Abortion is the political minefield that will not go away. The Democrat Party is giddy about its prospects in November because of this one issue. They anticipate that the public will rise to defend this so-called right to choose and elect a President who will return America to the days of yesteryear where Roe v. Wade reigned, a culture of death existed, and more than 65 million unborn children have been exterminated.
This sacred rite of abortion and its mantra of “choice” is carrying Democrat hopes for a November victory. Vice President Kamala Harris recently emphasized this by making an appearance at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic touting her abortion gospel. Did she see women in the recovery room crying? Did she see the actual aftermath of abortion in the lab? I doubt it. That’s the part of the industry no pro-abortion advocate wants to be made public.
The question to Biden and Harris, however, is simply this. If you support a women’s right to choose an abortion, do you also support the other side of choice -- the right to choose life?
The fundamental right to choose life is protected and supported by the work of thousands of pro-life pregnancy centers. According to a recent survey from the Charlotte Lozier Institute in 2022, pregnancy centers in the U.S. served more than 16 million women and their families in need. This includes counseling, parenting classes, and sometimes just someone to listen to women who are going through a difficult time and validate their feelings and concerns while empowering them to make the right decision. Several thousand of these life-affirming agencies operate as medical clinics under the supervision of a licensed physician. They provide services such as: ultrasound confirmation of pregnancy, STI testing and treatment, prenatal care, and other important services that empower pregnant mothers to choose life.
Most importantly, all services offered are completely free of charge. Millions of dollars of free services provide American taxpayers needed relief. The Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates that pregnancy centers in the United States in 2022 provided over $358 million in services and goods. This includes free counseling, free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, free clothing and baby gear, and free formula. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood gets nearly $700 million - that’s about $2 million per day - of taxpayer funds a year to do their dirty work.
The medical procedure of ultrasound confirmation particularly has a powerful impact. The vast majority of mothers who observe their unborn children via an ultrasound screen choose life. At the very earliest stages of pregnancy the child’s heartbeat can be seen and thus, having a dramatic impact. A pregnant mother considering abortion has been told by the abortion industry that her pregnancy is comprised of an unconscious blob of tissue and that removing it is no different than removing a wart from a finger. The ultrasound tells her otherwise.
The work of pro-life pregnancy centers include follow-up with needed material resources and referrals. Importantly, they walk alongside these young mothers throughout their pregnancies with friendship, encouragement, and support.
So, what has been the attitude about pro-life pregnancy centers from the Harris and Biden Administration? Severe hostility is an understatement. They have gone out of their way to hinder this life-affirming work. When she was the attorney general of California, Kamala Harris supported and promoted a very hostile law to force such life-affirming agencies to advertise to their patients and clients the availability of a free state-funded abortion. This shameless effort was shot down in 2018 as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra.
Immediately after the Supreme Court ended the reign of Roe v. Wade, the abortion movement declared war on the work of pro-life pregnancy centers. A group calling itself “Jane’s Revenge” declared a night of revenge against the centers and over 100 of them were vandalized and seven were fire-bombed. The Administration’s response? Virtually nothing has been done to protect the pro-life centers, but they made sure to arrest a father at gunpoint for protecting his son from an aggressive abortion supporter outside an abortion clinic.
Kamala Harris has been invited to observe the “other side of choice” by the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) asking her to visit one of its 1,700 members nationwide. Will she respond positively? Probably not. But such a refusal to do so is dramatic proof of one obvious fact -- the Harris Biden administration clearly is not pro-choice. If they were, they would support the “other side of choice.”
No, this administration is completely and enthusiastically pro-abortion. VP Harris recently went on Drew Barrymore’s television show, where the famous actress proclaimed that the country needs a mom and that mom should be “Momala Harris.” True story. Harris went on to emotionally state that the true measure of strength is “who we lift up.” She has unabashedly decided to lift up and protect the abortion industry instead of the innocent among us. Instead of those who work to give true empowerment to women. What a complete and utter farce to choose a path that takes away motherhood instead of listening to them and empowering them to choose life for their children. We have thousands of those organizations who are working every day to protect and empower mothers, lifting them up - it is Harris who is tearing them down. I hope she chooses to come and see what the other side of choice looks like.
Thomas Glessner is the founder and president of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA).