Fighting For Faith, Family & Freedom

Friday, January 20, 2023

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary Bauer

March For Life

Today is one of the highlights of my year. It's the annual March for Life. Hundreds of thousands of people, including many young women, came to Washington, D.C., braving the winter weather, to defend innocent preborn babies. I was honored to join them on the National Mall.

This annual march is unlike any other demonstration that takes place in Washington. Marches and protests happen here regularly. But most demonstrators are almost always seeking some sort of action or policy that benefits them. And that's totally fine in a free society.

But the March For Life is different. Today's marchers are not asking for any monetary or policy benefit for themselves. Their bank accounts won't get bigger if they are successful. They are marching to give voice to the one group of Americans who literally have no voice -- our pre-born babies.

Whether one agrees with the marchers or not, and I strongly agree with them, they should be admired for their selflessness. But unlike many other causes that come to Washington, the media here will vilify and mock them. 

Yet every year since 1973, pro-life marchers have come to Washington. And this year, there is great joy in their hearts. 

This year would have been Roe v. Wade’s 50th anniversary. Instead of mourning that somber milestone, we are celebrating the good news that Roe is gone and thousands of innocent babies are being saved! 

But with the abortion issue now returned to the states, the battle for the sanctity of life is far from over. We must continue to fight the good fight for the hearts and minds of the American people, and that’s one battle I believe we will win. (See below.)

The sanctity of life has inspired and motivated my work for decades.  

Every four years I have joined a small group of leaders, including Dr. James Dobson, the late great Phyllis Schlafly, Tony Perkins and Marjorie Dannenfelser, to preserve the pro-life plank in the Republican platform. I have worked to ensure that the nominee of the Republican Party was pro-life and committed to appointing pro-life justices to the Supreme Court.

For 20 years, American Values has worked to advance pro-life legislation in Congress and in state legislatures. And we have been particularly involved in efforts to secure the confirmations of pro-life Supreme Court justices, especially Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and President Trump’s three justices – Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, all of whom were part of the Dobb’s majority.

Pro-Life America

Contrary to the fake news media and the current pro-abortion occupant of the Oval Office, the vast majority of Americans do not support abortion on demand. New polling finds that 69% of Americans support commonsense pro-life restrictions. For example:

• Only 21% of Americans support abortion on demand at any point in a pregnancy. That's Joe Biden's extreme position. 
• 69% would ban abortions after the first trimester (12 weeks).
• 60% oppose taxpayer-subsidies for abortion.
• 78% oppose subsidizing abortions performed in other countries.
• 77% oppose forcing doctors and nurses with religious objections to participate in abortions.

When it comes to the sanctity of life, Joe Biden and his so-called “progressive” allies in Congress are radically out of step with the American people. Unfortunately, as we saw just last week (here and here), pro-abortion extremism continues to dominate the left.

Dissing Dungy

One of the speakers at today’s March For Life was football legend Tony Dungy. If you were going to pick a model pro-life advocate, someone like Dungy would certainly be at the top of the list. 

Dungy is unapologetic about his Christian faith, which inspired Tony and his wife, Lauren, to adopt eight children. The two-time Super Bowl champion, NFL coach and best-selling author is one of the finest people you will ever meet. 

But none of that matters to the pro-abortion, pro-death movement. They “shout” their abortions, literally bragging about how many innocent babies they have destroyed. Some leftists would even give up their right to vote in exchange for being able to legally destroy more babies.

And when they’re not “shouting” their abortions or vandalizing churches, they’re trying to destroy someone like Tony Dungy. The fact they can viciously attack a good man like Dungy, while some pastors are too afraid to talk about abortion because they “don’t do politics,” is sickening. (See next item.)

Sanctity Of Life Sunday

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan called on Americans to "give thanks for the gift of life, and to reaffirm our commitment to the dignity of every human being and the sanctity of each human life."  Many churches will do just that this Sunday.

As I noted earlier this week, men and women of faith have been at the vanguard of the great social movements in our history – from the Abolitionist movement to end the evil of slavery to the Civil Rights movement to end segregation to the pro-life movement to end the scourge of abortion.

While some are distorting the scriptures to promote abortion, God’s word is clear. In Deuteronomy 30:19, He declared, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” 

I hope you will hear something from the pulpit this Sunday about the importance of the sanctity of life. If not, I hope you and others will ask your pastor why the subject didn’t come up. If your pastor says he doesn’t address political issues from the pulpit, ask him if he would have refused to discuss slavery in the 1850s. 

Please join Carol and me in prayer that a renewed respect for the right to life would sweep across our nation. 

Looking Ahead

I know many of you are still “recovering” from the last campaign, but there’s been a lot of news about 2024 lately.

While reports suggest that Joe Biden is preparing to announce his reelection campaign, a new Republican primary poll indicates that we could be headed toward a 2020 rematch. If that happens, it would be first presidential rematch in nearly 70 years.

The latest Morning Consult poll of Republican voters finds Donald Trump leading Governor Ron DeSantis by 17 points – 48% to 31%. No other candidate received double digit support.

Meanwhile, an analysis of the 2024 Senate contests finds that the eight seats most likely to change parties all have one thing in common – they are all held by Democrats. 

I expect some of these seats will ultimately prove to be out of reach for the GOP, but it is likely that conservative candidates will make a serious run in five of them – Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and West Virginia.

In contrast, the report notes that the Democrats’ “best targets appear to be Florida and Texas.” 

Other Headlines

• Abortions in Texas have dropped 99% since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

• Nearly 80 Illinois sheriffs are refusing to enforce the so-called “assault weapons” ban recently signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

• Under pressure from conservative Florida leaders, the presidents of the state’s colleges and universities have pledged to purge critical race theory and other similarly divisive concepts that compel belief and speech. 

• The Diocese of Des Moines instructed all 17 Catholic schools to adopt policies that fully embrace the church’s teaching on human sexuality. In other words, no “preferred pronouns,” no boys in skirts and no boys the girls’ bathrooms. 

• Voters in Paris, Maine, recalled two left-wing school board members who backed policies that kept a child’s “gender transitioning” secret from their parents.

• Wisconsin school boards are adopting policies requiring parental permission for a student to change their name and pronouns. These policies are important victories for parental rights and transparency.