Wow! If you didn’t believe that elections have consequences, the past few weeks should have been able to convince you otherwise.
In a nine-day period, the Senate (following House action in February) voted to overturn an Obama administration rule that prevented states from withholding tax funding from Planned Parenthood through the Title X program; the Trump administration notified Congress that, because the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) violates the Kemp-Kasten amendment by supporting “a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China, UNFPA would no longer be eligible to receive foreign aid funds from the United States; and to top it all off, the Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court.
I really wish we could have this string of victories at least once a month!
The confirmation of now-Justice Neil Gorsuch was the high point of everything that has happened so far this past week. The Senate defeated an attempted filibuster by pro-abortion Democrats. Justice Gorsuch, a man who strongly believes in the primacy of our Constitution, is 49 years old and will hopefully be on the High Court for many, many years to come.
During the campaign last year, then-candidate Donald Trump said, “We have a very clear choice in this election. The freedoms we cherish and the constitutional values and principles our country was founded on are in jeopardy. The responsibility is greater than ever to protect and uphold these freedoms and I will appoint justices who, like Justice Scalia, will protect our liberty with the highest regard for the Constitution.” True to his word, President Trump nominated someone of outstanding caliber. In the Rose Garden swearing-in ceremony, the President said, “Americans are blessed to have in Neil Gorsuch a man who will [like Justice Antonin Scalia] be a devoted servant of the law.”
We are deeply grateful to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for holding firm last year, after the death of Justice Scalia. McConnell properly said that it should be the next president elected by the voters who should nominate the next Supreme Court Justice. McConnell’s efforts showed wisdom, strength, determination, and leadership.
Along with the passage of pro-life legislation around the country and the defeat of assisted suicide legislation in many states, everything appears to be going well. But these kinds of victories could only have happened because of the day-in-and-day-out dedication you and millions of right-to-lifers like you have shown: educating your communities, working with pregnant women so they realize that there are options other than abortion, and electing candidates who will pass/sign pro-life legislation. These recent successes are the culmination of many years of hard work.
But much as we might want otherwise, there are no permanent victories or defeats, only permanent battles. Nothing can be taken for granted. Our opponents are loud and forceful. They have virtually limitless resources and a media that loathes pro-lifers. They will not back down or slow down.
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But we won’t, either.
Planned Parenthood, NARAL, EMILY’s List, and many other organizations are already working on next year’s elections, recruiting candidates and raising money. Their goal, of course, is to put Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer back in charge of the House and Senate, respectively. We can NOT let that happen. What can we do to make sure that doesn’t happen?
Continue to talk about the almost one million unborn babies that die every year. Continue to talk about how the pro-life movement, not the abortion industry, helps women through a crisis pregnancy. Continue to educate your neighbors and co-workers about why it’s important that we pass laws to protect these children and their mothers.
Continue to work with legislators, helping them plan how best to protect innocent human life, from unborn children to the elderly and those with disabilities. And continue to inform voters about why it’s important that they elect candidates who believe in the civil and human rights of all human beings—born and unborn.
In 1942, after England had been fighting Nazi Germany for several years and just one year after America had joined the fighting, Winston Churchill stated, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Thanks to you, we are much farther along than the “end of the beginning.” But I also know we still have a tough road ahead of us.
If you need to take a break, focus on family concerns, or just step back and catch your breath, that’s not only okay, it’s a great way to recharge your batteries. But don’t stay away too long.
We have a battle to win!
LifeNews Note: Carol Tobias is the president of the National Right to Life Committee.
