Life Policy

Life must be affirmed.

I believe in the sanctity of life and that innocent life must be protected. In the current political environment, neither I nor my opponent will determine the legality of abortion - the Supreme Court has deemed it a constitutional right subject to the regulation of the government.

Roe v. Wade has been the law of the land for over 3 decades. While it remains so, we need reasonable regulation of abortion, such as parental notification when their 11-15 year daughter is taken across state lines for a medical procedure, a continued ban on partial birth abortions, and full disclosure of the lifelong consequences of abortion for a woman considering it.

At what point in our life's journey do we deserve the protection of the state? Conception, in the womb, a birthed baby, a four your old, as an adolescent, a teenager, young adult, 30's, middle aged, elderly or infirm? When in the continuum of life that begins when an egg is fertilized to our last draw of breath should the state protect us from the decisions of others and even of ourselves to end our life?

The definition of life’s true beginning is the ultimate question on sanctity of life issues.

Most Americans can easily agree from birth until adulthood, we should be protected from the decisions of others and ourselves to harm us or even kill us. We can also agree that while we are of healthy body and mind during our life, we should be protected. Even when we are sound of body though not of mind, most Americans reasonably agree others do not have the right harm or kill us.

It is when the discussion enters the realm of beginning of life before birth and of broken in body though sound mind end of life issues, that the volume of the debate rises, emotions crest and foam, and we as Americans divide sharply. Rightly so, for one side sees these issues as truly life and death and the other side sees these issues as the ability to control their lives as they see fit.

When we frame abortion in a narrow, legalistic way as a 'you don't control my body' issue, the focus is on the mother being wholly in charge of the life she is willingly or unwillingly nurturing inside her body. Only one person is to make the decision of life for another from conception until the umbilical cord is either cut or stops pulsing. Whether that life is a zygote, blastocyst, fetus, or baby, presently, one person alone decides based on any criteria of 'health' they choose.

I believe these practices, legal under total allegiance to the altar of Roe vs. Wade, to be dehumanizing and a drain on the morals of America as a whole and most especially on the lives and morals of those mothers. They must live with their decision for the rest of their lives. Studies now show abortion is not only deadly for the child; it is wholly unhealthy, mentally and physically, for the mothers.

Abortion rights activists and the abortion industry have worked to keep this medical study information from women, particularly pregnant women considering an abortion. Their actions are self-serving and detrimental to women. By this practice, abortion rights activists and the abortion industry are keeping the number of safe, legal, and 'rare' abortions artificially high at the expense of the mental and physical well being of the women they claim to serve.

Unlike the abortion activists and the well-heeled abortion industry, I believe women have the intelligence to make informed decisions and while abortion on demand is the law of this land, I will fight for laws to give women the information they need to make this lonely decision Roe vs. Wade and the radicalism of the abortion activists have thrust upon the shoulders of pregnant women.

It is a lonely decision because the abortion industry has repeatedly and successfully isolated a pregnant woman in the law to be the sole arbiter of whether a baby lives or dies. The father has no rights in the decision, not even to be informed. Not even her husband has the right to be informed. Mr. Cleaver has voted against giving the parents of minor children the right to be informed when their baby girl, pregnant with their grandbaby, is being transported across states lines to have a medical operation, even though their child may be being exploited by an older man.

Abortion requires a pregnant woman or girl to carry the burden alone through the confusion and the stress an unplanned pregnancy brings. Then, the mother must carry the weight of the decision to abort, the knowledge that life was ended at her sole discretion for the rest of her days.

Abortion as a means of birth control is irresponsible and morally unsupportable. I believe abortion should be legal only to save the life, not 'health', of the mother. Guidelines will have to be set at the Federal level to prevent undermining this high standard. The successful fight to outlaw the barbaric procedure of partial birth abortion was an example of reasonable regulation of the abortion industry.

I will fight for women to be fully informed of the lifelong consequences to themselves of an abortion, to allow parents to be parents to their daughters in trouble, and for laws requiring abortion providers to report underage pregnancies to the attorney generals of the states, so those responsible authorities can determine if a child has been raped by an adult. If those attorney generals ignore their responsibilities, I will call for Federal hearings to shine a spotlight on those who are charged with upholding the law who ignore the laws of the land because they disagree with the folks.

It is up to you to decide who you want to represent you on the issues of life.

Emanuel Cleaver who voted against parental notification when a minor daughter is taken across state lines to have an abortion, who wanted partial birth abortion to remain legal, does not want underage pregnancies investigated for possibly exploitation of a child, and has always voted to protect and further the abortion industry…

or

Jacob Turk who believes in life, in parents, and in protecting our children from exploitation.