The 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) caused concern for the pro-life community before the doors even opened on Thursday.  As noted at LifeNews Wednesday, while the agenda included a variety of topics, the issue of life was noticeably absent from the breakout panels.  From the perspective of pro-life activists, the lack of inclusion perhaps indicated a deficit of interest in openly supporting what has traditionally been a key issue within the party.  Today, however, American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas explained the reasoning behind CPAC’s decision to focus on other issues:

There are certain battles that are waged in the movement and that battle has been won. I would say that if you asked a question about being pro-life, ninety-plus percent of the conservative movement is pro-life.  So, we engage in panels mostly in those questions that are still to be answered and those questions where folks are still to be persuaded and present various points of view. The pro-life question has been decided long ago in the movement and the movement, by and large, is pro-life and there is nothing to be gained by going about it.

Now, having said that, we had a number of speakers yesterday who addressed the issue: Governor Mike Huckabee, Ralph Reed and then our keynote speaker at the Reagan Dinner, Dr. James Robison. So, we had plenty of speakers who were given the freedom to speak their wish, to address the issue passionately, but the panels are for questions that remain to be answered. That one’s been answered.

While there has been and will continue to be much discussion over this year’s CPAC, the idea that the issue of life has been settled within our community is a welcome one. Whether or not that means we should cease discussing how to continue that fight outside of ourselves is one that remains to be determined.

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