As an Ohioan, I was devastated by the results of the vote on Issue 1 last November. By a little more than 50%, Ohioans voted to enshrine the right to abortion until birth into its Constitution. The abortion supporters not only brought in much more money, most from out of state, but also promulgated and promoted many lies and misrepresentations to support their side.
As Florida prepares to battle against the same groups who brought the abortion amendment to Ohio, it is good that, unlike Ohio, Florida requires a 2/3 majority to enact a referendum to its constitution. Achieving 66% will be much more difficult than the 51% required in Ohio. Still, after looking back and having spoken with many who were involved, it seems that our pro-life side was “too nice.” By seeking to appeal to everyone’s “better angels,” we were always playing defense against their disingenuous and untruthful claims. Rather than following the traditional rules of political discourse, it’s time for pro-life advocates to take off their gloves, go on the offense, and put abortion supporters on their heels.
Here are a series of questions they won’t or can’t answer, and the appropriate follow ups. Remind viewers/readers that they won’t answer these questions, or if they do, they resort to lies, and then show proof.
- When is it not okay to kill an unborn baby? They won’t answer this because it would then indicate that there is indeed a life worth saving. They would also place a timeline that is against their dogma and would be impossible to defend. (If it’s not ok to kill an unborn baby at 24 weeks, why is it ok to kill at 23 weeks?) Their typical response is three-fold, and none answers the question.
- It’s up to the mother. Response: So that means they are okay with a mother having her unborn child aborted at any time. In the 2nd or 3rd trimester, this involves either sucking the unborn baby out of the womb or tearing apart the baby (because she is too large to be sucked out of the uterus) and crushing the baby’s brain. Let’s look at a picture of what happens to a baby in a second- and third-trimester abortion. Remember, slavery wasn’t considered immoral until people actually saw photographs of slaves who had been whipped and maimed. If you support abortion, you shouldn’t have any problem looking at these photos.
- No one does an abortion in the 3rd trimester. Response: In 2024, the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion, documented at least 1 million abortions from data collected in 46 states and the District of Columbia. (Note that 4 states, including California and Maryland, collect no abortion data at all.) Of those, 1.3% were performed in the 3rd trimester. Therefore, there were over 13,000 abortions done on viable unborn babies last year.
- Abortion in the 3rd trimester is only used to save the life of the mother. Response: Only two states, Florida and Utah, require documentation regarding the reason why a woman seeks an abortion at each trimester, but in several studies, it has been shown that women overwhelmingly obtain late-term abortions for the same reason they obtain earlier ones: unprepared to be a parent, lack of support, or discord in a relationship.
- If abortion is “healthcare,” why do over 90% of ob/gyn doctors not perform them nor are they required to perform them? Unlike pap tests and prenatal care, which all ob/gyn doctors are required to provide and are truly a necessary part of reproductive healthcare, less than 10% offer abortions, and many do not even offer referrals for abortions.
- If the unborn baby is simply a part of the mother’s body as claimed by “my body, my choice,” why is it a crime for someone else to kill an unborn baby, as stated in Florida’s statute 782.90, when the mother is not killed? Most states, like Florida and Ohio, have fetal homicide statutes, in which the death of a fetus is treated as a separate crime. It again points to the fact that an unborn baby is a separate and unique life.
- If abortion is “good for women,” why do so many studies show an increase in depression and regret, drug abuse, future pregnancy complications, and suicidal thoughts after a woman has an abortion? Study after study has shown that women suffer significant mental, psychological, and physical damage after an abortion, including increased risks of premature births and breast cancer in the future.
Dear Florida, I and many others will be praying for you against those big-money interests who will profit from liberalized abortion laws in your state.
This is not the final chapter in Ohio’s fight for unborn babies, and we will keep advocating for unborn babies and their parents. Remember that slavery was overturned only by the action of a very small, dedicated group of abolitionists—less than 10% of the total population. It took years of advocacy and forcing the general population to face the horrible effects of the slave trade. We will do the same to make abortion unthinkable.
Fight hard and fight smart, Florida. You can win this.
4 thoughts on “Dear Florida, Don’t Fight the Abortion Referendum Nicely”
I was at the Walk to Mary in Wisconsin on May 4th. Some were carrying flags of their countries but I’m going to try to carry the pro-life flag next year if I go.
Deep pockets, out-of-state meddling, big abortion and some other progressive causes indeed are funding these abortion measures as with Minnesota’s so-called ERA, Equal Rights Amendment which it was NOT and thankfully it did not pass but the laws are bad enough already. Deception is in the playbook of these extremist pro-abortion amendments and legislation. True unconscionable evil that has been seen in Ohio and Virginia.
Every state needs to be warned on this as this article eloquently does so well.
Warning, warning indeed!
And this is a gem because a common go-to statement by choicers is to say “abortion is healthcare”, I have researched that, read books but you give a very succinct and proper answer to that subject which indeed I have wrestled with. Be prepared! You hear that a lot and even see signs with such. So over 90% of Ob/Gyns will not perform abortions. Answered!
You shouldn’t have been devastated by the result. Pro-choice has always been the majority position among voters and the only way to counter the loss of Roe was to get the right to abortion into the state constitution. What did you expect?
Pro-choice people keep framing this as a “women’s issue” and they certainly seem to be right, so long as the pro-life cause is led by an organization which shuts women out of its leadership. This is as plain as the sun rising in the east every morning, to the point of being a joke, but many pro-life Catholics do not have the self-awareness to see it.
Very well-honed weapons you have revealed but are up against deniers whose minds are
not open to that reality. I imagine too that the fathers acquiesce on the outcome so both genders are complicit as are the Md’s and staff who assist. Prayer works but not on such a
massive scale. Laws will work locally, not nationally. There’s no ‘not nice’ way to fight this
because it begins with two people in the throes of passion. Excellent post.