{"id":65476,"date":"2015-07-08T13:06:20","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T17:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=65476"},"modified":"2015-07-09T15:18:29","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T19:18:29","slug":"love-president-reagan-something-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/love-president-reagan-something-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"I love President Reagan, but this is something he was wrong about"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eleven years ago, President Ronald Wilson Reagan was laid to rest. At his funeral, mourners lauded the fortieth president for his role in winning the Cold War. During his tenure, the country also saw a drop<\/a> in inflation, declining oil prices<\/a>, and a hefty cut<\/a> in federal tax rates.<\/p>\n

Still, \u201cthe Gipper\u201d wasn\u2019t perfect. As governor of California, Reagan relaxed the state\u2019s abortion rules, a decision for which he would later express deep regret<\/a>. He also helped popularize something called \u201cThe Eleventh Commandment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The rule is simple: “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.” While Reagan didn\u2019t actually come up with the slogan, he did promote it, something he wrote about in his 1990 autobiography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reagan was motivated in part by experience, as Republican rivals had targeted him with aggressive personal attacks during California\u2019s 1966 gubernatorial race. He also saw the way that Sen. Barry Goldwater was accused in the 1964 Republican primary of being an extremist who didn\u2019t belong in office.<\/p>\n

I certainly think President Reagan\u2019s heart was in the right place; generally speaking, personal attacks and name calling don\u2019t heighten the quality of political discourse. With that having been said, pro-lifers do need to call out those lawmakers who won\u2019t defend innocent lives. And as we saw earlier this year, they can be found on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act<\/a> prohibits most abortions after twenty weeks, which is when evidence suggests<\/a> that children start to feel pain. By then, an abortion typically involves pulling the baby apart one piece at a time.\"D&E\"The legislation passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 242 to 184. Although the measure had broad GOP support, that support wasn\u2019t unanimous, as four Republicans<\/a> voted against it.<\/p>\n

One of them was Rep. Bob Dold of Illinois. He declared that<\/a> \u201cthe people of the 10th District sent me to Congress to advance bipartisan solutions to some of our nation\u2019s most pressing challenges, so I look forward to getting back to work tomorrow to foster job creation, curb out of control spending and prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.\u201d The congressman has yet to explain how supporting late-term abortion will further those goals.<\/p>\n

Other opponents included Reps. Richard Hanna (NY), Charlie Dent (PA) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ). Hanna was criticized<\/a> last year when he voted to maintain funding for Planned Parenthood, America\u2019s largest abortion chain. This was despite proof that Planned Parenthood staff have been willing to help cover up<\/a> sexual abuse, while others have offered to arrange involuntary abortions on underage prostitutes who \u201ccan\u2019t speak English<\/a>\u201d and \u201cwon\u2019t know what\u2019s going on<\/a>.\u201d A number of former employees have also alleged the organization\u2019s policies fail to protect<\/a> women from coercion and violence.<\/p>\n