“The Purpose of Abortion Is to Produce a Dead Baby, Not to Save a Mother’s Life”

The Harris-Walz campaign wasn’t shy in its push for abortion.  It has been a major emphasis for the ticket this election cycle, with both Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz openly supporting abortion with no limits.  According to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, the Left, including the Harris-Walz campaign, have continuously told “deceptive, incomplete, [and] sometimes flat-out false narratives to give lift to Kamala Harris’s talking point on what she calls ‘Trump’s abortion bans,’ which are the pro-life laws of states.”

In an of “Washington Watch,” Dr. Donna Harrison, board-certified OB-GYN and director of Research for the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, joined host Perkins to discuss the truth behind the “lies” coming from pro-abortion activists on the Left, drawing special attention to the story of a woman in Texas whom abortion activists “claim died after doctors said it would be a crime to intervene in her miscarriage.”  The story was published by ProPublica.  But as Perkins asked, could it be that this is “just another case of a woman dying because of the Left’s lies and not pro-life laws?”

As Harrison pointed out about this case in Texas, “A lot of what we know is just what’s reported in the media.”  However, “what I can say is … that pro-life doctors for 40 years before Dobbs have separated moms and babies when the mom’s life is at stake.  And that isn’t anything” new.  It’s “part of the tragedy” of caring for “any mom that is sick” with an “infection [and] needs to be separated from her baby,” she emphasized — “even if that baby can’t live.”  But being able to discern when to make that decision is “just part of … good medical care.”  It “has nothing to do with pro-life laws,” Harrison underscored, and “nothing to do with abortion regulations.”

“[A] mother is the first patient, is she not?” Perkins added.  And while she’s not the only patient, doctors “are always going to work to help that mother in her medical condition.”  Harrison agreed.  “The mother is our patient.  The child is our patient.”  But the reality is, “There are … situations that are life-threatening that will save the mom’s life even though the baby dies.”  And yet, even in those cases, Harrison contended that they’re still not considered abortions.

Harrison went on to explain how “the confusion about what an abortion is” often remains at the center of this debate pertaining to the treatment of miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.  “An abortion,” the doctor clarified, “is a procedure that’s done for the purpose and intent of producing a dead baby.”  She further clarified that in an instance where a mother’s life is at risk, and the baby does not survive, that is not an abortion because “the purpose [was] not to produce a dead baby.”  Again, Harrison stated, “The purpose of an abortion is to produce a dead baby.”

She went on to illustrate this further: “If there’s an abortion going on at 32 weeks and the baby lives, what do you call that?  That’s a failed abortion.  Why?  [Because] the baby failed to die.  The baby didn’t fail to separate.  The baby failed to die.”  As such, “it’s very clear that the purpose of an induced abortion … an elective abortion, is to produce a dead baby, not to save a mother’s life.  That’s a completely different purpose.”

And now, Perkins argued, in addition to the harmful nature of abortion, “women’s lives [are] being endangered by these false narratives that are being told by political leaders like Walz and Harris.”  In fact, he contended, “what I take away from statements they have made” is that they want “no limits” on abortion.

“Well, that’s exactly right,” Harrison replied.  “[T]here are women that are dying from chemical abortions in states that have no pro-life restrictions.  It’s not an issue of regulating abortion causing women to die.  It’s an issue of women [who] deserve excellent medical care, and they deserve medical care that treats both them and their child as patients.”  This, Harrison stressed, is “what we do as OB-GYN’s.”

“But when you become fixated on abortion [and] the ending of life,” Perkins concluded, “it’s hard to provide good health care and saving lives.  I mean, that [abortion] becomes their top priority [is] astounding.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Kamala Harris Concession: Loyalty to ‘Our God’ Drives Me to Fight for Abortion

Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the 2024 presidential race in a brief, angry, and graceless call-to-arms in which she claimed her “loyalty to our conscience and to our God” and belief in “the dignity of all people” will drive her to continue fighting for abortion.

Harris delivered her concession speech at her alma mater, Howard University, where she had planned to hold her victory party.  About one-third of those at her watch party returned to “The Yard” to hear Harris admit defeat and prod them to take up four, or eight, years of hostility.

“[T]he light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up,” she said, her voice rising to a crescendo, “and as long as we keep fighting.”

“I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now.  I get it,” she said laughing, as no one in the crowd joined her laughter.  “But we must accept the results of this election.  Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory,” she said, as the crowd booed.

“We owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States, and loyalty to our conscience and to our God.  My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign, the fight — the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best.  That is a fight I will never give up,” thundered Harris, as she turned to the theme that would dominate most of her 11-minute address.

“I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations — where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do,” said Harris, tying success to abortion as she received a fulsome cheer primarily from young college-aged females in the crowd.  College-age single women constitute the abortion industry’s target market.  “[W]omen in their 20s accounted for more than half of abortions (57.2%),” and 86% of women who had an abortion were unmarried in 2020, according to data from the Biden-Harris administration.

Apparently without appreciating the contradiction latent in her beliefs, Harris also claimed to uphold “the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.”

Harris made abortion the primary, virtually the only, issue of her 107-day campaign, saying she would not consider any protections for unborn children at any stage of development, nor any exemptions for people of faith who did not want to participate in an abortion.  “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” candidate Harris told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson in a rare campaign interview. 

She also vowed to continue to oppose “gun violence,” which in the Democratic lexicon translates to putting restrictions on the right to bear arms, and to continue “the fight for our democracy.”  Her campaign attempted to paint Donald Trump as “a unique threat to democracy.”  When Anderson Cooper asked Harris “Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?” during a poorly received CNN town hall, Harris rapidly replied, “Yes, I do.”

Harris encouraged the crowd to begin “looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor” — a reference to continued support for illegal immigration, when her administration’s spokespeople rebranded illegal aliens as “newcomers.”

“This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build,” Harris stated.  “We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square, and we will also wage it in quieter ways.”

Harris, who underperformed President Joe Biden’s 2020 performance in all 50 states and lost the popular vote, appeared to be casting herself as the leader of a new anti-Trump Resistance movement.  “What exactly is Kamala doing here?  Trying to position herself as some sort of future Dem powerbroker,” said Saagar Enjeti, the co-host of “Breaking Points” with Krystal Ball.  “Hillary could cling to the popular vote and Russiagate.  She has literally nothing.”

“On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win.  But here’s the thing, here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while.  That doesn’t mean we won’t win,” Harris told the crowd, including her husband, Doug Emhoff, who at times began openly weeping.  “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars,” she said, holding up her hands and nodding her head as she did when describing space exploration to children.

“Many people feel like we are entering a dark time … [I]f it is [true], let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars” seemingly echoing President George H.W. Bush’s description of the United States as a “thousand points of light.”

Viewers were quick to dismiss Harris’s remarks, which Fox News host Laura Ingraham described as “a Resistance speech.” 

“It felt inauthentic.  It felt light,” Ed Henry told Newsmax moments after the conclusion, and featured “cheap shots there at the end.” 

Pro-life observers also chided Harris for placing her faith in the power of abortion to power her campaign to victory.  “Killing babies is not the W,” or win, “you thought it was, Kamala,” noted Lila Rose of Live Action.

“Page, turned.  What’s been, unburdened,” said Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America Action.  “Goodbye Kamala, and don’t come back.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Joy Came in the Morning … After the Election

If Kamala Harris ever lived up to her self-description that she is “not aspiring to be humble,” it came when her campaign treated the Bible verse “joy cometh in the morning” as though it foretold her election as president.  Yet on the morning that false prophecy came to nought, God seemed to reassert His sovereignty, deliverance, and vindication through His Word and an ancient hymn recorded in a prayer book used by 85 million Christians worldwide — including many of her supporters.

Early Wednesday morning, it became clear America had been spared the election of a candidate who promised to erase religious objections and force Christians into funding and participating in abortion and other sinful activities.  The 2024 election felt different; it felt definitive.  On one side stood a candidate who wanted to honor America’s heritage; on the other, a team that aimed at “fundamentally transforming the United States of America” now asked for four more years to “finish the job.”  In 2024, America voted in favor of itself.

Through the centuries, it has become customary to pray a hymn known as the Te Deum after receiving a blessing, or deliverance from some great calamity.  This hymn, which is so ancient that no one is certain who wrote it, welds every order of earthly and angelic creation into one chorus of praise.  Before proceeding to the Te Deum, look at Psalm 30.  The Bible always applies God’s eternal and unchanging wisdom to our everyday circumstances, but this specific Psalm prophetically addressed the election and its misuse of God’s Word.

“I will magnify thee, O LORD; for Thou hast set me up, and not made my foes to triumph over me,” it began.  “O LORD my God, I cried unto Thee; and Thou hast healed me.  Thou, LORD, hast brought my soul out of Hell: Thou hast kept my life, that I should not go down into the pit.” 

Reading this Psalm the morning after an election, God seemed to engage the Harris-Walz campaign’s hermeneutic and convey the voice of America itself crying out to God in thanksgiving.

Then, verse five says: “Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

Kamala Harris, or whoever writes her soliloquies, branded the party’s desperate defenestration of Joe Biden after his June 27 debate performance an act of “joy.”  Soon, Psalm 30:5 became the ubiquitous rallying cry of Democrats, who had begun to despair over Biden’s inevitable loss.  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-D) gave an uncharacteristically religious speech to the Democratic National Convention, invoking the phrase like a revivalist trying to get the American people to accept Kamala Harris as their political lord and savior.  Jeffries quoted the verse twice in one minute — just 50 seconds after he reassured the nation that a President Harris would “always protect a woman’s freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions,” a euphemism for abortion.

Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks wound the Psalmist’s verse into a political omen as she completed her DNC address.  “It’s always darkest before the dawn.  We know that we can endure for a night, because ‘joy cometh in the morning,’” Alsobrooks, who won her Senate race on Tuesday, told the DNC.  “Morning is coming!  Morning is coming, and that joy will be led by Kamala Harris!”  Last Sunday, nine days before the election, the vice president even shouted the phrase from the pulpit of West Philadelphia’s Church of Christian Compassion in a strange new accent.  (Unlike Jesus, she thought it appropriate to bear witness of herself.)

A better scriptural commentator, St. Augustine of Hippo, interpreted Psalm 30’s “weeping” as the human race straining under the yoke of sin and death, while the “joy” foretells “the exultation of the resurrection, which hath shone forth by anticipation in the morning resurrection of the Lord” Jesus Christ.  Crafting an entire campaign around the idolatrous application of a Messianic prophecy to Kamala Harris is … not an act of humility.  Yet ever since “values voters” made up the margin of victory in the 2004 presidential election, Democrats have alternated between invoking their newfound public faith on the campaign trail and violating its traditional beliefs in office.  Nancy Pelosi invoked her Catholicism at least 10 times while supporting abortion and claimed it “compels” her to support same-sex marriage.

In 2024, the Kamala Harris campaign tried to conceal its contempt for half of America and rebellion against God’s moral standards behind a campaign of vibes wrapped up in a twisting of the Bible.  But God had the last laugh, putting the words of her failed campaign slogan on the lips of Christians in praise to Himself on the morning she contemplated writing her concession speech.

The Book of Common Prayer has been a resource for the 85 million Anglicans around the world.  The vast majority of clergy in The Episcopal Church not only supported Kamala Harris but preach a god who blesses abortion and the LGBTQIA+ agenda in sermons that combine thick, syrupy postmodernism and a thin gruel of non-specific religious sentimentality.  And, despite many unhappy revisions to the American prayer book, Psalm 30 remains the first Psalm read on the sixth of each month.  They, too, read Psalm 30 the morning after the election as an indictment of their attempts to redefine biblical morality.

America will not find healing until it learns that no politician delivers any lasting joy.  God alone can provide satisfying and abiding spiritual joy, which is a virtue, not a vibe; a fruit of the spirit, not a fleeting campaign slogan; and the gift not of any earthly ruler, prince, or satrap, but of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Who has given us an everlasting kingdom that is not of this world.

If you share my view that God has given us a reprieve from the worst, I invite you to join me in reading Psalm 30 in its entirety and praying the Te Deum, which I’ve printed below.  And let us give thanks for the power of the One Who alone brings true joy.

Psalm 30:

I will magnify thee, O LORD; for Thou hast set me up, and not made my foes to triumph over me.

O LORD my God, I cried unto Thee; and Thou hast healed me.

Thou, LORD, hast brought my soul out of Hell: Thou hast kept my life, that I should not go down into the pit.

Sing praises unto the LORD, O ye saints of His; and give thanks unto Him, for a remembrance of His holiness.

For His wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye, and in His pleasure is life; heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be removed: Thou, LORD, of Thy goodness, hast made my hill so strong.

Thou didst turn thy face from me, and I was troubled.

Then cried I unto Thee, O LORD; and gat me to my LORD right humbly.

What profit is there in my blood, when I go down into the pit?

Shall the dust give thanks unto Thee? or shall it declare Thy truth?

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me; LORD, be Thou my helper.

Thou hast turned my heaviness into joy; Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness:

Therefore shall every good man sing of thy praise without ceasing. O my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.

Te Deum laudamus:

We praise Thee, O God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.

All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting.

To Thee all angels cry aloud; the heavens, and all the Powers therein;

To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee.

The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee.

The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee;

The Father, of an infinite Majesty;

Thine adorable, true, and only Son;

Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.

Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.

When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man, 

Thou didst humble thyself to be born of a Virgin.

When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, 

Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.

We believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge.

We therefore pray Thee, help Thy servants, whom 

Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with Thy saints, in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine heritage.

Govern them, and lift them up for ever.

Day by day we magnify Thee;

And we worship Thy Name ever, world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.

O Lord, let Thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in Thee.

O Lord, in Thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wife Arrested in Connection with Missionary Husband's Murder

A Minnesota woman has been arrested in Angola on suspicion of murdering her husband, a missionary serving in the African nation, according to their church.

Authorities have taken Jackie Shroyer into custody in connection with the death of her husband, 44-year-old missionary and former pastor Beau Shroyer.

“Today, our grief and sadness has deepened immeasurably as we’ve learned that his wife, Jackie Shroyer, has been arrested in connection with his death,” wrote Lead Pastor Troy M. Easton of Lakes Area Vineyard Church in a statement released to the congregation, as reported by Fox 9.

The church, located in Minnesota, had previously announced that Beau was killed in a “violent, criminal attack” on October 25 while on mission work in Angola.

The Shroyers moved to Angola in 2021 with their five children to serve as missionaries with SIM USA, a North Carolina-based Evangelical organization.

According to the church’s statement, they aimed to teach residents about Christianity and God’s love in a “remote bush village” without electricity.

Before their missionary work in Angola, Beau served as a pastor at Lakes Area Vineyard Church and had a background in law enforcement, having worked for the Detroit Lakes Police Department in 2013, according to the Detroit Lakes Tribune.  He also worked as a real estate agent prior to moving abroad.

The couple’s five children are being “well cared for,” and the church is collaborating with SIM USA and SIM Angola to ensure their continued safety and well-being, according to Easton’s statement.

SIM USA’s Chief Personnel Officer and General Counsel Mark Bosscher told the Tribune that the organization “has taken steps to ensure that Jackie has appropriate legal representation.”  He added that they are “working closely” with Lakes Area Vineyard Church to “care for the Shroyers’ five children.”

In the days leading up to his death, Beau shared glimpses of his missionary work on social media.  He posted on Facebook about meeting a young student named Mauricio, who walked long distances to attend school.  “One of the reasons that the Nyneka people, who we are serving, are among the most marginalized people groups in Angola was a lack of access to education,” he wrote.  “Please pray for Mauricio and others like him who spend half of their day walking to school and back.”

Another post mentioned his agricultural efforts, saying he had spent the day “spreading manure by hand over a 40x16 meter agricultural plot.”

Authorities in Angola have not released details about how his wife is connected to the incident.  Fox 9 reported that authorities have not disclosed whether any charges are pending.

The church has requested privacy for its members and announced adjustments to their Sunday services to “honor the needs of our community at this time.”  Easton said they are preparing to handle media inquiries by pointing back to the official statement.

SIM USA, which focuses on spreading the Gospel in difficult-to-reach areas, said in a previous statement that “Beau and Jackie Shroyer, together with their five children, were some of the first missionaries to begin service with SIM USA after the COVID lockdowns eased.  They have brought a faithful, energetic, growing, loving aroma of Christ into our family,” Randy Fairman, president of SIM USA."

Beau Shroyer had earlier explained during a presentation that the government of Angola had given the ministry a parcel of land next to an orange farm that was constantly under attack from criminals which affected the property they were trying to develop.

At the top of a list of needs for the property he presented to Country Faith Church was the need to build a perimeter wall and hire more security.

The late pastor said the orange farm next to the property of the youth ministry installed an electrified, 10-foot high razor wire fence and hired about 50 guards to protect the farm day and night but they still struggled with crime in the area.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Pastor, Family Burned Alive in Islamist Attack

Islamist villagers in eastern Uganda burned a pastor and his family to death after he led three Muslims to faith in Christ, the pastor’s brother said.

Pastor Weere Mukisa, his 25-year-old wife, Annet Namugaya, and their two daughters, 7-year-old Judith Banirye and 4-year-old Sylvia Bamukisa, died when the assailants set fire to their home shortly before 3 a.m. on October 13, said the church leader’s brother, James Tusubira.  Pastor Mukisa was 30.

The tragic attack took place in Kibale village, Mpumiro Parish, Bulange Sub-County, Namutumba District.  Pastor Mukisa had led the Muslims to Christ in September.

“When the three young Muslims converted to Christ, my brother started receiving threatening messages that he should stop any contact with the three young converts, and that the act committed is against the teaching of Islam to not join the religion of infidels,” Tusubira told Morning Star News.

Tusubira said he saw flames and smoke coming from the family’s home at 2:48 a.m.  “We rushed to the scene of the incident and found the house torched and the five bodies burned beyond recognition,” he said.  “Many people started arriving till the break of the day.  Plastic bottles of petrol were found outside the house.”

The assailants were from a neighboring village and were known to the pastor, Tusubira said.  The killings have been reported to the police in Kibale.  Officers were hunting for the suspects, who have absconded, Tusubira said.  Villagers were in great shock and fearful over the gruesome attack, he said.

“Please pray for us so that these radical Muslims who destroyed my brother and the entire family can be brought to book,” Tusubira said.

In Nankoma, Bugiri District, a mother of three children was beaten and burned with acid by her Muslim husband after he learned she had put her faith in Christ.

Hidaaya Nabafa, 27, was receiving hospital treatment for severe burns after the attack by Juma Nsibambi, 42, she said.

Nabafa had received Christ in August at a church in Nankoma village, undisclosed for security reasons.  Keeping her faith secret, she had gone to a worship service on October 9 while her husband was in Kampala.  “When I came back at 4 p.m., I found my husband at home, and he asked me about where I have been; I kept quiet for a while,” Nabafa told Morning Star News from her hospital bed.  “At last, I decided to tell him the truth that I gave my life to Jesus.”  She had Christian tracts about the life of Christ, she said.

“Upon hearing my confession, he got annoyed and boxed me and started beating me up,” Nabafa said.  “I tried to make an alarm for rescue, but all in vain.”  Nsibambi momentarily left, leaving her on the ground, and when he returned he poured battery acid on her, she said.  “I lost consciousness, only to find myself in the hospital bed,” said the mother of three children, ages 7, 5 and 2.

Neighbors arrived and took her to a hospital in Bugiri, where she was expected to continue treatment for a few more weeks due to the severity of the burns.  She is expected to need reconstructive surgery for some parts of her body badly injured by the acid.

These attacks were the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another.  Muslims make up no more than 12% of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Kamala Harris is Most 'Anti-Faith' Candidate in History

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts warned Americans in a Friday press call that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, is the most “anti-faith” presidential candidate in history and that her administration would lead to Christians losing their freedom to worship.

Roberts, who has led the conservative think tank since 2021, hosted a Virtual Faith Media Roundtable to Discuss Why Christians Should Vote Friday.  In his remarks, he warned about the implications of a Harris Administration and assuaged Christians with concerns about the Republican candidate for president— former President Donald Trump. 

The conversation took place four days before the 2024 presidential election, where the Republican ticket of Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (OH-R), is locked in a tight race with the Democratic ticket of Harris and MN Gov. Tim Walz. 

Roberts described Harris as “the most anti-faith, anti-religion presidential candidate in history.”  He maintained that “People of faith who are worried about the choice they are making really need to understand what’s at stake.”  He asserted, “We’re going to lose our ability to worship, we’re going to lose our religious liberty if the Harris-Walz campaign prevails.”  He cited the vice president’s suggestion to attendees at one of her recent rallies who shouted phrases including “Christ is King” that they were at the wrong rally as an example of her hostility to religion. 

Roberts expressed concern about the prospect of a Harris-Walz Administration “expanding abortion” if the Democrats gain complete control of the U.S. Congress in addition to the presidency as well as “a real abridgement of religious liberty” and efforts to “abridge free speech.”  He expressed concern that “they’re going to abridge free speech for people of faith” as well as media organizations. 

“Although I’ve got other things I’m concerned about, I think it’s not hyperbole for me to say that I think the entire First Amendment is endangered” in the event of a Harris-Walz victory in the 2024 election, Roberts declared.  In addition to laying out the implications of a Harris-Walz Administration for people of faith, he attempted to reassure those with concerns that a Trump-Vance Administration would not be much better. 

Roberts lamented that “There are people of faith who are sitting on the sidelines because they have forgotten that we are electing a president, not a pastor.”  He contended that Christians who plan on sitting out the 2024 election because of their concerns about Trump need to remember that “none of us is perfect,” including Trump and Vance. 

Roberts’ comments about people of faith “sitting on the sidelines” in the 2024 election comes as a study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University published last month estimated that 32 million self-identified Christians will abstain from voting. 

Addressing the concern that Trump has taken an inadequately pro-life position by insisting that the issue of abortion should be left to the states following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision determining that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and his vow to not sign a national abortion ban, Roberts maintained that “I think people of faith need to remember the … former president’s track record” on the issue from his previous time in the White House. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic that in a Trump-Vance Administration, that the policy default of the president and vice president will still be solidly pro-life,” he said.  Reflecting on the assembly of a presidential cabinet and administration that would follow a Trump-Vance victory, Roberts declared “It’s sort of impossible to avoid appointing pro-life people.” 

Roberts described the pro-life movement as “a vital, vital part of the political coalition that will have succeeded in electing Trump and Vance,” stressing that giving pro-life activists prominent roles in the administration would be “politically intelligent.” 

Polling at the national level as well as in individual swing states as of Friday forecasts a close election.  The RealClearPolitics average of national polls asking voters which candidate they support shows Trump with a very narrow lead of 0.3 percentage points over Harris.  The RealClearPolitics “no toss-up” map, which projects the outcome of the presidential election in the electoral college based on polling averages in individual states, shows Trump capturing 287 electoral votes to Harris’ 251. 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Harris Rejects Religious Exemptions in Abortion Debate

Democratic candidates have been running on abortion for years, and both President Joe Biden and now Vice President Kamala Harris have pledged to resurrect a more extreme version of Roe v. Wade if Democrats win the White House in November.  But Harris is promising more than just unrestricted abortion on demand: she’s promising to make American Christians carry out and pay for abortions.

In an NBC News interview on last week, Harris was asked if she would consider “making concessions” on abortion if she were to win the White House in order to garner support from pro-abortion Republicans like Senators Lisa Murkowski (AK-R) and Susan Collins (ME-R).  “What concessions would be on the table?  Religious exemptions, for example; is that something that you would consider if the Republicans control Congress?” NBC’s Senior Washington Correspondent Hallie Jackson asked.  Harris replied, “I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body.”

When Jackson asked if Harris would consider religious exemptions as an “olive branch” extended to Murkowski or Collins, the vice president said that “a basic freedom has been taken from the women of America, the freedom to make decisions about their own body, and that cannot be negotiable, which is why we need to put back in the protections of Roe v. Wade, and that is it.”

Christian organizations were quick to react.  In comments to The Washington Stand (TWS), Mary Szoch, Family Research Council’s director of the Center for Human Dignity, said that Harris “isn’t pro-choice; she is pro-abortion.”  Szoch continued, “She wants to force everyone to perform abortions — even physicians who recognize that the killing of an innocent unborn child is murder and a grave sin — and she wants to force American taxpayers to pay for abortions.”  She concluded, “This woman will do everything possible to increase the number of babies aborted in this country.  No Christian can vote for her in good conscience.”

The Center for Baptist Leadership called Harris’s comments “chilling,” adding, “This means that all Christian hospitals, healthcare providers, businesses, etc., would be forced to provide/cover abortion if she got her way.  It would be the end of the First Amendment and religious liberty as we know it.”

In comments to TWS, William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership and a former Trump staffer, said, “In the final moments of her floundering campaign, Kamala Harris has decided to drop the mask and reveal her deep-seated hatred for the unborn and all American Christians.  There are so many things wrong with her recent comments, both morally and legally, that it’s hard to know where to begin.”

“First, there is no ‘fundamental freedom’ to murder the unborn in the womb.  Rather, the government is obligated, under God and the Constitution, to defend the lives of all American citizens, including the unborn,” Wolfe explained.  He continued, “Second, her rejection of ‘religious exemptions’ when it comes to abortion would be the end of the First Amendment as we know it.  She is openly admitting that, if elected, she would use the full force of the federal government to require Christian doctors to perform abortions against their conscience and religious beliefs.”

Wolfe called the agenda “nothing short of a satanic tyranny that flies in the face of everything America was founded on.”  He added, “As a Baptist, this is particularly concerning, as we believe that religious liberty is foundational for free societies.  She’s made her antipathy toward those who want to uphold the First Amendment and protect innocent life in America known.  Now, we will see how Christians respond at the ballot box.”

CatholicVote, a conservative advocacy group, protested in a statement over social media, “Kamala Harris admits she would deny religious exemptions for abortions — forcing Christians to kill unborn children and seemingly doubling down on weaponizing the government to jail pro-lifers who pray outside abortion facilities.”  The organization wondered, “Why would any Christian vote for her?”

Andrew T. Walker, professor of ethics and public theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, summarized, “Killing a pre-born child is a more fundamental right than religious liberty according to Vice President Harris.”  Ben Domenech, editor-at-large for The Spectator, commented, “Forcing Catholic hospitals, which supply care to some of the most vulnerable populations, to perform abortions or shut their doors is literally the most vile thing a major party candidate has ever endorsed.”

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly condemned Harris for her demonstrable animosity towards American Christians and pro-lifers.  At the “11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting” on last Monday, Trump insisted that Harris is “very destructive to Christianity and very destructive to evangelicals and to the Catholic Church.”  He added, “She is your worst nightmare.  Much worse, much worse than Biden, and he wasn’t so hot.”

Trump has previously called Harris “militantly hostile toward Americans of faith,” pointing out her record on such issues as abortion and the LGBT agenda, as well as her repeated prosecution — both in the White House and prior to becoming vice president — of pro-life Americans and her complicity in targeting American Catholics with the FBI.

Trump has pledged to “stop the Biden-Harris Administration’s weaponization of law enforcement against Americans of faith” and has said that “no longer will the DOJ and the FBI be allowed to target, persecute, or round up Christians or pro-life activists and throw them in jail for living out their religious beliefs.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel