An election comes and goes, but sometimes a pressing question will kick anyone into action.
I’m, of course, most bothered by what Virginia did. Don’t confuse me for the senator-elect from Texas, James Talarico, who cloaks himself in the word “love,” but Virginia is no longer for lovers. Not with abortion up to birth in the state constitution, as just approved. I do believe many people were confused about what they were voting for, just as I am convinced most Americans have no clue how easy it is to get abortion pills.
That’s good news, I suppose, because it means people aren’t quite as extreme in their views on abortion as some of these electoral exercises suggest. And, at the same time, it is a monumental disaster because of what is happening in some states. And, honestly, everywhere. Once pills are available — they are the majority of abortions in America — it’s hard to see how to undo this. Not without a transformational commitment of families, churches, medical professionals, schools, popular culture.
This is going to take baby steps by everyone who cares, to know that America is better than abortion, and women and babies deserve better. We need men to know we expect better of them. This is the incremental campaign that is more powerful than any policy platform or prescription.
Students for Life and others are calling on Republicans in Congress to defund Planned Parenthood for ten years. If our representatives actually cared, they would have done it already. It’s evidence that the current majority party deserved what they got on Tuesday, that they managed to cut off that funding for only one year.
I did have a moment as the results were coming in, and I read a memo from SBA Pro-Life America.
This is some of what it said:
It’s impossible to sugarcoat it. Tonight’s election results are a disaster for the unborn, for their mothers, and for the country as a whole.
Democrats are on track to control two of the three pieces they need to legalize taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, up until birth, in all fifty states — something they promise to start pushing as soon as they take office in January.
We did all we could to try to prevent this. We contacted 10.5 million voters in top battleground races across the country including making nearly four million visits to voters at their doorsteps thanks to the hard work of 2,350 canvassers.
Moving forward, there are major problems that must be addressed if we’re going to stop the proabortion left from winning a trifecta in 2028.
I know what was being said and why: It’s right there. There was a lot of legitimate work done. The thing, of course, is:
We can never do enough to prevent the abortion deaths of the unborn.
What have I done today? What more can I do? Those specific questions: Where is the closest pregnancy-care center? Maternity home? Do I support them? Do I know who they are and what they need?
We must do more. I pray the election results remind us of this.
She Leads with a Tender Force
My friend Montse Alvarado started work this week at the Vatican in charge of communications — a historic job, the first laywoman running a Vatican dicastery, the youngest in such a job.
Right out of the gate, she was preparing the press in multiple languages for Pope Leo’s trip to South America; he leaves today. Her grace — alongside what we watched happen Tuesday night, with Virginia especially in mind — reminded me of what Pope Benedict XVI made sure we remembered from the Second Vatican Council. He handed me a message to all the women in the world — as some of you are aware (friends have been known to give me grief as “the representative of all the women of the world,” as the letter said). It said, in part:
At this moment when the human race is under-going so deep a transformation, women impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid mankind in not falling.
This next bit seems to take on added importance given artificial intelligence being all the rage:
Our technology runs the risk of becoming inhuman. Reconcile men with life and above all, we beseech you, watch carefully over the future of our race. Hold back the hand of man who, in a moment of folly, might attempt to destroy human civilization. . . .
Women of the entire universe, whether Christian or non-believing, you to whom life is entrusted at this grave moment in history, it is for you to save the peace of the world.
My dear sisters, we have work to do. And men, we need you to join us in nothing less than protecting humanity from destruction. Can we be serious? Can we begin again today? Can we save lives and accompany people for flourishing?
Forced Death at West Point
The girlfriend wants the baby. The boyfriend doesn’t. Both West Point cadets, he forced an abortion on her. According to the Associated Press:
He told the judge, he impersonated the woman to open an online pharmacy account, ordered abortion medications, got Xanax from a friend to use as a sedative, and duped his girlfriend into drinking what she thought was just a prenatal protein shake. After waiting until she fell asleep, he administered the abortion pills orally and vaginally.
Melanie Israel from Heritage has been keeping a list of some of these cases in which men get the abortion pills and force them on women.
The politics of abortion from the left are as extreme as ever. Republicans have seemed to abandon the protection of women and babies. At the same time, abortion has never been as dangerous as it is now. Proponents pretend it’s basic health care, as women are having abortions out of sight, even without any doctor involvement. This is going to get worse before it gets better, given the lies saturating so many discussions of abortion in America. We cannot afford to treat these crimes as mere tabloid fodder. Women and girls need to be protected from the bloody hell of abortion pills.
Who will stand up and speak for the unborn who are being killed and the women who are being hurt by abortion in our post-Roe country? Will we insist on the truth and on criminals — and liars — being held responsible?
Fostering Solutions
This Sunday is Mother Cabrini Sunday, a newish initiative from Springs of Love, a ministry for families who foster and adopt. It’s an opportunity to learn about the hows and whys of foster care and adoption and the various roles that people can play in the lives of children. Springs of Love has a tool kit for doing something for Cabrini Sunday, which doesn’t have to be this weekend. It can be a Thursday night gathering or an Advent reflection, or just something for a husband and wife to take a look at in the privacy of their own home. We all have a role.
Kimberly Henkel, the founder of Springs of Love, a foster and adoptive mother herself, talks with me in this video about the Mother Cabrini Sunday effort.
Mother Cabrini, of course, had orphanages in her missionary work. And she is both an inspiration and a nudge to those of us who consider ourselves pro-life and for people who might prefer the social-justice label. The kids need us to stop our arguing and get them into loving forever homes with all the community supports a family can need to flourish.
Communicating Love to Women
It’s a cliché, but it’s true. People need to be seen. When women seem to be unnoticed when we talk about abortion, we’re going to have a problem with that “winning hearts and minds” business.
Chaney Gooley writes in “Forgetting Women’s Bodies in Pro-Life Messaging”:
Pro-life messages often center on the humanity and dignity of the unborn. But what about the woman carrying that child? There is no reason we can’t love them both and help them both. The majority of those I know in the movement are deeply committed to doing that. Almost all pro-lifers believe a woman has equal dignity to the child she is carrying, and our language and services should reflect that.
Yet we don’t always talk like we mean that. I hear a lot about fetal development, elections, the predatory abortion industry, unfair attacks on pregnancy centers, etc., but disturbingly little about the need for maternal care before, during, and after birth. The humanity of the baby absolutely deserves a place in public discourse. But overly emphasizing it puts the pro-life movement on defense instead of offense. If we don’t acknowledge the context in which that unborn life finds him or herself, namely a mother, then we are missing the point. I worry that baby-centered messaging and services aren’t resonating with women who are or may become pregnant unexpectedly, or with the mushy middle public who worries about her. In order to put the pro-life movement on the offense rather than the defense, we need to be thinking about the mother’s well-being, too.
Furthermore, and this is hard to say, I think many (including me, at one point) are tempted to sympathize with the plight of the innocent child more than the needs of the woman who became pregnant unexpectedly (maybe even sinfully). This was indeed how I once felt; I joke that I got into the pro-life movement for the babies and stayed for the women. But really, we need to love them both, which means taking a good hard look at women’s tangible needs and being truly pro-life, not just anti-abortion.
The Joyful Sacrifices of Motherhood Are Real
Actress and comedian Amy Poehler gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal. Funny, throughout, of course. She also was honest. She talked about leaving Saturday Night Live, to be a mother. From a write-up:
“I was pregnant,” Poehler said when asked how she knew it was time to leave SNL. “And I had to have that baby. Then I came back, after I had that baby, and they were like, ‘You gotta get outta here. You gotta go take care of your baby.’ And I was like, ‘But I wanna stay with you guys.’ And they were like, ‘Nope, you gotta leave.’”
But don’t worry, Poehler didn’t give the impression that she was pushed out. The story was told lightheartedly.
There’s forever talk about “having it all.”
And, of course, as I wound up commenting on social media not for the first time in recent days: If the world weren’t as hyperpolarized as it is, someone like Amy Coney Barrett would be heralded for excellence in professional life without compromising her family. (Of course, one of her main supports — a religious community — has been something she’s been ridiculed for.)
Poehler, in her honesty, notes that sacrifices do have to be made. She gave no indication she regrets it. Just that it’s real. You can’t do everything. Something has to give.
Around National Review
• Wesley J. Smith: Five New Democrat State Trifectas: Assisted Suicide, Here We Come
Michael J. New:
• Abortion on the Ballot in 2026
• Another Important Pro-Life Ballot Question
Abigail Anthony:
• Voters in Missouri, Virginia Back Abortion in Blow to Pro-Lifers
Kamden Mulder:
• Justice Department Pursuing Criminal Investigation into Dobbs Decision Leak
• Ramesh Ponnuru: More on Mike Rogers and Abortion
Michael A. Fragoso:
• Skyler Safriet: How an Idaho Court Contrived a New Right to Abortion
Me:
• Arlington Bishop to Virginia Catholics: Do Not Despair
• And Now, to Begin to Get Out of Our National Emergency
• Virginia Is for the Culture of Death & Other Harsh Electoral Realities
• Michigan, Cheap Dates, and Abortions
• Conservatism Lives — Even in Mamdani’s New York
Other Things
The Archdiocese of New York has joined the Becket Fund case against New York State’s assisted-suicide law.
From Restoring the West (Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Substack): The Hidden Trauma Behind Britain’s Eleven Million Abortions
Leah Libresco Sargeant: ACLU refuses to back any abortion access laws that fall short of “on demand and without apology” even if they lift existing restrictions.
Midterm Abortion Defeats Leave Pro-Life Movement Weighing Its Next Steps
Kristan Hawkins: More babies will die.
Live Action: Judge gives custody of 3-year-old twins to woman who committed surrogacy fraud
Katrina Trinko: The Consequences of Gen Z’s Risk Aversion
New York Times: An 80-Cent Plastic Pouch Is Saving Thousands of Women From Dying in Childbirth
Jonathon Van Maren: A pro-life pioneer: The life and work of Dr. Hugh Hodge provide a powerful example to pro-life advocates
Upcoming
• November 7. Witness for Life. Begins with 8 a.m. ET Mass at St. Agnes Church, Manhattan.
• November 10. 12–1 p.m. CT. “Science, Ethics, & Risks for IVF Embryos & Lab-Created Humans.” Virtual webinar hosted by Wisconsin Right to Life and Dr. David Prentice. Registration information here.
• November 19. 1–2:15 p.m. ET. Celebrating National Adoption Month. AdoptUsKids. Virtual. Register here.
• November 19. 12–1 p.m. “Compassion Without Exception: Yes, There’s Hospice in Prison.” Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care. Virtual.
• November 21. National Adoption Day.
• November 22. 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. CT. Archdiocese of St. Louis Pro-Life Bicentennial Celebration. St. Louis.
Thank you for taking the time to be here. And for asking the questions about how you can be part of the solution to the grave — shameful — problem of abortion in America.
Here’s a small bit of homework: Make sure people you know are receiving this weekly email. Sign them up here. Let’s make this a regular gathering place for ideas and education for civilizational rebirth. We can do this one person, one family, one church — you get the idea — at a time. We have to commit ourselves. This can be our hope after Tuesday. But it has to be a decision.
God bless you.