Top 10 Pro-Life Reasons to Vote for Democrats on November 3rd

There are two issues I hear frequently from Republican voters in Tennessee as to why they vote for Republican candidates: guns and abortion.

You see, I’m intimately familiar with the narrative: “Democrats only want to take away my guns and kill babies.” Propaganda works.

First of all, plenty of Democrats own guns. They enjoy hunting, fishing, and target shooting just as much as their Republican neighbors. And just like everyone else, they want to make sure their home and their family members are safe and protected. They just do all of these with trigger locks and gun safes while advocating for common sense gun legislation.

But I’m not here to talk about guns—as much as I also enjoyed target shooting and love eating venison.

The term pro-life has become synonymous with the debate over abortion. In fact, the term is only used when discussing abortion. Here are the top 10 pro-life arguments for voting for Democrats on November 3^rd that have nothing to do with abortion.

1. Over 200,000 Americans have died in 2020 due to the Coronavirus. Lives that could have been saved if the current administration had listened to scientists and medical experts, had led by example.
2. Over 100,000 Americans die of heart attacks, strokes, and other illnesses related to air pollution annually according to the National Academy of Sciences. That’s a health impact of $886 Billion that Americans are then asked to pay to cover their healthcare costs. (Medical debt is the number one reason Tennesseans declare bankruptcy.) Democrats understand that pollution is not only destroying our environment but destroying our health.
3. 300,000 Tennesseans in 2020 are living without health insurance because they cannot afford it and their employer doesn’t offer it. Expanding Medicaid would bring $1.4 Billion home to Tennessee to expand access to health care through tax dollars we’ve already paid to the federal government. Democrats want to expand Medicaid.
4. 39,773 people die annually from gun related injuries in the United States—according to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center. These are Americans who died from suicide, homicide, mass shootings, domestic violence, etc. Democrats support common sense gun legislation and affordable access to mental and physical health care.
5. 22 service members died in Afghanistan in 2019. These service members gave everything because their country asked yet there is still unrest and instability in the Middle East. Democrats support our troops and won’t send them in to battle to score political points.
6. Over 21,000 infants died in the United States in 2018. The United States ranks 51^st in the world for infant mortality due to the lack of access to affordable health care. Democrats want to expand Medicaid, make health care affordable and accessible.
7. 658 women died in 2018 while pregnant, giving birth, or soon after giving birth because they didn’t have access to affordable health care. Democrats want to expand Medicaid, make health care affordable and accessible.
8. Over 750,000 Americans have died due to opioid overdoses since 1999. 2 out of 3 overdoses in 2018 were related to opioids. Democrats want to expand Medicaid, make health care affordable and accessible. Democrats understand opioid abuse should be addressed as an economic issue and that those who run pill mills should be prosecuted.
9. 5,250 American workers died on the job in 2018. Democrats support unions because unions keep workers safe as well as negotiate for good pay and good benefits.
10. 127,764 Americans died due to poverty in 2018. This includes food insecurity, access to quality and affordable health care, access to quality and affordable food, jobs that pay living wages and benefits, and an environment that isn’t targeted for corporate waste. Democrats understand that addressing poverty is multi-faceted and legislation that increases wages, access to affordable and quality health care, fully funded public schools, and protects the environment must be top priorities.

You see, being pro-life isn’t about a single issue. Democrats are pro-life in our advocacy, candidate platforms, the Party platform, and legislation we propose.

But let’s say you’re still focused on abortion. Did you know that the rates of abortion decrease when abortion is legalized? According to the Guttmacher Institute, the countries with the most restrictive abortion laws have the highest rates of abortion. I get it; that seems counter intuitive, right? Yet countries that legalize abortion make access to birth control, comprehensive sex education, health care, etc. more accessible and affordable. As such the rates of unwanted pregnancies decline in tandem. The demand for abortion declines.

Being pro-life isn’t about a single issue. It’s absolutely about valuing each person’s life.

Voting for Democrats on November 3^rd will save lives. Americans are counting on your vote to save their life. You have the power to be a hero.