UPDATE Sunday, 2:14 p.m. CT: Here is the Senate’s schedule for the remainder of Sunday. The Senate will vote on cloture tomorrow (Monday) morning at 1:00 a.m. ET, so your calls, e-mails, and faxes need to be sent today.
Following the remarks of Senator Coburn, the Senate will adjourn until 1:00pm Sunday, December 20. Following the prayer and pledge, the time until 1:30pm will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees. Beginning at 1:30pm and until 11:30pm, there will be alternating blocks of time, with the Republicans controlling the first hour and the Majority controlling the next hour.
At 11:30pm (Sunday), the Senate will recess until 12:01am Monday, December 21. Following the prayer and pledge, the time until 1:00am will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the Majority Leader controlling the final 10 minutes and the Republican Leader controlling the 10 minutes immediately prior.
At 1:00AM Monday, December 21, the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on the Reid-Baucus-Dodd-Harkin amendment #2376.
Many folks in The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod are not aware of the intensity of the Synod’s support for life. Sure, most folks know that the Synod is on record as opposing abortion. But their knowledge and their involvement end there.
A few weeks ago I had a discussion with two acquaintances about their need to contact their senators to ask them to support the the pro-life Nelson amendment. One responded that she was too tied up with her other vocational duties to get involved. The other responded that he just didn’t know enough about such things to get involved.
Wow. And these are two church workers! In a Synod that is avowedly pro-life!
Friends, we can do much better than that. The Synod in convention has passed several pro-life resolutions that are carefully and resolutely worded in favor of God’s gift of life. Permit me to quote portions of one resolution, which gets to the heart of the matter. It is Resolution 3-02A, “To State Position on Abortion,” adopted as amended by the 53rd Regular Convention (1979) of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (Convention Proceedings, p. 117):
Resolved, That The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in convention urgently call upon Christians–
1. To hold firmly to the clear Biblical truths that (a) the living but unborn are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception (Job 10:9-11; Ps. 51:5, 139:13-17; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:41-44; (b) as persons the unborn stand under the full protection of God’s own prohibition against murder (Gen. 9:6; Ex. 20:13; Num. 35:33; Acts 7:19; 1 John 3:15); and (c) since abortion takes a human life, abortion is not a moral option, except as a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of another human being, viz., the mother; and
2. To speak and act as responsible citizens on behalf of the living but unborn in the civic and political arena to secure for these defenseless persons due protection under the law. . .
Resolved, That the Synod earnestly encourage its pastors, teachers, officers, and boards–
1. To warn publicly and privately (Prov.31:8-9) against the sin of abortion;
2. To instruct the community of God that abortion is not in the realm of Christian liberty, private choice, personal opinion, or political preference. . .
8. To support the efforts to secure the human life amendment to the United States Constitution.
In this day and age of appealing to synodical resolutions, in this instance let me appeal to this synodical resolution. First, on the basis of Scripture, the Synod has “urgently called upon Christians” (this presumably would include members of LMCS congregations) to hold to the biblical truth concerning the life and personhood of the unborn, and to speak and to act as responsible citizens in that regard. In a democracy, responsible citizenship includes voting and making your opinion known to your elected representatives or senators. Second, the Synod has “earnestly encouraged” called church workers and synodical agencies (this would include districts) to warn about the sin of abortion and to and to teach that abortion is not a matter of political preference.
Seems pretty clear to me.
So, dear Missouri Synod reader, you have an opportunity this afternoon, prior to the 1:00 a.m. vote tomorrow to end debate, to contact your Senators by whatever means necessary (for my part, I’ve discovered that Sen. McCaskill’s [D.-Mo.] D.C. voice mailbox is full, so I sent her an e-mail; I also plan to call her other offices in Missouri), to tell her or him that you do not support the federal funding of abortion, which will most certainly occur given Sen. Reid’s (D.-Nev.) Manager’s Amendment.
News outlets are suggesting that if the vote to end Senate debate passes early tomorrow morning, the Senate will vote to approve its version of health care reform (with the abortion provisions) on Christmas Eve.
You read that right: Christmas Eve.
When we celebrate the birth of the Son of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Find your Senator here. Or call,
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Toll-Free: (866) 220-0044
