How can pro-life people make sense of what happened on November 8 and what does this mean for the future of preborn babies and their mothers?
Pro-abortion politicians held their own in an anomalous midterm on November 8. After spending 1/3 of a billion dollars on abortion-related campaign ads, election exit polls revealed the top two issues voters were concerned about were abortion and inflation. Given the muted midterm election trend—usually swinging power away from the President’s party—it would appear the Democrat focus on abortion was indeed a winning strategy, staving off severe losses.
| What do the midterm results mean for preborn babies and their mothers—the future of the pro-life cause? |
One would have thought that after the laundry list of injustice perpetrated against pro-life people there would have been a stark powershift. After the leak of the Dobbs Supreme Court case overturning the longstanding abortion ruling, Roe v Wade, a pro-abortion firestorm swept the nation. Pro-life pregnancy centers were given ultimatums to shut down, threatened with graffiti messages on their buildings saying things like “If abortion isn’t safe then neither are you,” victimized by firebombings, and all the while being verbally abused and attacked by pro-abortion politicians like newly elected NY Gov. Kathy Hochul. We are left to ask, where is the clarion electoral moral call for a return to civilized order?
Scripture says, “When a wicked man rules, people groan” (Prov. 29:2). Well, Americans are groaning. Some Americans are anyway. Pro-life people have been made to endure the relentless and coordinated menace of pro-abortion radicals in government, big tech, federal law enforcement, and domestic violent extremist groups. Scripture describes the nature of a wicked government rule as, “One which devises mischief by decree” saying that “They band themselves together…and condemn the innocent to death” (Ps. 94: 20-21).
But at the root, attacks on pro-life people are not about abortion. The attacks are an attempt to imprison the greatest threat to absolute power, the great equalizer of the weak and political elite: that we are all made in the image of God and equally valuable, without qualification. This truth is the only basis for an impartial justice system and the only foundation for a society free from tyranny.
So how did so many pro-abortion politicians manage to get a job representing the people on November 8 after all the violence and corruption? Many pro-life politicians turned away from the injustice of abortion, hiding behind crime and inflation. It cost many of them their race. Some notable examples are Blake Masters for AZ Senate, Scott Jensen for MN Governor, Barbara Kirkmeyer for CO House (District 8), and Lee Zeldin for NY Governor. On the other hand, candidates like DeSantis in FL, DeWine in Ohio, and Abbot in TX stood firmly and aggressively on moral issues, enjoying decisive victories. It appears that where conservatives refused to defend the sanctity of human life, the red wave died on the beach.
In light of the lackluster performance of supposedly pro-life politicians in the midterm election, it is clear that pro-abortion politicians figured it out. Exclusively campaigning on financial issues without a moral basis is a recipe for disaster. By failing to engage the moral issue of the day, abortion, pro-life politicians defeated themselves. It is my prayer that pro-life conservatives will see that openly engaging the abortion issue is a winning political strategy. And it will be worse in 2024 if something doesn’t change.
While we might be disappointed, we remain undeterred. It was always going to take more than a midterm to return to valuing all human life equally. It will just take longer now as the government persecution of pro-life organizations will increase in places like NY.
There is a silver lining to the cloud of conservative losses though. Pro-life people will be less tempted to believe that returning to a political party of elected representatives can save us from systemic injustices like abortion. Social change has always come through the people’s insistence that government protect all people equally, without qualification. It is no different today when it comes to protecting both the born and the preborn equally. But the passion needed to rehumanize society will require a return to God who made us in His image and who alone is the source of human dignity.
God continues His call to America, “Who will stand up for me against evildoers? Who will take his stand for me against those who do wickedness?” (Ps. 94:16).
Give a child the greatest gift of all–the gift of a birthday. Please consider a generous year-end donation to save women and their preborn babies from abortion.