The morality question

In a speech to the Hendricks County Republicans’ Lincoln Day Dinner, Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th District, was reported by the Indianapolis Star to have spoken about the need to promote a triad of “fiscal discipline, economic growth and moral values” in Indiana.

When conservative politicians invoke “moral values,” liberals often become very fearful.

Their fear is not unjustified.

A conservative cry for an increase in moral values too often means the state is about to be used to impose the personal convictions of a powerful majority on dissenting minorities. 

If his recent legislative record and the agenda of the Republican Party are any indication, this is surely what Pence would do.

So eager to keep government out of the doctor’s office when it comes to making sure citizens have access to health insurance, Pence and other Republicans are trying their best to break down the doors of privacy that protect women’s rights to reproductive health care.

Pence introduced legislation this February that would strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding. Since none of the funding the organization receives from the federal government can be used for abortions, Pence was campaigning to take away other crucial health services such as family planning counseling and HIV tests.

Closer to home, the Indiana General Assembly has been tireless in legislating its own brand of morality. Before the House Democrats fled to Illinois to block the passage of anti-labor legislation, many of them voted along with Republican representatives to amend the Indiana Constitution to define marriage only as between a man and a woman.

Liberals should challenge the definition of the moral values that are being put forward.

There is a significant difference between legislating morally and legislating morality.
In a democratic society, there is no greater moral than to ensure equal respect and fair treatment for minorities and vulnerable communities.

We should call out those who violate this basic principle by conflating moral legislation with their private moral views.

All of us are entitled to hold our own moral opinions.

While I might disagree with the views of Pence and other Republicans that abortion is inherently immoral and same-sex marriage unacceptable, I certainly do not contest their right to live out those views in their own lives.

The sincerity of a person’s private moral convictions, however, does not make imposing them on fellow citizens a moral choice.

Liberals should reclaim “moral values” as a phrase that accurately describes our aim of protecting all citizens’ liberty of conscience.

—wallacen@indiana.edu