Abortion access is near the top of the American political agenda ahead of the November elections. Twelve states are poised to vote on whether to legalise abortion in the coming months. Some of them could allow the procedure up to birth.
Several reliable pollsters indicate that many of the ballots are poised to be passed into law. That’s prompted pro-life advocates to call on churches to join their campaigns. Chelsey Youman from the Human Coalition group said: “We have to understand that the church needs to engage more than ever on this issue. We are losing on every front.”
Despite the enactment of total or near total bans in 14 states, and tight restrictions in seven other states following the overturning of the Roe v. Wade precedent which had guaranteed nationwide access to abortion for 49 years, abortions are at their highest rate in 12 years according to the Guttmacher Institute, which is a pro-abortion policy group.
Ms. Youman says a main contributor to that spike is easier access to the abortion pill via a telehealth consultation and postal or courier delivery. She also flags a growing pro-abortion coalition with deep pockets contributing to the increase in abortions. “The abortion rate was over a million children last year and 65% of that is done by the chemical abortion pill,” she revealed.
CBN News reports that last year, Ohio, Michigan, and California became the first states to legalise abortion with voter referendums adding an amendment to their state constitutions, guaranteeing abortion procedures. This year, at least five more states will vote on similar amendments during November’s presidential election. Another seven states are expected to add the issue to their ballots in November.
Dr. Michael New, Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. urged the Christian broadcaster not to read too much into the numbers despite several polls indicating a pro-abortion blowout in November.
“I don’t think we need to despair. I think the polls put pro-lifers in a better position than we might realise. If you look at the average of six statewide polls, support for this ballot proposition is only around 56%. So, we have our work cut out for us, it’s not going to be easy. But the polls aren’t as devastating as we might think,” he explained.
Despite the huge spending by the pro-abortion lobby, Founder and Chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed, is spending nearly A$100 million to boost Evangelical turnout at this year’s election. He told CBN’s Faith Nation the pro-life movement can expect more wins.
“We won a huge victory with the Dobbs decision [which overturned Roe v. Wade]. We’ve passed pro-life laws, heartbeat abortion bans, some even more pro-life than that in 21 states. They’re going to run out of states where they can put initiatives on the ballot. They have to get to 60% in Florida. So, at some point, they’ll run out of these states where they can qualify initiatives. Then after that, it’s our turn and we’re going to keep moving the pro-life ball down the field.”
