The pro-life, pro-choice debate may be the largest deterrent standing in the way of conservatism.

Of the many core conservative beliefs, two of the most fundamental beliefs are personal responsibility and limited government (otherwise known as freedom).  In that light, I would like to discuss a key debate that has dominated American politics for the last 30 years, and I would also like to put forth a conservative perspective that has largely been ignored.

The concept of “left vs. right” would have made no sense to our founding fathers.  What their debate surrounded was the issue of heavy government control vs. no government control.  What they ultimately decided was somewhere in the middle.  Conservatives certainly acknowledge the need for government, as long as that governance does not intrude on individual freedom.  If it is unclear when government should regulate – or not regulate, on a given issue, the conservative would prefer that government stay out of the mix.

As someone who believes in the sanctity of the life, the author hopes for the day when there are no abortions.  Because of this continuous and politicized debate, however, what has happened to the American society over the last 30 years is perplexing, and has worked against a culture that would minimize abortions.   

Most observers would acknowledge the pro-life position is driven largely by the religious segment of the population, whether they are Catholic, Protestant or other belief.  This segment of the population is primarily conservative on most issues.  In other words, they are a group of people that believe in less – not more – government interference.  However, at the same time, they have taken the position that government should get heavily involved in the personal decisions of families by making abortion illegal.  What this has done has split the United States into two segments: Democrats, which are becoming mostly secular, and Republicans, which are more religious.  This did not use to be the case.

Because of these dynamics, most of the good points of conservative principles have been lost in the noise:

Personal responsibility

Freedom (less government intrusion)

Independence

Self reliance

Strong work ethic

Entrepreneurial spirit

Inventive

Industrious

Patriotic

Now if you, as the reader, consider yourself a liberal and have just read the above principals, you might be thinking that you believe in most of these principals as well.  If that is the case, I would then suggest that you may be more conservative than you give yourself credit for!  Then, ask yourself this question: 

If the majority of the citizens of our country believed in the above conservative principles, would we have more abortions, or fewer abortions?

Do I suggest that the efforts to reduce the number of abortions, and the efforts to educate about better ways to deal with an unwanted pregnancy be curtailed?  The answer is no.  For those who believe strongly in this cause, those efforts should continue.  However, getting government involved in this issue goes against core conservative principles, which again, include personal responsibility and less government intrusion.  As much as many conservatives dislike abortion, what conservatives should like even less is for a government official to be knocking on their own door, or for that matter your door, and telling you what must done on a very personal issue.  Ponder that.

To be true to conservative principles, the Republican Party should exclude the pro-life issue from their political platform.  This should be done not for political expediency, but for core conservative values.

This is a Tyranny versus Freedom issue, and a true conservative does not want the federal government dictating matters close to the family. 

Without question, this is an emotional subject, and debate as much as we like, the debate will not cease.  Perception, however, is reality. 

Injecting the pro-life issue into government, in effect, is injecting big government into our lives, and therein lies the rub, and the all-important reality. 

There are good conservative-minded people that continually vote against a conservative agenda for our country because of this single issue.  Because of this vote, the liberal culture of our country continues to grow and creates a society leading to more abortions, not less.  If one of the goals of our society is to lower the number of abortions, a true conservative cultural shift will be the best remedy.

As a compromise, I would suggest the issue of late-term abortions be addressed with legislation, since the majority of people might agree that taking the life of a child old enough to live outside the womb is wrong.  We should, at the same time, leave the Roe vs. Wade decision alone, and have this battle fought outside the political spectrum, where the battle can actually be won.

Creighton Hill is Editor of TheNewConservative.com