I submitted this letter to the editor of my local paper; it wasn’t published so I’m sharing it here:
The “human right to life” is at the heart of the Pro-Life movement. Organizations like Americans United for Life even have missions like, “We advocate unabashedly for the life of every person of every age, background, and belief. We strive for the day when all are welcomed throughout life and protected in law.”
Yet when it comes to a person’s life after it’s inside the womb, Pro-Life advocacy seems sparse.
USAID funds life-saving organizations aimed at protecting the most vulnerable members of our global society. Its work has real life impacts with real life-and-death consequences. Is their work not a Pro-Life issue?
USAID funds PEPFAR – the neonatal health programs that treat expectant mothers with HIV which prevents them from passing HIV onto their children. Without PEPFAR babies who would not have been born with HIV will be born with HIV; half of those children will die before they are two years old.
To be Pro-Life should mean more than just ensuring a woman gives birth to a baby. It should mean that the baby is born as healthy as possible with the greatest chance at a long, healthy life. This is often only accomplished through USAID.
USAID accounts for roughly 1.0 percent of America’s federal budget; PEPFAR just 0.1 percent of it. By not funding USAID America has not only seemingly assigned a dollar value to a human life, but it doesn’t think it is worth the cost.
To truly support a human’s right to life is to support USAID; it’s worth the investment.
Give God Your Yes 