Christian Hacking, a longtime pro-life campaigner, received help from the Christian Legal Centre when he was arrested for praying outside an abortion centre.
Here we ask him about the new initiative he’s spearheading at the general election, Vote Life.
What is Vote Life?
“Vote Life is a network of independent candidates seeking to make abortion a voting issue.
“We’ve recruited 22 candidates across the UK to stand as independents in the up-and-coming general election.
“But, as opposed to standing for their own policies, they are standing on a single issue; hyper-focused on defending unborn babies and repealing the 1967 Abortion Act that has sought to destroy over 10 million human beings fearfully and wonderfully made in the last 50 years.”
What led you to start the initiative?
“This initiative has been born out of a two-year period of understanding the electoral system and the opportunities that the electoral system brings.
“In any general election, every candidate gets a free postal drop with the Royal Mail – something that would cost tens of thousands of pounds outside an electoral season.
“So knowing this, and knowing that, currently, abortion is not on the menu as a voting issue, we had to put the two together.
“Our campaign is designed to educate the public en masse about the humanity and value of the unborn children, to call women who have been wounded by the abortion industry to come and share their stories, and finally to exercise political pressure on key policy issues to do with abortion in the UK.”
Why should abortion be a key issue?
“What is a government?
“One of the most fundamental roles a government has is to reward those who do good and to punish those who do wrong. Going back to the days of Noah, the first fundamental laws that were laid out by God as soon as they left the ark were to prevent the shedding of innocent blood.
“So protecting the innocent from having their blood shed is the most fundamental bedrock of any legal system.
“And so, before we talk about all of the other issues in this election; immigration, crime, tax, global warming – you name it – we have to first deal with the most fundamental issue.
“In this country, we have distorted, ignored, and perverted what God has to say about shedding innocent blood. So we’re seeking to draw everyone’s attention away from every other issue and back to this most fundamental issue – which is 10 million lives lost since 1967 – because our country has no future until we resolve this.”
Why are other parties not addressing it? Other parties doesn’t seem to think this is a key issue.
“Where’s your trust? We don’t put our trust in mortal men who cannot save. The blind lead the blind. Let the dead bury their own dead in this election.
“We can’t be looking to politicians to set the moral tone of the nation. It’s not their job. It’s the job of the Church to define and to direct the nation on all things pertaining to moral authority.
“What does God’s word say? God’s word is very, very clear that from the moment of conception you have a distinct, living and whole human being.
“Psalm 139: ‘you created my inmost being, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’
“Psalm 51: ‘I was sinful not just from birth but from the moment my mother conceived me,’ – you have personhood in the womb.
“You can look at references in Genesis, in Job, in the New Testament in Luke 1 and the nativity story when Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. It’s all full of Scripture that affirms life in the womb.
“And yet the Church has not been clear on this. In its silence, the abortion industry has seized the day and has spilled much blood in our land.
“And so that’s why this is a matter of urgent national importance that we at Vote Life are seeking to address.”
There’s a sense of urgency with you, to get people thinking about how they’re voting and why they’re voting
“Yes. We don’t want to bind anyone’s conscience, and there’s freedom in how people should vote. But at the same time, before everyone in this nation votes, they need to ask themselves this question: are they about to give their vote to a party that is silent or in support of the killing of 252,000 unborn babies last year?
“Let me put it in perspective. Let’s say you’ve got a local candidate, from one of the main political parties. And for all pretence and purposes, they are a brilliant candidate. They’re supportive of the local community, they are compassionate, they are kind, they are good on roads, they are good on infrastructure. In every way, they tick the boxes.
“But they simultaneously support the killing of children.
“Would you vote for them?
“This is the point. No matter how good local candidates are, if they are in support of the intentional killing of innocent human beings, then as Christians, we are morally compelled to think very, very carefully as to whether we give them our vote.
“And we cannot expect UK abortion law to change so long as we are ideologically pro-life but do nothing when it comes to voting day.
“And so this is why one of our objectives as a party is not to necessarily get people to vote for us, but it’s to get everyone thinking clearly about what casting their vote means in light of the 10 million babies killed by abortion in this country.
Is the goal to gain votes and win seats?
“Our goal is that people vote life.
“That doesn’t mean people have to vote for us. It means that they should all be voting for individuals, parties and candidates that they know affirm the equal value of human beings from conception to natural death.
“Now, it’s on you to do your own research, and of course you can vote for our party if you would like, but there’re many great parties out there who are clear on this issue: the Scottish Family Party, the Heritage Party, and the Christian Peoples Alliance are all clear on the life issue.
“Likewise, there’re some Labour and Conservative candidates, even Lib-Dem candidates, who may be pro-life. Do your research and vote for them. But if those candidates support the intentional killing of human beings that God has made and loved, then you’ve got to think very, very carefully about whether you can vote for them at this election.”
Are you concerned about taking votes from pro-life candidates?
“Short answer is no, because we’re not going to take votes from any genuinely pro-life candidates.
“The people that you may see us standing against are people who are claiming to be pro-life or claiming to be Christian, but actually have no desire to defend babies in the womb or to change our law in order to protect them.
“And we make no apology for doing that.
“We encourage anyone in those constituencies to email such candidates to prove whether they are genuinely pro-life. Because in the same way that Jesus says, ’you claim to be my children but you never fed me or visited me in jail or clothed me when I was naked,’ God doesn’t care so much about what we ideologically subscribe to. Rather, he cares about whether we actually do something for those in need.
“So if a candidate is claiming to be pro-life but they really don’t want to do anything about changing legislation in order to defend babies, then yes, we will happily steal your vote in order that you may learn to vote life and act life in the future.”
Why should Christians prioritise the value of life?
“Christians should prioritise the value of life because we are the only people who know what life and life to the full really is.
“Which is life found in Jesus.
“And it’s found through not just knowing Jesus and having our sins forgiven by Jesus, but also obeying Jesus. And what does it mean to obey Jesus? It means to obey the full law of Christ.
“Doesn’t Paul say that in Galatians? Forgive one another and by so doing you will fulfil the law of Christ. Well, what is the law of Christ? It’s not just to love one another in self-defined terms. The law of Christ is to love one another according to the laws, regulations, that are perfect, by the way, that he lays out in the Scriptures.
“And fundamental in that is obviously preventing the shedding of innocent blood, abolishing any form of child sacrifice in the land, seeking truth and justice wherever we see it lacking.
“So the reason why we’re encouraging Christians to vote life in this election is because if they don’t, nobody else will. And if they don’t lead the charge on this, then they can’t expect their unregenerated neighbours to do so by themselves.
“And so, again, this isn’t about Vote Life. It’s not about our party or getting votes for our brand. This is about Christians looking at the Scriptures, praying and then making sure that they are casting their vote in a way that affirms life in this nation wherever they’re casting their vote as opposed to supporting parties that are deceptively seeking to fuel an abortion industry that is deliberately taking life and destroying the future prospects of our land.”
How can people find out more and support you?
Very simple, visit our website votelife.co.uk. There you’ll find all the information you need in order to help us make abortion a voting issue.
