Yesterday was a disaster for pro-lifers. A disaster.
In states where abortion was on the ballot we lost. Bad. And in some places where we expected to win.
California citizens voted to amend California’s constitution to explicitly protect abortion. As of 1 a.m. the pro-abortion side had 68.8% voting yes to Proposition 1 as opposed to only 31.2% voting no.
That’s a disaster as it explicitly states that, “The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
Vermont did much the same.
But that’s California and Vermont, right? We’re not supposed to win there.
But Kentucky even voted for abortion. Now, there’s was more limited in scope but their rejection of an amendment stating there is no right to abortion, or any requirement to fund abortion, in the State Constitution is a disaster.
Kentucky!
Michigan’s proposal sought to create a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom, including decisions “about all matters relating to pregnancy,” such as abortion and contraception. That won 55-46 percent.
And now, get this. The state of Montana was set to vote on an amendment that would establish any infant born alive, including infants born alive as a result of abortion, must have its life preserved by medical staff.
That is hardly controversial. If a baby is born alive after a botched abortion, the baby should be considered a human being and medical staff should do what they can to save the child.
THAT is losing.
IN MONTANA!!!!
What happened?
The pro-life community has been working so hard for so long to get Roe overturned and to bring the issue back to the states, we seem to have forgotten there’s a step 2 to this process.
We won by bringing the battle back to the states but now we actually have to fight it. That takes money, time, and effort. I know, a lot of pro-lifers don’t like the messiness of politics but we’ve gotta’ put on our waders and get into the muck and fight.
Now!
The work the pro-life community has done the past fifty years have been phenomenal. It’s time to change our focus. The battle is local and crucial. Don’t sit it out.
November 9, 2022 at 9:44 am
Catholics don’t really understand just how non-Catholics think, or don’t think. Funny that is… we’re in a pattern that provides for the benefit of the doubt, which for most of the world, hindsight shows is a wasted gift, to throw pearls before swine as it were. Unfortunate. Still, one must understand the enemy, and that he is in fact, an enemy; and that he really, really, really doesn’t give a flying [insert word here] what your beliefs, facts, traditions, etc. are.
Sharia is looking more attractive with each passing day… (he said in [half] jest).
November 9, 2022 at 9:58 pm
Abortion is not exactly a Catholic issue. That is, it is not a mystery revealed only through special revelation, like the Holy Trinity, the Eucharist, or the Hypostatic Union. That abortion is evil is part of the natural law that is written on the heart, along with, for example, the fact that cannibalism is evil. For a more complete discussion, see WHAT WE CAN’T NOT KNOW by Budziszewski.
Deep down, everyone involved in abortion knows it is wrong, just as a rapist knows (AT LEAST deep down) that rape is wrong. Intellectual arguments can be useful, but only to a point, because neither abortion nor rape are intellectual problems. They are spiritual problems.
November 9, 2022 at 10:40 am
I think there’s a reality that a lot of people might consider themselves vaguely pro-life, they are way more willing to hand off the responsibility to legislatures or courts. However, when it comes to having to actually vote on it themselves, the past 50 years of propaganda and the major pushes over the past couple years make people far more hesitant to vote on it. In the same way that incumbents get voted on way more often, so in this case the conscience of the american people has been so seared that the status quo is more desirable.
The moral and cultural shift necessary to turn this around will be a long time coming and a hard uphill battle. I sadly suspect our nation will cease before it occurs, and that judgment will be richly deserved.
November 9, 2022 at 11:19 am
I am so disgusted and sad by all that happened last night but at the same time, I am not surprised. The Democrats know how the play the game better than Republicans. While the Democrats have been honing their skills, the Republicans have been trotting out the same playbook over and over again. That playbook worked when we had a society that was striving to follow God and His moral teaching. Now days, while Christians are still great in number, many Christian views are based on secular society’s views verses God’s. Look at how many Protestant Churches as well as some so called “Catholic” leaders who have embraced abortion, gay marriage, and transgenderism to name a few.
We are in a nation of ruins and yet we keep electing individuals who are dragging our country down morally and financially. Our cities and states are being ruined by Democrats’ poor policy and what do those voters do, they move to a more Red state where they are starting to do the same exact thing (ex. Austin, TX). I am not surprised by Montana because I have heard since 2020, more Californians have decided to move there because they cannot stand their retched state.
In the end, it is going to take legislation but it is also going to take a changing hearts. We need to be a prophetic people who goes out to our communities and preach the Gospel. We need to teach people that this lie that the ability to kill your baby or change your sex is not going to make someone happy. It is only going to lead to more ruin and sadness. I wish the election results were different to send a message to Democrats but it did not and those people are going to be empowered to keep forcing policies that do not promote thriving but death.
November 9, 2022 at 1:03 pm
They cheated again.
November 9, 2022 at 1:58 pm
“If a baby is born alive after a botched abortion, the baby should be considered a human being and medical staff should do what they can to save the child.”
Just make a law requiring that any murderer who fails to kill their victim is then required to render medical aid to the victim of their attempted murder.
Do the people writing these referendums even have brains? How hard is it to just say “Literally Tar and feather (with literal tar but no feathers) and deport to the next state over, anyone found in this state after March 3rd 2023 who is or ever was employed by Planned Parenthood or any other abortion provider.”
November 9, 2022 at 5:24 pm
I believe the National March for Life needs to be disbanded and the movement taken to the state capitols. I am getting an unsettling feeling that the National organizers are trying to hold on to something that has served it purpose.
November 9, 2022 at 5:50 pm
Ephesians 4:17-32
17 Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; 18 they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; 19 they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. 20 You did not so learn Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus.
[How prophetic in these times! Now, how to fix the problem?]
22 Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
November 9, 2022 at 10:12 pm
Which do you think is MOST important in making America a nation in which the murder of the unborm is unthinkable?
a. Putting on waders and getting into the muck.
b. Prayer and fasting.
“Both” is not an answer unless you think they are equally useful (or equally useless).
November 10, 2022 at 9:41 am
This nation has fallen under demonic control. We are fighting a spiritual war where the physical reflects the battle between Michael and Satan. The world is the battlefield. Want to defeat abortion altogether? Prayer and fasting.
November 10, 2022 at 10:46 am
Thank you. That is the correct answer.
The Apostles conquered the Roman Empire by suffering martyrdom. At almost the same time, the Zealots tried to fight Rome the Roman way. The Zealots also died, but they lost their war.