Christian leader Franklin Graham described abortion as legalized murder Tuesday when he slammed the city of San Francisco for banning government travel and business in pro-life states.
Graham, the president of Samaritan’s Purse and son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, has been a strong, consistent voice for life in the Christian community.
“Progressive socialist leaders like [San Francisco Mayor London] Breed want everyone to swallow the lie that abortion is a woman’s right — even something to celebrate,” Graham wrote online, CNS News reports. “But it’s not. Abortion is murdering a child in its mother’s womb.”
Earlier this month, San Francisco city leaders expanded an employee travel ban to 22 states that have pro-life laws. The ban prohibits government employees from taking city-paid trips to the states, and bans the city government from entering new contracts with businesses in those states.
The mayor celebrated the legislation last week, saying, “By limiting travel and contracting with certain states, we are sending a clear message to states that disregard the right to abortion.”
Graham responded to the news with incredulity.
“Can you believe this? San Francisco is ‘blacklisting’ states with pro-life laws,” he wrote. “City employees in San Francisco are forbidden to take work trips or do business with companies in 22 states that have what they interpret as ‘restrictive abortion laws’ in the new year.”
Graham continued: “The Bible says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil …’ (Isaiah 5:20). I’m thankful to God for the many states and individuals across this great land that are standing for life.”
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The 22 states included in the ban are: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Recently or in the past, lawmakers in these states have approved laws to protect unborn babies’ lives. These include abortion bans, informed consent laws, parental consent laws, bans on taxpayer-funded abortions, material support for mothers and babies in need, and more. These state lawmakers recognize that an abortion is a grave moral evil that destroys a unique, living human child inside his/her mother’s womb.
But San Francisco is not alone in its contempt for pro-life states. Los Angeles politicians and the California legislature enacted similar travel bans to pro-life states earlier this year. In September, an Illinois Democrat lawmaker also introduced a bill to ban state government employee travel to pro-life states. And in May, Colorado banned state employee travel to Alabama after it passed a law to protect unborn babies from abortions.
As the Catholic News Agency reports, 12 states have passed pro-life laws to restrict or ban abortions so far this year. These include heartbeat laws banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy in Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio, but none are in effect because of pro-abortion legal challenges.
Meanwhile, Illinois, New York, Vermont and Rhode Island passed radical pro-abortion bills this year allowing unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth.
