November 8, 2023
Last night hurt. Not because big abortion in Ohio got a “W” in beside their deceptive and extreme Issue 1. Or because the pro-abortion Governor in Kentucky won re-election. Or because pro-lifers failed to gain the majority in the Virginia state legislature. But because the lives of thousands of babies were on the line, and, now, I know they may very well be lost to the violence of abortion.
It’s horrific.
But today is a new day, and we have risen again to fight. And that’s exactly what our movement did for 49 years under Roe v. Wade.
We never gave up but worked hard to support and provide for mothers in crisis, save lives on the sidewalks, educate millions, and grow our movement. We didn’t shrink or disappear after tragic Supreme Court decisions or election losses.
The media headlines you’ll see today and in the following days will be discouraging on purpose.
Why? Because the abortion industry, Democrats, and even many in the inside-the-beltway Republican party hope we will go away and declare defeat.
But they don’t remember their history very well.
Not the history of our pro-life movement and certainly not our shared American history.
When George Washington and the Continental Army faced the mightiest army in the world, they were outspent and out manned by thousands of trained professionals.
Half of the battles during the Revolution were “W”s for the British.
So, how did we eventually win our independence from the great British empire?
We rose, we fought, we got beat, and we rose again…until the enemy was out of supplies, exhausted, and surrounded.
Washington, his generals, and our founding fathers in Philadelphia had a vision of what victory would look like, went on the offense to relentlessly pursue that vision, and used innovative tactics to do so.
And that is the lesson our movement must learn from last night’s election losses.
We must demand that the GOP and their consultant class, those who all told us that reversing Roe was impossible, get their heads out of the sand and join us by getting on the offense with their dollars and leadership.
We must demand that Republicans actually join the pro-life movement, not just pay us lip service by saying they are “pro-life” or propose false “compromises” like a 15-Week Abortion Prevention Act, which would allow more than 9 out of 10 abortions to continue and set our movement up for disaster in the long-term as it positions our policy on abortion to the left of France. We must demand that Republicans get Democrats to admit publicly what we know yet they hide because the vast majority opposes…that they support abortion up until the moment of birth, for any reason.
We must be willing to try and embrace new strategies and tactics to fight like the “David’s” we are…for we aren’t going to win fighting Goliath with Goliath’s tactics. We’ll likely always be outspent like we were in the battles in Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky. Sadly, the mainstream media and Hollywood will be on their side for a very long time. And, yes, those who profit from the despair of women and violence of abortion will continue to lie.
We need to find our sling and smooth stones.
We must hold our vision of a post-Roe America where abortion is unthinkable and unavailable close in our hearts, always believing that it’s achievable.
Our movement needs to touch grass (that’s a Gen Z term for “get real”…so I’ve been told) and stop listening to the GOP consultants, the very same that were wrong about the fall of Roe, and speak up in electoral battles about the violence of late-term abortion, not simply talk about saving parental rights.
We need to develop new ways to get our message to voters, cutting through the lies they are constantly fed on social media and TV ads by the abortion industry.
I could go on and on…and in the days ahead, you’ll likely hear about more ways we can find our David-like weapons to defeat the abortion Goliath.
But for now, remember, our mission to end abortion is a marathon, not a sprint.
Sadly, it took 99 years after the end of the Civil War to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The day after the 19th Amendment was ratified, women still were not treated as equal in America.
Cultural transformation takes time. But we are here for it.
I mean, that’s why we spend most of our time and money at Students for Life building new pro-life groups on high school and college campuses…to recruit and train the army our movement needs for decades to come.
This is going to be our war to win or lose. And we aren’t going away because we can’t…the lives of babies are on the line.
So today, we’ve risen and we’ll fight again, and if we’re beat, we’ll rise again.
We’ll do this over and over again, as long as it takes.
Thank you for all of your hard work this fall, truly. I know some, especially Students for Life leaders in Ohio, fought so hard.
I want you to know that your sacrifices mattered because you were fighting for them, precious children who may never be born but were loved because of you.
Now, prepare for 2024 as I’ll be asking you to do even more.
For Life,
Kristan