Pruitt, a Republican elected in November to replace outgoing Attorney General Drew Edmondson, was the highest-ranking statewide official to speak at the local event, which also included state Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, and U.S. Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., several area pastors and religious organizations.
Likening the anti-abortion movement to British Parliament member William Wilberforce’s fight against slavery in the 1700s, Pruitt said the ultimate goal is to have a fetus receive the protections of the 14th Amendment.
“His obstacles are no different than the obstacles we face to get an unborn child declared as a person protected under the 14th Amendment, which we should be fighting for every single day. We should be fighting that the 14th Amendment says no person should be deprived of life without process of law,” Pruitt told the audience, which responded with applause. “… That challenge is identical to the challenge he faced, but he kept going because he was a risk-taker and he stood for truth and he made a difference.”
Pruitt said he was committed to protecting religious speech from assault and that it is un-American to require that one not speak about or live their faith in public.
“That’s wrong, that’s not America,” Pruitt said. “I will say to you as your attorney general, I am committed to ensuring that our protections in the First Amendment to freely exercise our beliefs, to freely express what we believe in the public squares, is going to be protected.”
Embedded below is the audio of Scott Pruitt's July 28th address to attendees of the Reclaiming America for Christ event. Fast forward to 18: 54 for the part where the attorney general likens the anti-abortion movement to abolition.
Scottpruittaudio by Tierramediagroup
For more coverage of the Reclaiming America for Christ event, read the Aug. 10 edition of Oklahoma Gazette.
Photo by Mark Hancock
