Indiana Lt. Governor Candidate Micah Beckwith Stirs Controversy with Anti-Abortion Remarks
Republican candidate for Indiana’s lieutenant governor, Micah Beckwith, has sparked significant debate due to his staunch anti-abortion stance, which includes comparing the practice to the Holocaust.
Beckwith, who serves as a pastor at Life Church in Noblesville, Indiana, and co-hosts the ‘Jesus, Sex and Politics’ podcast, was nominated by delegates at the Indiana GOP convention in June, despite Sen. Mike Braun endorsing a different candidate for governor.
Between 2019 and 2022, Beckwith posted on Facebook multiple times, equating abortion with murder and aligning it with historical atrocities. Indiana currently prohibits abortion except in cases of fatal fetal abnormalities or rape and incest survivors within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. A June poll indicated that 64% of Indiana residents find these limitations too strict.
In a June 2019 Facebook post, Beckwith expressed, “Without a doubt, abortion is one of the greatest evils this world has ever seen. We will overturn Roe v. Wade and end the brutal murder of the most innocent and precious among us!”
Following the passage of New York’s Reproductive Health Act in October 2019, which incorporated Roe v. Wade into state law, Beckwith shared a provocative photo juxtaposing Nazi guards with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signing the bill. “No difference,” Beckwith commented. “The devil is still in the business of deceiving foolish people that some lives are less than human. In 1944 Jews were less than human. Today infants are less than human.”
In 2020, Beckwith sought a seat in the U.S. Congress representing Indiana’s fifth district but did not advance past the Republican primary. During this campaign, he received an endorsement from Indiana Right to Life, an organization advocating for complete abortion bans.
In a May 2020 Facebook post, Beckwith declared, “Too many politicians today are willing to compromise on the lives of the unborn — not me. I am a conservative outsider, not beholden to the way it’s always been done. In Congress, I’ll defund Planned Parenthood once and for all, not only in Indiana, but across the country.”
Earlier that year, the U.S. Senate Democrats obstructed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which proposed mandatory medical care for infants purportedly ‘born alive’ after an abortion attempt. Medical professionals argue this scenario does not occur and view the bill as a covert attempt to limit abortion rights. Beckwith critiqued the Democrats’ actions on Facebook, writing, “How in the world have we’ve become a nation where INFANTICIDE is now being defended by 41 US Senators (all Democrat) who were able to block a bill that would have protected precious babies born alive after an abortion?!”
In 2022, Beckwith drew parallels between abortion and slavery, likening those working to ban it to historical abolitionists. He wrote, “Abortion is no different than Slavery. They each devalue another human life. Like the great abolitionist, William Wilberforce, it is now our turn to speak out against the greatest injustice of our day. Let’s end abortion!”
Notably, Beckwith’s current campaign website does not mention abortion or women’s health care issues.
Running against Beckwith is Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick, former Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, former state Rep. Terry Goodin.
Efforts to reach the Beckwith campaign for comments on these issues went unanswered.
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