By Bob Allen
A Southern Baptist Convention leader has joined the Marco Rubio for President campaign on an advisory board concerning the dignity of human life.
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., is among a cross-section of Catholic, Protestant, church and parachurch leaders announced Jan. 20 as a Dignity of Life Advisory Board to counsel the Republican candidate on pro-life concerns.
“Marco personally and deeply believes that all human life is worthy of the protection of our laws,” said a campaign press release. “This is not a political issue for him, it’s a question of basic human rights. As he strives to uphold the fundamental principle that every life has inherent dignity as a unique being created in the Image of God he seeks guidance from experts who are committed to the same.”
Others joining Mohler on the advisory panel include Francis Beckwith, professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University; Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias; and George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.
“The unjust termination of the unborn is the social justice issue of our time,” said Eric Teetsel, Rubio’s director of faith outreach. “They cannot defend themselves, it is up to us. Abortion is symptomatic of a culture that devalues all human life. Marco respects the dignity of human life, including the lives of women facing the crisis of unplanned pregnancy, the jobless, mentally ill, disabled, elderly, and all others on the margins of society.”
“Abortion is not a political issue to me, it’s a human rights issue,” Rubio said in exclusive comments to LifeNews, an independent agency devoted to news affecting the pro-life movement. “It involves a fundamental question about who is worthy of the protection of our laws that reveals the kind of nation we are.”
“The inherent dignity of every human life is the foundational principle on which America was founded, though we have, to our shame, too often failed to live up to that standard,” Rubio said. “Someday, hopefully in our lifetimes, but certainly someday, Americans will look back and wonder how we could possibly have been so barbaric.”
Rubio said the advisory board “will help me ensure we are doing everything possible to get us to that point.”
The next day Rubio pledged to immediately sign a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, a reproductive health provider accused in undercover videos of profiting from the sale of fetal organs, if he is elected president.
“We must defund Planned Parenthood, and I have voted multiple times to do so,” Rubio told LifeNews. “I have voted against budget deals that include funding for an organization that continuously demonstrates callous disregard for defenseless unborn children.”