Pro-life politicians and their culture of life

Cross-posted at Bring it On!

Pro-life Politicians and a Culture of Life

I meant to write about this last week, but Republican Rep. Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-Michigan) went after the group Catholics United in an opinion piece in the National Review, because Catholics United had the audacity to ask the question: Is it pro-life to vote against S-CHIP?

Is it pro-life to vote against health care for children? That’s an easy answer – no. But tell that to Rep. McCotter, who voted against the S-CHIP legislation and by default, voted against health care coverage for millions of children. I wonder if this is another example of a “pro-life” politician failing to recognize that life exists beyond the moment of birth?

McCotter went full throttle on Catholics United, calling them false prophets, characterizi ng them as the devil, and saying that they were committing a sin by suggesting that “pro-life” politicians shouldn’t have voted against S-CHIP. Clearly Catholics United struck a chord with Rep. McCotter.

And for good reason: for far too long, “pro-life” politicians have been able to get away with voting for war, voting against health coverage, voting to scale back social programs for the poor, and voting for education cuts, while failing to recognize that these votes cut against the grain of the “culture of life” they supposedly champion.

McCotter’s mad because someone called him on his hypocrisy – that he may label himself pro-life, but his definition of “life” ends at birth. As a devout Catholic who publicly tosses around his faith, McCotter should know that a definition of life that fails to encompass health care for children is not only incomplete, it’s contrary to the own social teachings of his faith.