The Future of Children

Next week we observe two very different events, but both having to do with the future of children in our society.

60 Million Children

Monday marks 45 years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion throughout the country. As a result, 60 million preborn children have been denied a future. Countless women and men have experienced physical and emotional consequences.

Yet, as we observe this anniversary, we also can celebrate that those holding to a sanctity of human life ethic have built a cultural movement that is stronger and more vibrant today than at any other time. We have pressed on.

Consider a small sample of pro-life breakthroughs in recent years:

  • The federal government may be the most pro-life than it has ever been. President Trump today is the first sitting president to address live the annual March for Life. The Vice-President addressed the March last year.
  • The Trump Administration is making significant moves to protect life and to protect the rights of those who stand for life. Just yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services launched a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division that ensures health care professionals do not have to choose between their livelihood and their consciences. That department’s strategic plan even acknowledges life as being from natural conception to natural death.
  • The pro-life majority in the U.S. House is expected today to pass a strengthened federal law to protect the lives of children surviving an abortion. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote within days on the pain capable bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks’ gestational age.
  • In 2017 alone, 19 states adopted more than 60 life-affirming measures in 2017 according to Americans United for Life. The numbers are in the hundreds for the last few years.
  • In Arizona alone, at least 37 pro-life measures have been signed into law since 2009. Only 8 abortion clinics are licensed, down from 14 in 2010.
  • Nationwide, Planned Parenthood closed 32 clinics in 2017.
  • Efforts to build a culture of life show significant gains. A recent poll found that 3 in 4 Americans support limits on abortion, including 63 percent favor prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
  • Ultrasound technology proves the humanity of the preborn child with the heartbeat detected as early as six weeks.
  • Most now acknowledge that not only does abortion stop a beating heart; abortion also breaks a woman’s heart and causes her harm. The pro-life movement is as concerned about the woman walking into the abortion clinic as we are about the preborn child.

While I could list many more breakthroughs, the fact is we have only just begun. We have much more work to do.

Choosing the Best Education for Children

Next week is also National School Choice Week (NSCW). The purpose of NSCW is to “raise public awareness of the different K-12 education options available to children and families, while spotlighting the benefits of school choice.”

In Arizona, parents can choose from a wide-variety of educational choices to meet their children’s needs: private school, homeschooling, public school open enrollment, public charter schools, public magnet schools, and online learning.

For NSCW events in Arizona click here.

For resources to celebrate NSCW click here.

Bad Bill of the week

The annual ritual of introducing bills to rollback pro-life legislation is well underway. So far, three bills have been introduced, with one of them undoing over thirty pro-life statutes. Rep. Powers Hannley wants to legalize doctor prescribed death, and Rep. Salman seemingly wants to undo every pro-life statute, turning Arizona into California or the state of Washington.

You can read the bills here: HB 2102, HB 2103, and HB 2227.

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