April 3, 2023
Caleb C. Slater, New York State Senate District 48
GUEST POST: Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for those who advocate for life. The opposition will frame you as ‘anti-choice,’ ‘anti-woman,’ and pro-controlling women — and subsequently, pro-lifers will be targeted through censorship, violence, and even FBI raids.
Standing for life in a state like New York, which has the most radical abortion laws in the nation – allowing for abortion on demand for any reason even up to the day of delivery – brings forth a backlash from both the pro-abortion and pro-life community. The reality is many of our elected officials aren’t running to protect life; they are running to earn and keep their power.
Politicians will say enough to gain support from the pro-life community and then do nothing when in office, which is why Planned Parenthood hasn’t been stripped of their funding. In some cases, the politicians don’t even give us lip service on the campaign trail if they aren’t confident the pro-life vote is large enough to grant them power. We have to stop electing power-hungry politicians and start advocating for grassroots fighters to represent us in office.
I saw all of this play out during the 2022 midterm election when the Republican endorsed candidate for Congress in my district, Steve Wells (who at the time I was working for), refused to disclose his view on abortion. He was likely advised not to comment on the matter, as doing so would polarize voters in the general election.
During the primary election, I met plenty of people on the ground who were bothered by the candidate’s lack of transparency on the issue, but they would remain silent because they were more loyal to the party than they were to the right to life. As a Students for Life Action (SFLAction) alumnus, I couldn’t stay silent and went against the recommendation of some in both party leadership (and even leadership within the local Right to Life chapter) by organizing a pro-life protest against this candidate.
The protest was held outside of Steve Wells’s business, American Food & Vending, as Wells had authorized more than $30,000 in campaign contributions to the most pro-abortion governor in American history, Andrew Cuomo.
The protest was a success in the fight for life. Steve Wells lost the primary, and the pro-life candidate, Brandon Williams, now serves in the House of Representatives. My actions did not come without consequences, though. For perceived party disloyalty, I was notified that the Onondaga County Young Republicans would be voting to remove me from the organization. Additionally, members within the Republican Party have blacklisted me for standing up for life.
This refusal to fight from the supposed right to life party is the exact reason why states like Illinois, Colorado, California, and New York have such radical abortion laws. Anyone who stands up for life faces a full frontal assault from both parties — yet my call to action is for you to never back down when intimidated in the fight for life.
This fight for life is personal for me. My earliest memories were in the foster care system, as my biological mother wasn’t mentally well enough to raise me herself. I was adopted at the age of seven by a single black mother. When I hear the pro-abortion arguments that certain lives would be better off aborted than born, I am heartbroken.
The argument goes that someone who could be born in poverty or with a certain condition would suffer in life and thus is better off dead than to experience suffering. As someone who was carried by a mother with a neurological condition and grew up in poverty, I can’t help but recognize that the logical conclusion of their argument is that I would be better off dead — a view with which I heartily disagree. I am grateful to be alive and use my voice to defend the voiceless.
We must never forget that this movement and fight is about being a voice for the voiceless. Never back down, never be intimidated, never squish. Always stand up for the next generation. I thank SFLAction for all their work and support. I hope those reading this will support me in the fight to bring our values to the New York State Senate. If we can achieve wins in a state like New York, there’s nothing we can’t do.
*Views expressed in this article reflect that of the writer and not as an endorsement of Students for Life Action.