Arizona faces a crossroads right now and the issue is abortion. For those of us who admit life begins at conception, there is no issue, abortion is simply wrong for numerous reasons. The biggest question is are prolife organizations really prolife in every sense of the word?
Abortion supporters are organized and working feverishly to get baby-killing on the ballot in several states, including Arizona. Of course they have millions upon millions of dollars behind them. Abortion is a big business and to them it must remain that way. Hollywood, academia, media, banking, sex trafficking, Amazon, and other wealthy globalists happily write checks to keep abortion available to anyone under any circumstance. It is quite strange to spend money for such a cause, but once an individual is mired deep in sin it is hard to see a way out.
Currently supporters of the Arizona Abortion Access Act Amendment (2024) are busy collecting signatures to put this on the November 2024 ballot. Here is the short, sweet version of the pending amendment:
This ballot initiative would establish the fundamental right to abortion that the state of Arizona may not interfere with before the point of fetal viability (defined as the point of pregnancy when there is significant chance of the survival of the fetus outside of the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures) unless justified by a compelling state interest (defined as a law or regulation enacted for the limited purpose of improving or maintaining the health of the individual seeking abortion care that does not infringe on that individual’s autonomous decision making).
The shorter version enshrines abortion through birth in Arizona law, it is that simple. All that is needed is an excuse of improving or maintaining the health of the individual seeking abortion “care”. This includes mental health. When has a pregnant mother not felt stressed, worried, or overwhelmed at least once during her pregnancy? That is the wide open door. And with all the mental health advertising in our faces day after day, more mothers will question their own emotional stability and have doubts about their ability to parent. Planned Parenthood will be waiting with open stirrups for them.
This was sent around in Ohio explaining to voters what the change to Ohio’s constitution really means, and the same can be said for Arizona.
So what to do? There are so many prolife organizations which will come to the rescue, correct? They will take the initiative of informing the public to DECLINE TO SIGN this petition when it is presented to citizens so as to keep this death amendment off the 2024 ballot, correct? Well, where are the prolife organizations we are used to hearing from around election time when they are looking for donations? “Prolife, Inc.” seems pretty quiet right now.
Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) may be the most well-known family values organization in the state. The problem with lobbying organizations is they have to keep the lights on. Donors must be appeased, but not necessarily life itself . This is why there is so much compromise; abortion was once indeed rare, but now very common. We argue amongst ourselves whether abortion should be completely banned, banned only if a heartbeat can be detected, maybe a 15-week ban, viability outside the mother’s womb, and now murder through all nine months. How can clear murder be debatable? Well, we don’t see the victim. When a police canine is shot in the line of duty, the dog’s charming face is (rightfully) plastered all over the media. When a baby dies in the dark and its parts sold to a third party for profit, only the abortionist sees him or her; there will be no photos on the nightly news.
Center for Arizona Policy has waffled on when abortion should be legal in Arizona. The organization previously did not support a heartbeat bill. But CAP promotes itself as advocates against abortion. Here are some screenshots from the linked AP article where Cathi Herrod gets an advertisement in for herself but will not support a heartbeat bill in Arizona proposed by State Senator Sine Kerr.
Currently Cathi Herrod is telling her public we must have a unified message to stop the petition drive, in other words so she can control the effort. Center for Arizona Policy has not had a unified prolife message through the years so why now? We are all supposed to sit back and listen to lawyers, they want us to think they are the smartest in the room. Then why hasn’t Arizona been a leader in prolife legislation? Here are states which had the will and the love to pass heartbeat bills recently.
Center for Arizona Policy is the same group which brought us LGBTQ sex education in schools, quickly urging Governor Ducey and the Republicans in the Arizona legislature to wipe a 1991 law from the books. Look where we are now with all the LGBTQ clubs and curriculum in schools.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/11/us/arizona-repeals-anti-lgbtq-law-trnd/index.html
What isn’t mentioned in the above article is CAP rallied Republican support in the Arizona Legislature to take down the 1991 law which protected Arizona students from the perverted material they are now experiencing in school. Local prolife grassroots advocates were caught off guard in April of 2019 when this bill was rammed through the legislature. Here is a screenshot of an Arizona Capitol Times article.
“Catholic” Governor Doug Ducey signed this debacle, more on that later.
There have been planning sessions organized by CAP to hopefully educate people about the truth of the abortion amendment. There is a big problem, though. It is already November. Abortion lovers have been gathering signatures for months while Center for Arizona Policy gets organized. While the intentions may be good, it appears they are dragging their feet. Last year there was a successful Decline to Sign effort that kept an initiative developed by opponents of school choice off the ballot. That effort was parent-led, grassroots, boots-on-the-ground and was highly successful. Parents were activated and stood for hours in hot, summer temperatures to educate voters who were tempted to sign the anti-Empowerment Scholarship (ESA) petition. It worked because parents and other supporters of school choice volunteered from the heart, not for donations or a future political campaign. Is CAP working from the heart or political posturing? All employees at CAP certainly despise abortion, but thinktanks can’t equal one on one conversations with voters. Notice every issue becomes an opportunity for “Donate Here”. If abortion becomes legal through birth in Arizona, there will be more lobbying opportunities for groups like Center for Arizona Policy. It is a bit of job security for those involved.
To make matters worse, the one religion which is steadfastly prolife from conception until natural death is eerily missing in action. The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix should be leading an educational campaign about the petitions floating around that could very well lead to abortion through nine months. Calls to Ron Johnson, Executive Director of the Arizona Catholic Conference, have not been returned. While there is a new bishop at the helm, this is not the first time Mr. Johnson has been silent about family issues in the political world. Observers say he follows the lead of Cathi Herrod. Evidently, so does “Catholic” Governor Doug Ducey.
The statement above was not a typo. A representative of the Catholic Dioceses in Arizona takes the lead on prolife strategy from a Protestant. We have witnessed 500 years of Protestant inconsistency within their own thousands of denominations. Why is a paid Catholic leader not leading on life issues? Why is the Diocese of Phoenix silent about this? We are hearing a lot about mental health from Bishop Dolan (follow the money), but nothing about this pending amendment. Those associated with abortion, including mothers who have had one and those who work in the clinics often suffer from mental health issues down the road. This is a perfect tie-in to Bishop Dolan’s quest to maintain the mental health of his flock. Either Mr. Johnson likes to be a follower or his hands are tied by the current and former Bishops of Phoenix. There was a prolife lunch at the Phoenix Diocese recently and attendees reported the abortion initiative was not mentioned. Yes, in a room full of prolife activists, many of whom have large prolife networks, nothing was said about the abortion petitions all the while the abortion supporters were gathering signatures at nearby events.
How did Catholics vote in Ohio last night? Were they confused, did they fall for the gimmicks by Planned Parenthood? Did they fully understand the ramifications of their vote? Did they feel empathy knowing some of them have had or participated in abortions in their lifetimes so they want to “help” others in the same situation? If Catholics were confused, why is that? What kind of messages, if any, were coming from the local parishes or the Dioceses in Ohio? Are priests all over the country afraid of being canceled by their bishop so they remain silent?
We are willing to bet the Diocese of Phoenix has plans in the works for next Spring’s March for Life. As long as we are on the subject, where are the leaders of the March for Life? Abortion has been around for 50 years and what has grown along with the abortion mills? The March for Life! Oh yes, it’s a great opportunity for selfies so people can show others they did their prolife thing for the year. And the Marches are a magnet for political candidates, especially in election years. What once began as a reverent display of prayer on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade is now a who’s who for those who tell us they are prolife. “See you at the March” is said almost with giddiness. Prolife Inc. at its finest. (To clarify, many attend Marches for Life and also stand outside Planned Parenthood regularly in prayer. These comments are not meant at those who pound the sidewalks and minister to mothers and fathers in crisis pregnancies. Thanks to all of you for your endless dedication.)
On September 25, 2023, Steve Deace did a piece on Prolife, Inc. His summary is worth a listen.
https://www.kapwing.com/videos/654b17fddc424ff1b5573efc
We won’t even mention Turning Point USA (TPUSA) in this post because the organization is not committed to social issues, unless Charlie Kirk’s handlers see an opportunity to fundraise off of them. It may be a surprise to many, but don’t sit in your recliners waiting for TPUSA to save us from abortion all the way to birth in Arizona.
The Susan B. Anthony Prolife America (SBA) foundation is a head-scratcher. Leading up to federal elections, this well-funded group hires people to knock on doors with information on prolife candidates, focusing on top of the ticket races like President, Senate, and Congress. Very little attention is paid to down ballot races despite the fact local politics has the most effect on our lives. In Arizona there is already a coordinator and a data base of folks who have worked for SBA in the past. This would be a perfect opportunity to use those resources to educate voters to decline to sign the abortion amendment petition. But alas, orders from the top in DC are to focus only on the 2024 races for top offices, nothing local like the abortion amendments pending across the country. The following clip is from Steve Deace’s show on August 9, 2023, the morning after Ohio’s first step towards abortion through nine months as part of the state constitution (step two happened last night).
https://www.kapwing.com/videos/654b26740ca6370983cda7fa
Many of us have let the unborn down to some degree. We will have to answer to this on our last day. If we are lucky enough to get to heaven how do we tell those infants who were killed at 14 weeks and six days, for example, they just missed the cut? Sorry kid, if only your parents had conceived you one night earlier. Or how about the tweet below. The political class is constantly using the unborn as strategy to win a higher office. More time is spent on strategy and focus groups to protect the GOP than to protect a child’s life.
While we still have the opportunity, we can strive to do better. We should not depend on lobbyists, consultants, lawyers, a church hierarchy, or any political party to save our state or our schools from abortion and the sex industry which leads to it. Nor should we wait for the next election or the next candidate. Until mail-in voting is halted and votes are hand-counted precinct by precinct, we cannot trust any election to be honest, and that goes for either side. Children are OUR responsibility. Organized groups bring something to the table, but they generally don’t have the correct strategies due to their focus on endless fundraising.
Individual churches and parishes can take the initiative to educate their own flocks and from there word will spread. Neighbors can talk with neighbors and urge them to decline to sign the abortion petition. This will be more effective than any late, expensive campaign to educate voters. If this abortion amendment makes it to the ballot, we likely will follow Ohio’s results since we can no longer depend on secure elections. Those with the most money get their intended results eventually, whether it is election night or the weeks which follow after all leaking pipes are fixed and ballots are counted. Sadly, it is those who get a tingle up their leg about abortion who have the most money.
For now, educate yourself on why abortion idolizers are encouraging voters to sign their petition to secure abortion in Arizona’s constitution. Ask your pastors if they are aware of these petitions and use Ohio as an example that Arizona needs to go on offense before it is too late. Share your knowledge with your circle of friends and family and one by one you will be educating Arizonans on the horrors of abortion and it won’t cost a dime.
Gospel, Matthew 23:1-12
1 Then addressing the crowds and his disciples Jesus said,
2 ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses.
3 You must therefore do and observe what they tell you; but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practise what they preach.
4 They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!
5 Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader headbands and longer tassels,
6 like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues,
7 being greeted respectfully in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.