It has been quite a year on the pro-life front! We saw Roe v. Wade fall, which was a victory of a lifetime. While it was a very welcome and major development, it has, as expected, shifted the abortion debate in a seismic way.
November Election
As we analyze the recent election results, the news on the life issue is mixed. The good news is that before votes were even cast in the election, nearly half the states implemented very strong protections for children in the womb and their mothers After Roe—with eight more having at least some good protections.
The bad news is that in the five states (California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont) where abortion was on the ballot, the pro-abortion side won in each instance.
The results in California and Vermont were no surprise. However, the tough fight in Michigan and the losses in Kentucky and Montana were disappointing. In some ways, these states were the victims of unfortunate timing – fighting this battle at a time when the Left was at maximum motivation following the fall of Roe and other major pro-life victories.
Fearing a more pro-life America, Planned Parenthood alone invested a record-setting $50 million in elections, and those on the left nearly unanimously fell in line—making abortion the paramount election issue in many locations, including those five states where life was on the ballot.
Leadership in DC
We now know that control of the U.S. House will change in January. That means an end to the extreme “abortion-on-demand up-to-birth” approach that Nancy Pelosi’s House has taken at every opportunity. We also sense that persistent legislative efforts to use tax dollars to fund abortion will cease as well. Because of this change in leadership, pro-abortion legislation originating in the Senate will now have much less likelihood of being approved over the next two years.
Election Night did bring many victories for pro-life candidates across the country at all levels of government, but especially in state-level offices and legislatures. These are fantastic victories that will advance pro-life efforts both administratively and legislatively!
The biggest stories from election night were the decisive victories for pro-life governors in Texas, Florida and Georgia - all unabashedly pro-life leaders in their own right who spoke apologetically about their pro-life position. Confident, bold leadership to protect life can prevail, as we saw in these and other locations.
Looking Ahead
We cannot deny that the overturning of Roe was a critical win—and it has already led to the saving of many thousands of babies. But as we said before—and this election proves—the road to making abortion unthinkable still requires our diligence and commitment.
So, while we long for the day when we look back and wonder how we let abortion ever exist in this nation, we are not there yet. Much like the era of Jim Crow laws which desperately sought to legally extend racism in a number of states, we are in the battle to end abortion state by state. As we know from the last 50 years with Roe v. Wade, it is a slow, sometimes painful process.
Martin Luther King, Jr. noted, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Whether we experience advances or setbacks, we persist in the proclamation of the sanctity of life across our nation, and we are not going anywhere. There is simply too much at stake.
John 1:5 tells us that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Interestingly enough, science itself has observed the light of life – an actual flash of light occurring at the moment of every human conception – the very beginning of life itself!
May that be a profound encouragement to us all as we press forward in the work to make a difference and quite literally, help spread the light of life!
