by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director
Recently, Dan Proft, who is seeking the Illinois Republican Party's gubernatorial nomination, was quoted in the Daily Herald http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=349698&src=109 regarding his position on the right to life issue.
Here is Proft's response to the query:
"Roe v. Wade is bad constitutional law, inconsistent with our God-given right to life and should be overturned," Proft said. "In addition to an important policy issue, this is a personal issue for me as I was born approximately nine months before the Roe decision and I was adopted. Thus, had the law been a bit different a bit earlier, perhaps the world would never have been availed of my brilliance."
I was shocked when I was informed of Proft's quote. Some say he was simply being jocular in his response which essentially says if Roe v. Wade were enacted before his birth, we would not be "availed" of his "brilliance."
Of course, the quote could simply be a demonstration of Proft's arrogance, but for a moment, let's give him the benefit of the doubt concerning his remarks.
In 1945, Nazi Germany was surrounded by Allied Forces. A number of death camps were discovered by the Russian army (who were heading towards Berlin from the East) and American troops who were closing in on the German capitol from the West. These death camps, including Auschwitz, Dachau and Buchenwald, where millions were put to death in accordance to Hitler's Final Solution, were no longer rumors. Such death camps lead to the demise of nearly six million Jews and four million other human beings who were considered undesirables, enemies of the state or simply old and handicapped. One of the first death camps discovered by the Russians was Auschwitz. Buchenwald was liberated by the 6th Armored Division of the U.S. Third Army on April 11, 1945.
Remember, these were men who had participated in the greatest human conflict in history. 50 million people died in Europe alone. Soldiers who fought their way from Normandy on the Western Front and battled-hardened troops who participated in the Battle for Stalingrad in the former Soviet Union, saw their brothers in arms die in front of them in the most violent ways possible. They witnessed horrors no one should see and, until this day, these brave men, who we now call the Greatest Generation in America, are hesitant to talk about what they went through.
Upon entering the death camps, these battle-hardened individuals were shocked and outraged. Many broke down and wept openly. General George Patton threw up when he walked through one of these murder factories with Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. Patton was so enraged, he ran to a jeep, jumped on its hood and told those in his command, "kill them, take no prisoners." Patton was obviously referring to the remaining battles to end Hitler's reign of terror.
Now, let's suppose God put us in a place where we could see the 50 million innocent unborn who have died in their mother's womb since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973. There would be babies a few centimeters in length who were sucked out of their mother's wombs. There would be unborn children who were cut into pieces by abortionists. There would be nearly full-term babies who were outside of their mother's womb, except for their heads, which were punctured by a sharp surgical instrument before their brains were removed. It would be a nightmare scene of the greatest proportions.
Some don't know the details of why Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, changed her position on abortion. One night while she was working in a Texas abortion mill, she entered a back room where a locked refrigerator stood. McCorvey unlocked the door to the refrigerator and the sight she saw changed her life forever. There were body parts, resulting from abortions, in all shapes and sizes. Some of these body parts were going to be sold, others were going to be disposed of like garbage.
Now, let's get back to Dan Proft's comment. I do not believe there were many jokes made when General Patton was walking through the body strewn landscape where death lingered in every direction. Was Norma McCorvey laughing or making jokes after she saw the results of the work she participated in before her nightmarish discovery? By the way, McCorvey now is an ardent pro-life activist because of what she saw that night.
Here is the operative question. Does Dan Proft understand why so many fight to save the lives of the innocent unborn? It certainly is not a joking matter. Or it simply may be a statement demonstrating hubris of the greatest magnitude.
Let me get personal here. My wife and I had an abortion nearly 30 years ago. We live with that guilt every day of our lives. We never joke about the abortion. We never think if born, our baby could have made us rich and prosperous. We now know we would have loved our child whether our child was perfect or suffered from Down's Syndrome. Perhaps our baby would have only lived for an hour, but we would have had a chance to caress our child, knowing we would see him or her in Heaven one day. The only thing that relieves us from our pain is the blood shed by Jesus Christ for our sin, a great sin for which we are forgiven through Christ's death on the cross.
No, Mr. Proft, it's not a joking matter. The fight for the rights of the innocent unborn is a battle between forces of darkness and light.
I'd like to talk to Mr. Proft and ask how when he stood in front of the Republican Assembly of Lake County in 2009 he could still say he would again help elect a pro-abort candidate (like Beth Coulson) to office.
It's obvious Mr. Proft does not get it and perhaps he never will. In this case, one phrase spoke volumes. Pro-life voters should NOT consider voting for this man in the upcoming Illinois Republican gubernatorial primary on February 2nd.
Related articles:
Dan Proft for Governor: On Abortion, Not Good, But Pro-Gambling Record Impeccable by Daniel T. Zanoza: http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2009/09/dan-proft-for-governor-on-abortion-not-good-but-progambling-record-impeccable-.html
What would you think: Some Questions of Dan Proft Style Politics: Good For GOP Locally or Nationally? Guest Commentary by John McNeal: http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2008/03/what-would-you.html
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