In a Tuesday interview with NBC News, Vice President Kamala Harris admitted that as part of her desire for unrestricted abortion, she supports codifying the practice as a fundamental right that has no religious exemptions whatsoever — meaning Christians would be forced to both carry out and fund the killing of babies in the womb.

According to Harris, if abortion is a fundamental right that overrides religious convictions, then that means “religious freedom is not a fundamental right,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said on “Washington Watch” Wednesday. The reality is, he added, “She’s able to get away with this, in part, because the Republican side is mostly silent.” As such, what does this mean for the future of America? Just how dangerous is this silence from conservatives, and how can it be turned around?

Joining the episode was Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He explained, “What Kamala Harris wants is unrestricted abortion in all 50 states” — which is what came out in the interview as well as previous statements made by the Democratic presidential nominee. “When you claim that something is a fundamental right,” Mohler continued, what that really means is that “it is so fundamental that it’s pre-constitutional and … basically privileged above other rights.”

Perkins agreed. “If it is a fundamental right, you can’t draw a line on it.” He then argued that the GOP has helped fuel these beliefs from spreading in the public square because of “their silence on the issue” of abortion. “You know,” Mohler sighed, “I just want to be as honest as I can be. There is a distinction between … Donald Trump’s compromise on this issue … and Kamala Harris’s radical leftist agenda on abortion without restriction right up until the moment of birth.”

However, he emphasized, “I am extremely disappointed in Donald Trump. I’m very disappointed in the Republican ticket. I’m disappointed in the silence.” Perkins agreed, observing that “we can talk about the shortcomings of a political party or a candidate and still cast our vote for the one that is most closely aligned with the sanctity of life.” In the 2024 presidential election, Perkins contended, “it is no contest.”

“[T]hat’s why I say there’s light years of distance between the two parties,” Mohler responded, “just not as much distance as you and I wish there would be.” Perkins further highlighted the significance of the issue for Christians. “[T]his is not just another issue,” he contended. “[T]his is a fundamental moral, spiritual issue that will determine the destiny of this country,” and “we would not be fulfilling our role in the church if we were silent on this issue.”

“Absolutely,” Mohler agreed. “And we as Christians have a category for this” in that abortion can be referred to as a “pre-political” issue. “We’re not talking about rights that a government gives,” he said. “We’re talking about pre-existing rights that a government respects,” which are “far more fundamental.” Even though “the Republican Party was very confused on this issue in the 1970s,” he added, “we achieved a certain amount of clarity that got greater and greater. … There’s only one party that recognizes the cause of life as a significant cause. There’s only one party that recognizes the sanctity of life as a pre-political reality.”

When it comes to sharing this truth, Perkins remarked that Christians “don’t need to be a choir for views that are contrary to Scripture. We as the church … really need to be a prophetic voice into the political arena, which means sometimes we have differing views on policy. We can still be supportive, but we have to speak truth.”

Christians “are held to pre-political commitments,” Mohler emphasized. “And so, the question for us when we get to the politics is, how can we make the greatest difference for the greatest good in a fallen, sinful political system and keep telling the truth? … We need all Christians to speak into this political situation with truth.” Perkins concurred, adding that “Christians in America today … need to become better equipped to” speak the truth “because it is the future. We’re going to have to navigate a cultural landscape that is hostile to faith, but to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, we can’t be silent.”

Christians are consistently “in a position of either telling the truth or abdicating the faith,” Mohler added. “We either tell the truth or … we’re denying Christ. We’re denying the faith. And by that, I don’t just mean a political message. This is pre-political when we stand for the sanctity and dignity of every single human life, from the moment of fertilization until natural death. We’re not saying that to be political. We’re not trying to align that with the politics. We’re trying to align the politics with that truth.”

“The word of God does not conform to the culture,” Perkins underscored. “The culture is called to conform to Christ.” And both agreed that the role of the Christian is to be “agents of the culture.” As Mohler emphasized, “[W]e’re not here by accident. … [I]n God’s sovereignty, the American people are going to face an election on November the 5th. And in God’s sovereignty, Christ’s people are going to have to do the utmost, given the political possibilities, to do what is right and good and what will speak up for and protect life.” Regarding the upcoming election, this perspective “doesn’t always make the decisions easy,” he acknowledged. “[S]ometimes we just have to give up on easy and go with clear.”