Candidate Comparisons, Party Platform Comparisons and More
for the 2016 Elections
Lorain County Right to Life, by IRS rules, does not participate or intervene in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However, we can provide information to our members on where candidates stand on issues of importance to us, and also what is in the candidate’s party platforms. We’ll also be adding comparison pieces on where candidates stand. Check back often for updates.
Thinking about not voting this year? Please read this excellent article from Right to Life of Northeast Ohio.
Check out this video of a sermon that addresses some of the principles involved in this year’s election.
Candidate Comparisons
Comparisons of the Presidential candidates and candidates for U.S. Senate from Ohio are available for download from Ohio Right to Life.
A comparison of the Presidential candidates on a wide range of issues is available from Citizens for Community Values. For supporting documentation, click here.
Please study the candidate comparisons, and print copies to share with family, friends, and fellow church-goers.
Party Platforms
The party platforms are comprehensive position papers on where the parties stand on a variety of issues of our day.
Republican Platform of 2016
Excerpts of Planks on the Life Issues
(To view the full party platform, click here)
Abortion
We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.
Appointing Judges
We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.
Planned Parenthood
We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare.
Legislation
We salute the many states that now protect women and girls through laws requiring informed consent, parental consent, waiting periods and clinic regulation. We applaud the US House of Representatives for leading the effort to add enforcement to the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act by passing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
Any honest agenda for improving healthcare must start with repeal of the dishonestly named Affordable Care Act of 2010: Obamacare. It weighs like the dead hand of the past upon American medicine. We call for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage
End of Life
We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from individuals with disabilities, newborns, the elderly or the infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.
International
The UN’s Population Fund has, from its origin, been rooted in no-growth policies that limit economic development in the countries needing it most. Its complicity in China’s barbaric program of forced abortion led President Reagan to set a wall of separation – his Mexico City Policy, which prohibits the granting of federal monies to non-governmental organizations that provide or promote abortion. We affirm his position and, in light of plummeting birth rates around the world, suggest a reevaluation of the UN’s record on economic progress.
Democrat Platform of 2016
Excerpts of Planks on the Life Issues
(To view the full party platform, click here)
Abortion
Democrats are committed to protecting and advancing reproductive health, rights and justice. We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion-regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s and young people’s health and well being.
Appointing Judges
We will appoint judges who defend the constitutional principles of liberty and equality for all, and will protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion.
Planned Parenthood
We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people.
Legislation
We will continue to oppose-and seek to overturn-federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.
Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
We will defend the ACA, which extends affordable preventive health care to women, including no cost contraception, and prohibits discrimination in health care based on gender.
End of Life
Our country faces a long-term care crisis that prevents too many seniors and people with disabilities from being able to live with dignity at home or in their communities. Programs that emphasize independence rather than institutionalization must be better structured to support them.
International
We believe that safe abortion must be part of comprehensive maternal and women’s health care and included as part of America’s global health programming. Therefore, we support the repeal of….the “global gag rule” and the Helms Amendment that bars American assistance to provide safe, legal abortion throughout the developing world.
Libertarian Platform of 2016
Excerpts of Planks on the Life Issues
(To view the full party platform, click here)
Abortion
Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration. (NOTE: In the party’s statement of principles, it states that government “must not violate the rights of any individual: namely, (1) the right to life—accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others.” Apparently this does not translate to the rights of an unborn human being.)
Appointing Judges
This is not addressed in the platform. (NOTE: In a media interview with the Daily caller on 7/29/16 regarding possible court appointees, the Libertarian presidential candidate stated that “there would be ‘no litmus test,’ adding that any nominee needs to view the Constitution through the lens of ‘original intent.’ ‘Original intent,’ which aims to interpret the Constitution strictly as intended by the Framers, differs sharply from a ‘living document’ interpretation. In the ‘living document’ view, the intentions of the Framers are irrelevant, and the Constitution should change in accordance to social and political norms.” In the same article, the vice presidential candidate “lauded Justice Stephen Breyer in an interview with Reason Magazine. He claimed “Steve Breyer has been a good Justice. He was appointed by Democrats” President Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland was “a very good pick [to replace Antonin Scalia].”
Planned Parenthood
This is not addressed in the platform
Legislation
Refer to position on abortion above.
Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
We favor a free-market health care system. We recognize the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance they want (if any), the level of health care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care, including end-of-life decisions.
End of Life
Other than the mention in the section above, this is not addressed in the platform.
International
We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid.
Green Platform of 2016
Excerpts of Planks on the Life Issues
(To view the full party platform, click here)
Abortion
The Green Party unequivocally supports a woman’s right to reproductive choice, no matter her marital status or age, and that contraception and safe, legal abortion procedures be available on demand and be included in all health insurance coverage in the U.S., as well as free of charge in any state where a woman’s income falls below the poverty level.
Appointing Judges
This is not addressed in the platform.
Planned Parenthood
This is not addressed in the platform
Legislation
Women’s right to control their bodies is non-negotiable. It is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remains available. The “morning-after” pill must be affordable and easily accessible without a prescription, together with a government-sponsored public relations campaign to educate women about this form of contraception. We propose the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States: The rights established by this Constitution and the laws of the United States of America are exclusively the rights of living, breathing humans, citizens of this country or residing therein. No corporation or other type of association or organization can have the status of a “legal person” and thus cannot derive rights from such status.
Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
The Green Party supports single-payer universal health care and preventive care for all. We believe that health care is a right, not a privilege. Contraception and safe, legal abortion procedures should be available on demand and be included in all health insurance coverage in the U.S., as well as free of charge in any state where a woman’s income falls below the poverty level.
End of Life
We believe in more comprehensive services for those who have special needs, including the mentally ill, the differently abled and those who are terminally ill.
International
Under the agency of the United Nations, we demand that our government renew and initiate government funding and support for family planning, contraception, and abortion in all countries that request it.
A printable comparison, prepared by Priests for Life, of the platforms of the two major parties is available here. Please print copies and share with family, friends, and fellow church-goers.
Your vote is critical in the presidential election, but don’t forget or underestimate the importance of local races. Remember that Barack Obama went from Illinois State Senator to President of the United States. Most politicians climb their own political ladder of success. Make sure they match your stand beginning on the bottom rung!