prohibited federally funded abortions, and that is why your stand was so inspiring especially considering the pressure coming from the leadership of your own party.
That being said, it was so disappointing to see that your stand for life ended in a compromise and in securing some funding to assist your state. While I understand the pressure on you is immense, citizens all around the nation were looking for you to stand firm and were extremely disappointed to see that the pressures of the moment overcame your own personal convictions and gave way to a compromise that ultimately will not protect us from the government sponsored execution of the nation’s own children. Make no mistake Senator, making abortion “safe and rare” or putting a few conditions on a federal abortion are not the same thing as protecting the lives of the unborn.
You could rightly argue that many of us do not understand the pressures and intricacies of federal politics. No doubt this is very true. Few of us have known the kind of pressure that can come from the leadership of the nation. It is also true that politics is, by its nature, a game of compromise. However, it is also true that history is made when a politician stands firm for what is right and rejects the mechanics of compromise when life and death issues are at stake. There are plenty of bills where compromise is good and necessary for without it our government would come to a grinding halt. However, when the lives of children are at state, the time comes to make a stand and lead the nation into what is right. An a historical example, could you imagine William Wilberforce agreeing to a “compromise” on human slavery?
You could also rightly argue that many of us compromise our heart values on a daily basis when much lesser things are at stake. Sadly, you would be right there as well. Millions of us compromise on a daily basis to avoid confrontation, pain, and cost preferring ease or the hope of some opportunity over staying true to what we know, deep down, is right. However this is exactly why we need you. We are a nation with precious few heroes. We need men like yourself to stand up unflinchingly for what is right and inspire us to also discard the compromise in their own lives and stand for what is right no matter how little or how great the cost. We have become a week kneed compromising society and we need heros to look to that stand unflinchingly for what they know in their heart is right that we might be inspired to do the same.
The good news is that there are still several days before the final vote. There is still time for you to vote your heart, rather than vote, under pressure, for something that you know is wrong and not in the best interest of the country. If you vote for this bill, this will be a vote that will haunt you your entire life. It is not enough to be personally opposed to abortion if you do not make a public stand, without compromise, for life. There is a reason this bill has been put together in private rather than publicly as the President promised. There is a reason there is such a rush to get it passed with claims that the bill does not fund abortion while any amendments that secure that promise are quickly rejected.
You and I both know that the leadership of both the senate and house are counting on using the process of reconciling the bills to remove any abortion restrictions. I am sure, Senator, that you would argue that your stand did secure a measure of restriction on abortion, however, I would expect that these restrictions will be reduced to paperwork or eliminated by the time the actual final bill is formed. They are securing your vote only so that they can push a bill forward. Based on the response to amendments restricting abortion funding and the development of the bill behind closed doors, we all know well and good that they know how to eliminate all abortion restrictions from this bill by the time it is made law.
Your compromise then will not even secure the restrictions you asked for, your compromise will only enable those who seek to provide full federally funded abortion. This is the cost of compromise on moral issues. In the end, the compromise does not even secure the ends that are desired. This is why moral issues cannot be compromised. By their very nature, once compromise has entered the picture they are lost. Do you want your vote to be the enabling vote to a process that has proven thus far that it is committed to a final outcome that will include the federally funded extermination of our children?
Public opinion polls show clearly that the health care bill is not the top agenda in the minds of citizens. Public opinion polls also show that the nation is becoming increasingly pro life. This is a bad time to hastily compromise and rush through a very significant bill that will have negative implications for the nation for decades to come as well as help to promote the slaughter of millions of our unborn children. The very fact that they are trying to rush this bill through so quickly before an election year when it is not the top agenda of the America people along should give you pause in making last minute compromises.
Senator, many of us are praying for you. We are praying that you will make history by standing firm in your convictions, as those who make history must do, rather than succumbing to political favors to vote for something you know in your heart is wrong. Voting against this bill, at this point, may look like political suicide. However, better that than suicide of the heart. I have to believe the people of the great state of Nebraska, whether they agreed with you or not, would respect your history making stand to refuse to vote for this bill in its current form. Men of character are hard to come by and I, for one, would be proud to see my Senator set his face like flint and stand for what is right.
Stand firm Senator, and be an example to the nation. Know that there are millions looking to you for a strong stand even if that means, at times, a stand against our President.
Blessings,
Samuel