April 25, 2024
Abortion is a highly contentious topic that’s making its way onto many state ballots. In 2024, Maryland, New York, Arizona, and Florida confirmed abortion will be on the ballot. Often, pro-abortion ballot initiatives can be purposefully confusing, or pro-life initiatives are often swept by abortion-supporting media. Citizens also evaluate candidates based on their abortion stances, even if abortion isn’t directly on the ballot.
READ: This Week: Students for Life Action Calls on Legislators to Defend Pro-Life Protections — SFL Action
And sometimes, if someone else (hint: politicians, media) won’t tell the truth and be informative, it’s best to do it yourself – which is why Students for Life Action (SFLAction), is taking our message directly to the community through door knocking. While it may seem old-fashioned, it’s statistically had positive impacts, and antidotal evidence reflects this notion. SFLAction has been busy in Arizona, Florida, and West Virginia.
Door knocking does change minds, and while SFLAction may face some vulgar or rude interactions, most people, whether pro-life or pro-abortion, are surprised and horrified by the abortion being pushed. Look at a few stories from our field team.
Florida: Vote “No” on Amendment 4
Florida Regional Coordinator Kristen Wayne as previously written on what’s at stake in Florida: the proposed “amendment” that if approved by 60% or more of voters, it would write into law an explicit “constitutional right” to abortion, even up until the moment of birth. This amendment will be on the ballot this November.
College students and other community members gathered to inform and educate Floridians on what they’re voting for and to say no to amendment four.
“The volunteers had a great time getting together to door knock together and also spend quality time with other invested students from across the state,” said Wayne.
“Many residents have heard of Micheal Levine in Florida but didn’t know he was so involved with the life issue.
One resident told me, ‘Thank you so much for what you guys are doing. We are very pro-life in this house! I will look more into Micheal Levine.’”
Many conservatives were unaware and grateful for the information.
“One neighbor, as conservative as she was, planned on sitting this election out,” said Southeast Campus Formation Coordinator Mary-Logan Miske who knocked on the door with students. “That is until we told her what was at stake with abortion on the ballot come November. She said she would think about it, and few minutes later, the woman chased after us to let us know she would vote no on amendment four and thanked us for encouraging her to get out in the polls in November to vote against abortion extremism in our state.”
Arizona: “Decline to Sign”
Students as far as 300 miles away joined SFLAction as they informed voters about Arizona’s extreme abortion initiative by asking voters to “Decline to Sign.” This is a push back campaign against the signature collection campaigns that intentionally use confusing ballot language and are weaponized by pro-abortion groups. Even with the Arizona Supreme Court upholding the 1864 abortion law outlawing abortion, it could be overturned in November.
The New York Times joined SFLAction and wrote a piece partly covering our boots on the ground efforts.
“If you’re going to claim to be pro-life, you have to be pro-life all the time, not just when it suits your political aims,” said Pacific Southwest Regional Coordinator Heather Litchfield to New York Times.
Kaylee Stockton, nursing student at Grand Canyon University, also said to New York Times, “It’s heartbreaking to see people abandon values they once held. Their wavering isn’t bringing people over to their side.”
West Virginia: Knowing Which Candidates to Vote For
Virginias Regional Coordinator Natalee Wilson took a group of students and knocked on 1,224 doors and had 168 takes. We had comparison literature showing Alex Mooney, Patricia Rucker (state senate), and Chris Anders to be the most pro-life candidates in their districts.
“Many people didn’t know Chris Anders,” said National Field Team Operations Manager Lori Cascio. “He is running against an incumbent and has been behind the scenes in politics for 18 years. It was great to educate voters.”
“We had students who had such a great time that they came back on Saturday and were really activated to do more in their communities,” said Wilson. “Overall, we had very positive reception at the doors with a good mix of both voters aware of the candidates and voters that wanted to vote pro-life but weren’t exactly sure who to vote for.”
Does door knocking make a difference? We know it can. We see the impact it as in American communities and bringing the education directly to people’s doors – not from the pro-abortion media.