Earlier this month, a group of Evangelicals took to the internet with the statement that they were “pro-life Evangelicals for Biden.” Their website states,

As pro-life Evangelicals, we disagree with Vice President Biden and the Democratic platform on the issue of abortion. But we believe a biblically shaped commitment to the sanctity of life compels us to a consistent ethic of life that affirms the sanctity of human life from beginning to end… Even as we continue to urge different policies on abortion, we urge evangelicals to elect Joe Biden as president.

In other words, this group argues that because they are pro-life, they will be voting for a candidate who is pro-abortion. This idea is woefully misguided. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not simply not pro-life, they are both radically pro-abortion and committed to reversing the progress made by the pro-life movement in recent decades.

This group, and others who have made similar appeals heavily rely on the argument that state and local policies have a more of an effect on annual abortion rates than whether or not the president is pro-life, and thus whether or not a president opposes abortion should not be the main consideration a pro-life voter takes into account, or in the case of so-called “pro-life” voters supporting Biden, not a consideration that should be taken into account at all.

While it is true that whether or not the president is pro-life does not necessarily affect the annual abortion rate, and that state efforts play a significant role in the pro-life movement, this does not mean that the president does not matter when it comes to the fight against abortion. The president plays an important role in either advancing or reversing the gains of the pro-life movement. Let’s not forget that President Clinton vetoed the partial birth abortion ban. As a result, it took eight years from the first time that Congress passed the ban before it was finally passed and signed into law under a pro-life president.

During those eight years, approximately 1,280 late-term (>28 week) babies were legally murdered in a most gruesome fashion via partial birth abortions.

President Obama vetoed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and threatened to veto the Pain Capable Child Protection Act, which ultimately did not reach his desk due to a filibuster in the Senate. On the flip side, pro-life presidents have signed life-saving legislation into law and have implemented policies such as the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits federal funding of international abortions, as well as the HHS rule denying Title X funds to abortion providers, and the recent Born Alive Survivors Protection Executive Order.

Furthermore, both “Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden” and those arguing that the presidency does not matter downplay the importance of banning abortion. Not only that, but they miss the actual goal of the pro-life movement by focusing on reducing abortions. The ultimate goal of the pro-life movement is not to reduce abortion any more than it is to make abortion “safe, legal, and rare.” While we should work to reduce abortion for as long as it is legal, the goal of the pro-life movement is to make abortion illegal and unthinkable by protecting life at all stages of development and building a culture where life is welcomed and celebrated. “Reducing” abortion is not enough—we must continue to work toward overturning Roe v. Wade and establishing laws that protect life in the womb.

The Biden campaign has publicly championed a breathtakingly radical abortion position. His campaign website vows to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which saves an estimated 60,000 lives per year by prohibiting federal funding of abortion, repeal the Mexico City Policy, reverse the current HHS rule that denies Title X funds to abortion providers, codify Roe v. Wade into law, and pass a constitutional amendment that could create a “right” to taxpayer-funded abortions. In addition to his commitment to sweeping federal-level abortion policies, Biden’s campaign website also states that he would and have the Justice Department do “everything in its power” to stop state laws that limit or ban abortion. It is absurd to think that such a policy agenda would not cause serious reversals to the pro-life cause that would likely take decades to undo.

While it is true that we can and should care about other policies as well as abortion, we cannot do so in such a way that downplays the evil of abortion and the urgency of the fight against it. Simply put, a vote for a candidate who has vowed to do everything in his power to reverse the ground gained by the pro-life movement since Roe is not a pro-life vote. However well-meaning “Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden” may be, they have missed the point of the pro-life movement and the reality of what the Biden campaign has promised to do.

(Image: Flickr, Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0)