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Fall 2009 | Volume 68, No. 1
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Land: Health Bill Pays for Death Of Those Who are Too Expensive, Ill or Inconvenient
by Keith Collier
Christians must defend the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (ERLC) president Richard Land said in a chapel service at Southwestern, Aug. 27.
Land criticized current proposed legislation called the “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act” (H.R. 3200) and said the Obama administration’s bill paves the way for government-funded abortions and euthanasia.
Outlining Matthew 4:1-11, Land said Satan seeks to entice people toward evil and opposes the intrinsic value God has placed on the life of a human being.
“We see evidence in our culture that there is spiritual warfare going on, and I have to tell you from the front lines that things don’t look good,” he said.
Land expressed concern about the public health plan associated with H.R. 3200, which is currently being discussed in congress. He said that while abortions are not added as an essential benefit, they are allowed under the benefits.
“If abortion is not specifically excluded, it’s covered,” Land said. “That means that you will have, for the first time since the passing of the Hyde amendment, not only abortion on demand, but you being forced to pay for the abortions with your tax money.
“Unless we turn this tide of death around, Boomers, Busters, and Millennials will be allowed and assisted in dying before their natural time because the government has made the decision that they are too expensive, too embarrassing, too ill, or too inconvenient.”
Encouraging Christians to contact their congressmen, senators, and the president, Land said individuals must make it clear that they want the government to promote a sanctity of life ethic rather than a quality of life ethic.
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