The narrative is summed up in the headline of a recent Politico article: “Abortion rights are winning in red states.”
I say, “Not so fast.”
The abortion lobby has always been eager to spin the narrative that the public agrees with their position. But their position is unlimited abortion.
Neither Planned Parenthood nor any of the other abortion advocacy groups, nor the Democratic Party — for whom abortion has become both a dogma and a sacrament — will admit of any limits they are willing to place on abortion.
That is not a position that the American people have ever embraced. No polling has ever indicated that a majority of Americans want abortion to be legally available for a healthy mother carrying a healthy baby in the final months of pregnancy.
But good luck trying to get a Democrat candidate to set a limit — any limit — on the “right to choose” abortion.
So how, exactly, does the Left spin the narrative that the American people are embracing abortion rights? This is crucial to understand, because the battle is in the mind of the enemy. The enemy always wants his opponent to think he is losing.
Since the Supreme Court obliterated Roe vs. Wade last year, the abortion lobby has passed four abortion-rights ballot initiatives and stopped pro-life initiatives in three other states.
Why is this a far cry from America embracing abortion rights, or in other words, abortion being a losing issue politically?
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First, we need to ask what the people actually voted on, and second, we need to look not just at these ballot initiatives, but at the legislative and judicial victories across the nation.
As to what people voted on, it’s instructive that the abortion lobby is incapable of honestly advancing their own agenda. They have to present their initiatives as protecting the right to life-saving emergency medical treatment.
And that’s what they did as tens of millions of dollars were pumped into these states for deceptive ad campaigns.
In other words, they had to make their message “pro-life.” It’s reminiscent of the way the abortion groups marketed their big 2004 march: not a “March for Abortion” but a “March for Women’s Lives.”
Violent death just doesn’t market well. That’s why, unlike what most people want to do when trying to sell a product, abortion advocates strenuously try to hide and disguise what they promote.
They never describe what they defend.
I challenge them to try a single ballot initiative, in whatever state they choose, in which they honestly advertise what an abortion is, and whether it should be allowed without restriction.
They would never win. Not once.
And secondly, take the broad perspective.
The will of the American people — even if issues are presented honestly — is not expressed simply or even most effectively in ballot measures.
It’s expressed through legislation.
The legislative process examines and debates issues more carefully than ballot initiatives, and uses the tools of hearings, witnesses, questions and counter-questions, documents, amendments, lobbying, and a more flexible and generous timeline.
So how is pro-life doing with legislation?
Some 14 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia now protect unborn children throughout pregnancy.
This was unheard of throughout the 50 years of Roe and Casey — but even then, that was so not because of the will of the people but because of the Courts blocking the will of the people.
In Ohio, where the fake “Issue 1” just passed, the will of the people had already been expressed in the passage of Heartbeat legislation.
And in Montana, one of the states where a ballot initiative failed that would have protected babies born alive after abortion, no less than 10 legislative measures restricting abortion passed after that.
And numerous other states have advanced pro-life laws — like in Florida, where a 15-week protection for the unborn passed last year and a six-week protection passed this year.
So where is the will of the people? Why should a ballot initiative in Montana say less to us about the will of the people than ten pro-life bills passed afterwards in the same state?
Why should pro-life losses in seven states say more than total pro-life wins in twice as many states?
Legislation, as well as all the polls, tell us the American people want less abortion, not more.
Elections show it too, contrary to popular narrative. Lawmakers and governors who actually passed measures that advanced the protection of the unborn were re-elected by large margins.
And finally, the anti-abortion movement has seen victory after victory in the Courts. Now that Dobbs is precedent, Courts have to get out of that knee-jerk reaction they’ve had for five decades by which they strike down laws that protect babies in the womb.
Witness Indiana’s recent Supreme Court ruling, upholding it’s law protecting babies throughout pregnancy, and the even more recent rulings in Georgia and South Carolina, upholding their laws protecting babies from early in pregnancy.
So who is really winning? I’d say the evidence is pretty strong in our favor.
LifeNews.com Note: Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life.
