On March 13, 2018, we have a special election in Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district, located southeast of Pittsburgh, to fill the seat of retired Republican Tim Murphy.  Murphy, who ran as pro-life, resigned after it was reported he had asked his girlfriend to have an abortion.

Among the candidates is Rick Saccone, a highly qualified conservative state legislator.  Saccone served in the U.S. Air Force as counterintelligence and a special agent for more than ten years.  He also served as a civil employee of the U.S. Army in Iraq from 2004 to 2005.  He taught as a professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.  Saccone served as a diplomat to North Korea from 2000 to 2001.  Saccone is pro-life and opposes abortion.

President Trump endorsed Saccone and will campaign for him later this month.  Vice President Pence has already done so.  It is an important election to maintain Republican control of the House and to elect a strong conservative.

Saccone is opposed by Democrat Conor Lamb.  Lamb comes from a Democratic political family.  His grandfather, Thomas Lamb, was the Democratic majority leader of the Pennsylvania Legislature from 1970 to 1974.  His uncle, Michael Lamb, is controller of Allegheny County.

Lamb served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a federal prosecutor.

Lamb appears as an attractive, well spoken candidate who tries to project himself as a "moderate" by saying he would not vote for Nancy Pelosi.

The phony part is that in his TV ads, in print, and on his website, he regularly boasts that he attended Central Catholic High School, a well known Catholic high school in Pittsburgh, implying that he is pro-life.

But when Lamb was asked about abortion, he replied: "I come from a Catholic background, but choice is the law of the land."  He refused to give specifics on his position.

This is the standard cop-out: "I am personally opposed to abortion, but it is the law, and I will not impose my religious beliefs on others."  It was perfected by Mario Cuomo.  His son Andrew, the current N.Y. governor, has "evolved" to say that those who support right to life have no place in New York State.

Opposition to abortion is not simply a religious belief; it is a fundamental civil and moral belief.  This copout is the same as saying before the 13th Amendment was passed that "I am opposed to slavery, but it is the law of the land."

Saying the Supreme Court cases of Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Roe v. Wade are the "law of the land" is the same as saying Dred Scot v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), was the "law of the land."

They are only Supreme Court decisions that got it wrong.

Lamb advertises himself as a Catholic to get votes.  It is basic Catholic teaching that abortion, the killing of an unborn child, is an intrinsic evil.  There is no rational way for a Catholic voter, or a voter of any religion that respects and protects innocent life, to vote for a Democrat, like Lamb, who supports abortion.  We are killing an unborn child.  This is not just a religious belief.  It is a fact based on science and logic.  You do not have to be Catholic to oppose abortion. 

The Democrats in the 18th District chose Lamb over Gina Cerilli, of Greensburg, Pa., who said she is "pro-life" and a "moderate."  This angered the "progressives" in the party, and she lost the nomination to Lamb.

The Democrats could have nominated a pro-life, politically moderate woman to run, which would have supported their claim of diversity.  But their claim for diversity does not extend to diversity of opinion on abortion or on any other important issues.  It extends only to differences in skin color and gender, not diversity of views.

You cannot say you are pro-life if you are a Democrat running for office.  The last well known Democrat politician who was proudly pro-life was Pennsylvania governor Robert Casey, who served from 1987 to 1994.  Casey was barred by the Clintons from speaking at the 1992 Democratic Convention because he intended to give a speech opposing abortion.

Governor Casey signed the Pennsylvania abortion law that was challenged by Planned Parenthood and is now the "law of the land" in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).  Justices O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter, all appointed by Republican presidents, struck down most of the law to uphold abortion as a constitutional right.

The U.S. Senate just defeated 51-46 the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks in the U.S.

"Catholic" senators Cantwell (D), Collins (R), Durbin (D), Gillibrand (D), Heitkamp (D), Kaine (D), Leahy (D), Markey (D), Masto (D), McCaskill (D), Menendez (D), Murray (D), Murkowski (R), and Reed (D) all voted against protecting the unborn after 20 weeks.

Lamb could have shown courage by taking a firm stand, like Governor Casey, against abortion.  But sadly, Lamb is following the easy path to get Democratic votes and fundraising by implying he may be pro-life because he is Catholic and attended Catholic schools but refusing to take a stand against abortion.  This is the only way for a Catholic politician to run as a Democrat today.  For example, Lamb's ground game has some canvassers telling voters that Saccone supports school vouchers – even, horror, for students who attend Catholic schools.

There is no room for diversity of opinion in the modern Democratic Party.

Lamb is another phony like Pelosi, Biden, Cuomo, and the above-named senators.

At least Tim Murphy had the principles to resign after it was revealed that he had acted contrary to his opposition to abortion.  Democrats are not burdened by such principles.  They just want to win.