GUEST POST: Election Retrospective for Ohio and Virginia from the Grassroots Level

Titus Folks, National Activist Coordinator

This week we did not get the election results we wanted in Ohio, where abortion up until birth was legalized , or Virginia where pro-abortion Democrats took control of both the legislative chambers. That being said, it was not all doom and gloom as there were some significant bright spots:

• The Pro-Life Movement is strong in Mississippi, where both candidates for Governor were openly pro-life! 
• 10 Republican candidates in Virginia that were supported by Students for Life Action in the Primary won their general election. Some of them like Tara Durant were attacked for their pro-life stances, but LIFE easily prevailed. 
• Two Students for Life Alumni were elected last night to the Virginia House of Delegates  
• Mark Earley Jr (Virginia Tech) 
• Tim Griffin (Liberty University & Appalachian School of Law) 
• Hundreds of volunteers were trained and mobilized in Ohio and Virginia across multiple organizations. Those people aren’t going away. They’re here to fight. 
• Students for Life Action pioneered new methods for campus & voter engagement that we will roll out and scale for 2024 elections. In addition to traditional voter contact efforts: 
• We registered voters in dorm canvassing drives that we’re calling “dorm storms”, we integrated state specific messaging into our campus tours We pioneered a new fellowship to mobilize pro-life students in elections that we call our “Campus Coordinator” program. 
• And over 1,500 people registered or joined us for prayer calls to trust God with the outcome of our efforts. 

We know that greater losses sting, especially for activists in Ohio where abortion was directly on the ballot. But these losses can be temporary, if the movement wakes up to the fact the Roe V Wade’s reversal was just the beginning of our fight. 

We know this is the beginning of the fight for our generation. We know that we will lose many battles before this figurative war is over.  Even when we lose these fights, our movement is developing strategies & tactics for fighting these ballot initiatives in 2024 and beyond.  Now isn’t the time for us to put our heads in the sand; Students for Life is going to double down and keep fighting.