Below is a letter I sent to President Obama on Feb. 9
Dear President Obama,
First of all, I would like to add my personal congratulations to all the many you have received in the last months on winning the election and making American history. Though many of my red-state Southern neighbors might doubt it, I believe that God placed you in this position quite deliberately and I pray that you will connect with our Heavenly Father daily throughout your presidency, so that you may be an instrument of His will, and not against your own will.
I am writing to express my disappointment in your executive order reinstating funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions. There is much I don’t know about this order, but if I understand correctly, funding will continue to flow as it has over many years to the same NGOs, what has changed is that they are now free to counsel on and provide abortions, whereas under Republican administrations since Reagan, they have been “gagged” from mentioning or offering abortion.
I realize that you promised to do this during your campaign, though I wasn’t aware of that when I voted for you. I also recall in your interview with Rick Warren that you said you were not for abortion – “no one is for abortion.” You said your focus on this issue would be preventing abortion. And although I am more pro life than most pro lifers (I can say this confidently because I believe in the right to life for people awaiting capital punishment, as well as babies and the elderly), I could agree with what you said in that interview, including the remark about knowing when life begins being above your pay grade. No one knows, and the issue of abortion is so complex, but I certainly agree that as a society, we should not be pro abortion. I also heard your statement in one of the debates that you would do nothing to reverse Roe v. Wade. I reiterate these things simply to make the point that I was not expecting you to suddenly become a pro life president.
What I expected was that you would act in accord with your statement that you were not pro abortion. To me, that means that although you will explore a multiplicity of ways to reduce the number of abortions in this country, while protecting Roe v. Wade, you would not do anything to further abortion. However, that is precisely what your executive order did. You took a status quo situation and made a pro abortion declaration. Can I ask you, what difference do you think it would have made if you had not reversed that executive order? For the last eight years, those agencies have been doing something else besides abortions and abortion counseling. What harm would there be in them continuing what they have been doing for the last eight years? Further, your act has made federal funds, tax payer dollars, my money, the funding source for abortions, and abortion counseling. It is one thing for abortion to be available to women who believe it a necessity; it’s something entirely different for me to pay for it. In the very real possibility that life begins at, say, the first beating of the heart, 10 days after conception, the blood of the lives of these children being aborted using federal dollars is on my hands, on the hands of our country, and as our leader and the signer of that particular executive order, on your hands.
I urge you to reverse the executive order. Your constituency that applauded the signing of the order will balk, most certainly, but the fact of the matter is, you are their choice for president. You will no doubt do many things during your presidency that rub many people the wrong way, but those who strongly support you on a number of issues will not only forgive the areas of disagreement, they may well admire you for being the man of conscience you promised to be. Reversing the order with a simple statement such as, “I will protect Roe v. Wade while working to lower the rate of abortion in our country and among our citizens abroad; however, when I signed that executive order, I trespassed on one of my own values. I am not pro abortion and the order I signed enabled and supported new abortions. I did it because I promised it during my campaign, but God help me if I must disobey my conscience to meet a campaign promise. I remain supportive of women’s issues and pray those who feel this is a blow to women will gain a new understanding of my position as they see through my future acts how I indeed support women’s equality and health.”
Not meaning to put words in your mouth, I just wanted to illustrate how something like this can be done without alienating the voters who put you in office. And speaking of voters, what about that other 48 percent of Americans who didn’t vote for you? These people, mostly pro life voters, need a reason to believe in you. I can think of no better way to gain their respect than to show yourself a man of your word on the issue of abortion (that you are not pro abortion) and to “reach across the isle” (something politicians love to do, right?) on this issue that is so very critical to many red-state voters.
From my address, you can see that I live smack-dab in the middle of a red state, and in my neck of the woods, one didn’t see very many Obama/Biden campaign signs. I know the mentality of your political adversary; I am surrounded by it daily. These people have no faith in you. I don’t say that for shock value or to hurt you in any way. I say it because it is so. As Christian people, post-election they immediately began crying doomsday and God help us. You must turn this tide in the next four years, after all, these folks are reproducing quicker than your constituency! You many wonder, as I have, how the heck the American public could re-elect George W. Bush. I am convinced it was because they believed Bush to be a man of God (despite some obvious shortcomings) and he was pro life. The heartland of America is deeply concerned about preserving spiritual values. You can season your speech with references to God as much as you please, but you will never turn a red heart blue until you demonstrate – take an affirmative action – that resonates with the God-fearing red voters.
Mr. President, I have the highest regard for you, despite my disappointment in this matter I bring to your attention. I wish you a lauded place in American history and I believe the capacity of your administration to restore the United States in the global arena is great. You can create jobs in the south, give our citizens healthcare (which by the way, I’m sort of counting on as one of America’s uninsured), restore the economy and propel us to the forefront of the energy race, but what can you do to earn the confidence of all the voters whose litmus test for a politician is how he votes on issues pertaining to life? This issue divides us more than any other. How can you reach across the isle on this issue?
I pray you will consult with our Heavenly Father for the answer (or just take my advice ).
Sincerely,
Donna Lee Schillinger
Donna, you said it better than I could have or would have.