Advancing the Right to Life in 2025 and Beyond
The reality is that Americans may not be as pro-life as we thought they were.
Conservatives have many reasons to be thankful after our nation’s elections. Now that Republicans will control the House, Senate, and White House, American families look forward to our leaders working to create a stronger economy with lower gas, food, and housing prices. We anticipate more secure borders, a crackdown on crime, and peace through strength on the world stage. We’re also eager to see an end to wokeism, boys in girls’ sports, gender mutilation of kids, and a return to the protection of religious freedom and parental rights.
Yet there is one significant result that continues to puzzle and dishearten many of us: voters in seven out of 10 states decided to add the “right to abortion” to their state constitutions. Even in deep red states such as Montana where Trump won by 20 points and Missouri by 18 points, voters approved CI-128 (the Right to Abortion Initiative) and Amendment 3 (the Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative).
Sadly, most of the votes for the initiatives weren’t even close. They passed with 57% to 75% of the vote. (Only Missouri’s Amendment 3 passed with a narrow margin, receiving 51.6% of the votes.) Was the wording of the initiatives confusing? In most cases, they were not. The titles were straightforward, including “right to abortion” or “right to reproductive freedom.” (One exception is New York’s Proposal 1, the “Amendment to Protect Against Unequal Treatment.”)
The reality is that Americans may not be as pro-life as we thought they were. There are a significant number of people who are otherwise politically conservative who are nonetheless “pro-choice” — they want the option to “end a pregnancy” that is unplanned through the first trimester.
This is why we need to find good ways to witness the pro-life message even to conservatives. As Family Research Council’s Director of the Center for Human Dignity Mary Szoch previously told TWS, we need to “have the tough conversations with our neighbors and elected officials. We must demonstrate the beautiful gift of every baby — not just the ones who are planned or ‘wanted.’ We must work to change — not just policies — but hearts and minds. This begins with leading people to Christ and building trust in God’s plan for the future.”
First, we need to seek opportunities to share the gospel with couples facing an unexpected pregnancy because we love them and want to share the living hope of Jesus. When these parents realize that God loves them and has a plan for them and their unborn baby from the very beginning, they are much less likely to end their pregnancy.
It’s also vital that the church loves and welcomes couples facing unexpected pregnancies. We need to come alongside and support them, pray for them, help bring them to doctors’ appointments, and assist them financially. We can connect them with counselors at pregnancy resource centers that will help them through every step of the pregnancy, as well as after the baby is born. Pregnancy resource centers also have great ministries for churches to help them support these couples.
When speaking with others, we can help them understand the sanctity of human life from a biblical worldview. FRC’s director of the Center for Biblical Worldview, David Closson, has written a very practical, informative booklet called Biblical Principles for Pro-Life Engagement which explains what the Bible says about abortion, God’s sovereignty, God creating humans in His image (Imago Dei), and the amazing stories of former abortionists who were saved and transformed by Jesus.
We can also speak the truth about the sanctity of life by sharing scientific facts. As Szoch explains in her booklet, The Best Pro-Life Arguments for Secular Audiences, “…[A]t the moment of fusion of human sperm and egg, a new entity comes into existence which is distinctly human, alive, and an individual organism — a living, and fully human, being.” This new human being’s 23 pairs of chromosomes are complete from the very beginning, the zygote has a specific genotype that is distinct from both parents, and the child’s sex, size, shape, skin, color, hair color, eye color, temperament, and intelligence are already determined.
Another important and encouraging lesson that we learned from the election was that the mainstream news media and celebrities have lost significant influence on voters. In addition, voters ages 18 to 30 dramatically swung from supporting Democrats in 2020 to Republicans in 2024. These voters rely upon social media, podcasts, blogs, and their own research to receive news and information instead of traditional news outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, or The New York Times. Conservatives should take advantage of this by sharing the truth about the sanctity of life on their own social media platforms, podcasts, and blogs. (Amazingly, Elon Musk recently set an example of the influence that the pro-life message can have on X when he shared FRC’s tweet of Oklahoma Senator James Lankford exposing the lies of the abortion lobby. Musk’s tweet has been seen by 54 million people in only seven days!)
Christians can also witness the pro-life message by fostering and adopting children. According to Bethany Christian Services, “Of the 443,000 U.S. children in foster care, around 125,000 need a permanent home and are ready to be adopted.” There are nearly 400,000 churches in America. If just one or two families from every church would foster or adopt a child, there would be no children waiting for a foster or adoptive family.
“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” is a powerful and inspiring movie about the true story of how 22 families from one small church in Texas adopted 77 children who were the most difficult to adopt. Churches can host a movie night for their community, showing “Sound of Hope” and encouraging families to foster and adopt children.
Finally, we can advocate for the right to life by asking our elected officials to support pro-life legislation through FRC Action’s alerts, our state’s family policy council, connecting with our county, state, or national right to life organization, and starting a Community Impact Team.
As we continue to thank God and reflect upon the amazing results of the recent elections and the opportunities they bring, let’s make the most of every opportunity to speak the truth in love and advance the sanctity of life for generations to come.
