Excerpt from Bishop Charles Blake’s remarks at the Interfaith Forum, Sunday, August 24, 2008, Denver, Colorado:

“Our children have sacred value, and every child is equally valuable.

May I observe, as a Pro-Life Democrat, that some of us have philosophic, humanitarian and theological differences with those who put forth abortion as an appropriate, routine and acceptable birth control procedure. There are millions of us who would hold that such a position conflicts with our conviction regarding our sacred responsibility to our youth and to human life itself.

Surely we cannot be pleased with the routine administration of millions of surgically terminated pregnancies. Something within all of us must be calling for a better way. If we do not resist at this point, at what point will we resist?

We know that our party will understand and acknowledge the moral and spiritual pain that so many feel because of this disregard for the lives of the unborn.

Those of us who support the Democratic Party, despite our disagreement on this issue, do so because the Democratic Party articulate and pursues more of the positions that are relevant to the lives and circumstances of our people, the people of America in general, and the people of the world.

Others loudly proclaim their advocacy for the unborn, but refuse to recognize their responsibility, and that of our nation, to the living. They are presently and historically silent, if not indifferent, to the suffering of our inner cities, the extreme levels of economic and social inequality that exist in this country and around the world, and to the ethically indefensible restrictions blocking the access of some to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.

Senator Obama, and all of us, should follow up and elaborate on his stated intention to reduce the number of abortions, by providing alternative programs which will by various approaches result in the prevention of unwanted pregnancies; and to provide viable alternatives in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. ...