High on a rooftop in Washington, D.C., with the National Mall and statues of America’s greatest leaders placed before us, on May 5, I represented the Family Research Council at a gathering of pro-life leaders to honor House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
The sun was shining so intensely that by behind schedule afternoon the White House, Blair House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial were all shimmering.
This was Dr. Charmaine Yoest speaking. She fights cancer bravely, but is always faithful and mighty. As leader of Americans United for Life, Charmaine gracefully thanked Leader Boehner for his pro-life actions, and especially for being a voice for the voiceless during the recent battle over ObamaCare.
John Boehner not only voted to protect unborn children, but also spoke on their behalf at the Blair House health care summit among all the president’s men. John Boehner spoke out against ObamaCare, saying it would force Americans to pay for the slaughter of innocent people. Boehner the Bold.
President Obama could no longer disregard the plight of millions of unborn children by claiming that the question of when they would receive the right to life was beyond my pay grade. Now he’s at the top of the federal wage pyramid.
Instead, in a bored and imperious manner, Barack Obama dismissed John Boehner’s objections. He added that these were merely campaign talking points. But Boehner said it. And the nation and the world heard it.
Charmaine presented Leader Boehner with the Henry Hyde Defender of Life Award. Henry Hyde was that great lover of life, that fluent advocate who first brought the plight of the unborn to national prominence when he was still a freshman in Congress, in 1976, our nation’s Bicentennial Year. The Hyde Amendment protected the lives of millions of people for over thirty years by denying any federal funding for abortion.
John Boehner stood up to respond. Blinking in the dazzling sunlight, the Leader spoke of his eleven brothers and sisters. As usual, he was well dressed, wearing a blue TV shirt and pink tie, and had his trademark tan.
When Boehner spoke about Henry Hyde, about their deep friendship and how much his voice was missed, something extraordinary happened. Always still and composed, John Boehner broke down. He was overcome with emotion. This veteran of a thousand television appearances and thousands of speeches and remarks wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. He apologized to those gathered.
But why would he apologize? If what just happened in America wasn’t enough to make the strongest man cry, what would be?
In this special place, we all had to realize the gravity of what happened at the Capitol last March. In Sunday’s vote, the United States Congress voted against Gettysburg.
Yes, this organized, erroneous majority voted against the central meaning of Abraham Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address. This nation, Lincoln said, was conceived in freedom and dedicated to the idea that all men are created equal.
Did Lincoln actually have unborn children in mind then? Of course not. He didn’t have to protect them. Abortion was then illegal in most states and would soon become illegal in all states. Why? Because medicine has just learned that human life begins at conception. These protective laws were passed at the urging of the American Medical Association, not churches across the country.
Would Lincoln have an opinion about the slaughter of innocent people if he was asked this question? Perhaps the answer can be found in Lincoln’s statement: “Nothing that was imprinted in the divine image was sent into the world to be trodden on.” If Lincoln believed that a slave was so marked, do we really think he would have considered the fate of unborn children higher than his wages?
The God who gave us life also gave us freedom, wrote Thomas Jefferson. These words are engraved on his monument. At the same time? What could this moment have been? Could this have been the case when they were created?
John Boehner may or may not become the next Speaker of the House. It is in God’s hands and in the choice of the voters. Whatever happens in November, those of us who saw him that night will have a memory we will never forget.
We will remember that in the heart of this city of strength and power, a man could choke while remembering a dead friend. We who honored leader Boehner on May 5 and cherish the memory of Henry Hyde know in our hearts that the cause they defended will never die.
