Pro-Life Activists Celebrate Defunding Planned Parenthood and Pro-Life Victories

It was a vibrant gathering of the 40 Days for Life leaders from across the nation, and from other parts of the world, as they came together August 1-3 in Houston, TX for their annual symposium.

I was pleased to be one of the keynote speakers for the event.

And that vibrancy was no surprise. After all, to conduct these campaigns outside abortion mills requires people of vibrant faith, energy and purpose.

Moreover, the gathering came right on the heels of the victory of ending Medicaid funding of the abortion industry, and of the announcement of the imminent closing of the largest abortion mill in the country – just a few miles down the road from where we were gathered.

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In my remarks, I told the gathered leaders and activists that if they think things are going well for our movement, the reality is that it is a thousand times better than they realize.

This is true in the multiple victories we are experiencing in the pro-life movement, and the multiple victories we are experiencing for freedom, security and prosperity in America – the victories we and our fellow citizens voted for in November. I told the participants that these are victories that place both America and the pro-life movement – and 40 Days for Life in particular – in a new Golden Age.

We who are warriors for life are warriors for freedom. We often quote in our movement the words of our Declaration and its assertion about the inalienable right to life. We realize, at the same time, that “liberty” is mentioned right after life.

Abortion advocates, both in ordinary conversation and in legislative and court battles, wrongly try to put the inalienable rights of life and liberty in opposition to one another, claiming that asserting one means that the other can or will be destroyed.

But in reality, life and liberty help one another flourish, and we are experiencing that right now in America.

Pro-life voters in November did not necessarily elect President Trump and Republicans because of what they said about abortion. Most wanted them to say more, and say it more clearly.

But we who voted for them did so because they were defending the tools we need to end abortion: religious freedom, free and fair elections, unbiased courts, freedom of speech, school choice, an unbiased media, freedom to protest peacefully without getting raided by the FBI or thrown in prison, protection of our tax dollars from funding abortion and the entities that promote it, and an end to the deep state which frustrates the pro-life will of the people.

Each and every one of these tools has been strengthened in the last six months, and all of them are on the path to being strengthened even more in the next three years.

I talked about the de-funding of the abortion industry. Yes, it’s for one year instead of ten. But had it been ten, would we have been satisfied for it to resume in year 11? Of course not, and rightly so. And had it been de-funded permanently, would we have been satisfied just to end the funding of abortion? No, we need to end abortion itself.

It is good that we have a holy dissatisfaction. It keeps us pressing toward the fulfillment of our ultimate goal. But we live in the here and now, and we have to allow the victories we have now to fuel our strength and motivation.

Scripture says, “Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10)

I then spoke of various victories that often slip by the headlines:

• the big boost to school choice given by the One Big Beautiful Bill. School choice means more pro-life education.
• the fact that Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and now Brown University, have settled with the Trump Administration and agreed to move away from woke policies (which, of course, are part and parcel of the abortion mindset)
• the fact that major media corporations, like CBS, are getting in line thanks to pressure from Trump to be fairer and more accurate in their reporting
• the ending of public funding for biased pro-abortion outlets like PBS and NPR
• the firing of tens of thousands of government bureaucrats in the deep state who care nothing about pro-life policies, even when the voters elect pro-life candidates
• victories in the courts against nationwide injunctions by lower court judges who think that they can counter Presidential policy decisions that reflect the will of the voters

The list can go on and on. We don’t even realize half of the victories that are unfolding as we speak. Even during the symposium, President Trump delivered another victory to our movement by reversing the Biden-era policy of abortion in the facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

All of this can be seen in the framework that Christ has come to proclaim liberty to the captives. Not only is that his description of his ministry in Luke 4:18, but it is inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Moreover, all this is unfolding in the year-long preparation for America’s 250^th birthday, marked by the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. This is also a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church, marked by the theme that we are “Pilgrims of Hope.”

Religious and secular observances, and the unfolding of policy victories, are all converging. It is good news for America, for freedom, and for the pro-life movement. Let’s rejoice in these victories and keep our eyes on the prize of abolishing all abortion, without exception.

LifeNews.com Note:  Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life.

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