OPINION:
Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced that she favors eliminating the filibuster to pass a law to allow abortions up until the moment of birth. She has tried to flip-flop on many extreme aspects of her record, but Ms. Harris is doubling down on killing children in the womb.
Meanwhile, at the Democratic National Convention, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer hinted at overturning the filibuster to allow a federal takeover of elections and limit speech Democrats don’t like.
The two issues — abortion and weaponizing the political process — may seem unrelated at first, but they are deeply intertwined. A Harris administration would overrule state laws to make abortion legal in all 50 states. Then, she would try to silence the pro-life movement once and for all by turning federal agencies against conservative nonprofits, donors and voters.
It’s a playbook Ms. Harris has used before. As California attorney general, she raided a pro-life journalist’s home after meeting with Planned Parenthood staff. She also oversaw an aggressive campaign to seize nonprofit donor lists and intimidate socially conservative organizations.
Ms. Harris demanded that every nonprofit registered in the state turn over their confidential donor lists or face fines and other penalties. Her actions mirrored those of the 1950s, when political leaders sought to stop the Civil Rights Movement in its tracks by forcing the disclosure of a list of NAACP members.
Now, as then, Democrats outed supporters to make them vulnerable to attack by both the government and their vigilante adherents. That controversy ultimately led to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in NAACP v. Alabama. The 1958 ruling shields the privacy of nonprofit members and donors from state officials and a hostile public.
Generations later, donor targeting remains a powerful weapon for corrupt governments and left-wing activists to spy on their opponents and silence their critics. So when Ms. Harris broke her promise to keep the records secure and exposed more than 1,400 confidential forms listing donors’ names and addresses so conservatives could be harassed, no one was surprised.
Several conservative nonprofits, including the pro-life Thomas More Law Center, wisely refused to turn over their lists in the first place. Instead, they challenged Ms. Harris’ actions in court.
It took a decade of legal fighting, but in 2021, the Supreme Court finally reaffirmed that Americans have a right to privacy in their support for nonprofit causes in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta. No American should be targeted by their own government because of their beliefs or membership in pro-life groups.
Ms. Harris’ office’s behavior in the case was so careless that even liberal nonprofits such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund called her out. Yet there is no indication she learned her lesson. In the Senate, Ms. Harris co-sponsored the DISCLOSE Act, which would force nonprofit advocacy groups such as pro-life organizations to publicly expose their donor lists.
“One of the first things we want to do is what we did first last time, but I think we’ll have more success, and that’s democracy — dealing with voting rights,” Mr. Schumer said.
Democrats’ proposals on elections don’t just take federal control of elections with rules that help Democrats, such as the Freedom to Vote Act. They also include other measures to ensure they never lose, such as silencing opposition groups with the DISCLOSE Act. The party’s leaders apparently see controlling elections and controlling speech about policy as two sides of the same coin.
At a time when former President Donald Trump has survived two assassination attempts, liberals are threatening to put millions more Americans at risk of political violence. These anti-privacy policies would allow scammers, stalkers, extremists and corrupt government officials to gain access to Americans’ personal information. They would put Americans at risk of harassment and intimidation at their homes or workplaces.
The First Amendment protects the rights of all Americans to form, join or donate to organizations that represent our beliefs and values. Conservative movements such as the pro-life movement, the tea party and the MAGA movement have used these freedoms to build strong institutions that challenge liberals’ dominance over our government, culture and media.
As Americans review Kamala Harris’ extreme record, don’t forget her history of attacking privacy, silencing the speech of her opponents and subjecting them to threats. If she becomes the next president, the freedom to oppose the left’s radical policies will be more important than ever. Don’t give her the chance to intimidate and silence you.
• Rick Santorum represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007.
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