{"id":71917,"date":"2015-09-03T12:19:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T16:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=71917"},"modified":"2015-09-02T01:09:37","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T05:09:37","slug":"no-not-pro-life-people-religious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/","title":{"rendered":"No, not all pro-life people are religious"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Many of us are familiar with the assumption that if someone is pro-life, it must be because he or she is a Christian. The argument has been made many times that the two certainly should go together. (Blogger Matt Walsh has perhaps put it best.<\/a>) And just as\u00a0faith complements many other aspects of the lives of many, it makes sense to be both pro-life and a Christian\u00a0– but it is not essential to be a Christian or otherwise religious to be pro-life.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One group that comes to mind is Secular Pro-Life<\/a>, whose name speaks for itself.\u00a0 In 2013, the group’s blog published a piece <\/a>debating the claims of a rabbi who stated\u00a0that the idea that life begins at conception is a religious belief – one to which he does not subscribe. It was the site’s second most-read post<\/a> for that year, as the group pointed out that whether a pro-lifer is religious or not, real, modern science backs them up.<\/p>\n

The article drew an apt analogy:<\/p>\n

\n

[M]ost religious people also agree that human trafficking is immoral, but we don’t call human trafficking a religious issue.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Assumptions that pro-lifers rely only on religion can negatively affect discussion and civil discourse, as it’s often used as a biased way to dismiss pro-life standards. If religion comes up nowhere else in the conversation – except when accusing pro-lifers – how does this contribute to the conversation, other than being an avoidance tactic?<\/p>\n

I’ve groaned countless times because someone – whether it be in person or online –\u00a0mentions that I must be pro-life because I’m a Christian, or even more specifically, a Catholic. I’ve never been ashamed of my faith, but in such instances I’m almost hesitant to acknowledge I am a Catholic. So what if I am? What is that going to add to the discussion when it’s not just my faith, but also real science<\/em> which informs my views?<\/p>\n

It is also important that pro-lifers, whether Christians or not, know our audience. There is a time and a place for reminding people that God, Jesus, and the Bible are pro-life. There is also a time when it is best to focus on science and reason. And yet, when pro-lifers do this, it would be nice if our intended audiences heard our actual words – not what they imagine we’ve said – and understood that we can truly prove our views in science and basic logic.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, when GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio was speaking about his pro-life record to CNN host Chris Cuomo<\/a>, Rubio’s\u00a0Catholic faith was mentioned by the host. This was a desperate go-to move, as well as an odd one, since Rubio never actually brought up his faith in his responses:<\/p>\n

\n

Cuomo: This is not my argument. This is a presented argument of science. It having the DNA map, so does a plant. It\u2019s about when it becomes a human being. I\u2019m not saying what I think in answer to that question, that\u2019s not my position. But don\u2019t you think, if you want to be a leader of the future, that\u2019s a question that deserves an answer that is definitive beyond your faith? When does life begin? None of you are calling for any type of panel for consensus\u2026 That\u2019s your faith. That\u2019s your faith. That\u2019s not science.<\/p>\n

Rubio: No it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s science.<\/p>\n

Cuomo: It\u2019s not definitive science\u2026 I will have scientists on this show all morning, from all walks of life, who will all say \u2018we cannot say it is definitely human life at conception.\u2019 So it is your faith\u2026.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why does it have to be about faith? Perhaps because Cuomo doesn’t want to talk about the real <\/a>science<\/a> Rubio mentions, he\u00a0has to attack his view by chalking it up to his faith. This is even more odd considering that Cuomo himself is Catholic.<\/p>\n

Biology tells us that when a\u00a0sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This new being has her own DNA and has never existed before, nor will she exist again. That is science. You can choose to accept or reject that science, but it’s still science.<\/p>\n

There is certainly evidence that the Bible<\/a> is<\/a> pro-life,<\/a> but there are also those who sadly distort<\/a> the Christian text and faith to say that it’s okay to follow Jesus and support abortion. The existence of groups like the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice<\/a> also demonstrate how some who call themselves Christians (or otherwise religious) get it plain wrong.<\/p>\n

I am a Catholic and a follower of Jesus. And I can say that Jesus is pro-life. I am many things in my life because of Jesus. I am not however, pro-life, because of Jesus\u00a0–\u00a0at least not solely because of Him. I am pro-life because in my heart I know that from the start, what is growing in a mother’s womb is a unique human person worthy of the equal protection of life.<\/p>\n

And it helps that the undeniable science backs me up on this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of us are familiar with the assumption that if someone is pro-life, it must be because he or she is a Christian. The argument has been made many times that the two certainly should go together. (Blogger Matt Walsh has perhaps put it best.) And just as\u00a0faith complements many other aspects of the lives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":71230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[386,4877,624,662,2140],"yoast_head":"\nNo, not all pro-life people are religious<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Biology tells us that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This isn't religion. It's science.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No, not all pro-life people are religious\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Biology tells us that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This isn't religion. It's science.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rebecca.rose.downs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-03T16:19:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-02T05:09:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/zygote-human.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"372\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca Downs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca Downs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rebecca Downs\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c857d79ac1bc983e8380970b61fa1aee\"},\"headline\":\"No, not all pro-life people are religious\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-03T16:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-02T05:09:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\"},\"wordCount\":861,\"commentCount\":25,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Catholic\",\"Christian\",\"Jesus\",\"Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice\",\"Secular Pro-Life\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\",\"name\":\"No, not all pro-life people are religious\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-03T16:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-02T05:09:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"Biology tells us that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This isn't religion. It's science.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"No, not all pro-life people are religious\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c857d79ac1bc983e8380970b61fa1aee\",\"name\":\"Rebecca Downs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b64f7e7964f02b18275bda7e3b9a3e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b64f7e7964f02b18275bda7e3b9a3e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rebecca Downs\"},\"description\":\"Rebecca Downs is a stay-at-home mom to her daughter, Sophie, who was born in August 2016. She's also in the process of obtaining her Master's degree online from Regent University Robertson School of Government. In addition to Live Action News, her writing has appeared for American Thinker, The College Fix, Future Female Leader, Red Alert Politics, Fox Nation, LifeNews, LifeSiteNews, The Christian Post, Catholic365, Juicy Ecuemenism, and Secular Pro-Life. She has also appeared in numerous radio programs and RT's The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann and One America News Network's Tipping Point and The Daily Ledger.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rebecca.rose.downs\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/rebeccadowns\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"No, not all pro-life people are religious","description":"Biology tells us that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This isn't religion. It's science.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"No, not all pro-life people are religious","og_description":"Biology tells us that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This isn't religion. It's science.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rebecca.rose.downs","article_published_time":"2015-09-03T16:19:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-02T05:09:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":672,"height":372,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/zygote-human.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rebecca Downs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rebecca Downs","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/"},"author":{"name":"Rebecca Downs","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c857d79ac1bc983e8380970b61fa1aee"},"headline":"No, not all pro-life people are religious","datePublished":"2015-09-03T16:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-02T05:09:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/"},"wordCount":861,"commentCount":25,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Catholic","Christian","Jesus","Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice","Secular Pro-Life"],"articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/","name":"No, not all pro-life people are religious","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-09-03T16:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-02T05:09:37+00:00","description":"Biology tells us that when a sperm fertilizes an egg, a unique and separate individual forms and begins to develop. This isn't religion. It's science.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/no-not-pro-life-people-religious\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"No, not all pro-life people are religious"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c857d79ac1bc983e8380970b61fa1aee","name":"Rebecca Downs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b64f7e7964f02b18275bda7e3b9a3e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b64f7e7964f02b18275bda7e3b9a3e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rebecca Downs"},"description":"Rebecca Downs is a stay-at-home mom to her daughter, Sophie, who was born in August 2016. She's also in the process of obtaining her Master's degree online from Regent University Robertson School of Government. In addition to Live Action News, her writing has appeared for American Thinker, The College Fix, Future Female Leader, Red Alert Politics, Fox Nation, LifeNews, LifeSiteNews, The Christian Post, Catholic365, Juicy Ecuemenism, and Secular Pro-Life. She has also appeared in numerous radio programs and RT's The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann and One America News Network's Tipping Point and The Daily Ledger.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rebecca.rose.downs"],"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/rebeccadowns\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71917"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72751,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71917\/revisions\/72751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}