Be the Champion!

On a personal level, I’m about as elated as anyone can be that Donald Trump is once again president of the United States. Several times Trump has promised to release all the pro-life rescuers who have been incarcerated by Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). That means, God willing, I could be home by February to help my family during an especially difficult time and to return to the vital work of ending child-killing. The past 16 months I’ve spent behind bars have been instructive and, in their own way, edifying. God moved deeply in my heart and used me to positively influence the lives of multiple convicts at four separate facilities. Nevertheless, the prospect of finally getting out gladdens me.

But make no mistake: Our rescue is not yet complete. One of the nine of us rescuers must volunteer to stay in prison to complete his or her sentence so the case may continue its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. There, we hope, FACE will be struck down, and pro-life Americans may again rescue without fear of outrageous persecution by the DOJ. As of this writing, we’re still figuring that part out.

Further, Trump must not be allowed to simply release us and wash his hands of the whole affair. Though we cannot be certain that the Supreme Court will overturn FACE, future rescues will still be feasible if the threat of DOJ crackdowns is neutralized. So it is critically important that we pressure the president to execute the terms of our petition (which I urge you to sign) found at SmashTheFACE.life. It has been endorsed by most of the rescuers and calls on the president to:

1. Grant full pardons to anyone convicted of violating FACE.
2. Forbid the DOJ from investigating or prosecuting FACE for the duration of his term.
3. Dismiss federal employees who were involved in the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of FACE defendants, and forbid their rehire while he is in office.

Though Trump’s election is a personal blessing to me and may mean a reformation of the DOJ, beyond that I do not think supporters of life can expect much more from “America’s most pro-life president.” Isolated though I might be in prison, I’ve nevertheless received news of his increasingly antagonistic comments and wavering positions. He’s blamed pro-lifers for costing him an election, criticized clinical abortion bans as too radical (when in reality none goes far enough), come out in support of in vitro fertilization (which usually destroys unborn lives), and promised to veto a national abortion ban. When he speaks on the topic, he fumbles about like a man without any grasp of or interest in the issue. His wife, once again our first lady, is publicly pro-baby-murder.

This will be Trump’s final term. He no longer has to worry about what voters think of him. He’s free to focus on the things he cares about, and it’s clear to me that fighting abortion is not one of those things. Having given us the court that reversed Roe v. Wade, he considers his duty complete. Any further progress toward abolishing baby-killing in the United States is not going to originate from the White House.

It’s going to come from you.

And by “you” I don’t mean your surrogates: the smiley-faced, banquet-hosting, incrementalist, establishment pro-life groups that, for 52 years, have taken your money and promised to fix the problem on your behalf. Their policies are responsible for our current situation. Roe is gone, but abortion rates are rising, and do-it-yourself chemical abortions are available and effectively legal in every state (since moms who abort are legally immune). We’ve made little progress in convincing Americans that we’re right and abortion is wrong, and now we don’t even have a major pro-life political party since the Republican abdication. Most of the establishment pro-life groups do not support rescues or Texas Rep. Chip Roy’s bill in Congress to repeal FACE. Whatever obstacles lie ahead — and there are many — will not be overcome by following their lead.

Rather, by “you” I mean you, one of the millions of American citizens who still knows his right hand from his left, recognizes abortion as an unspeakable evil, and wishes someone would end it. That someone is you. You need to start doing all the simple, albeit personally costly, things necessary to reach your goal. You must realize that no person or group with a famous name, large bank account, and lots of power is going to do the job for you.

Some might be surprised that I haven’t sworn off rescues. This is because I sense that pro-life Americans need a focal point around which to rally. Since 2013 I’ve been trying, through the Revelation 3:2 Project (GetSeriousChurch.com), to convince people that the solution lies in the thousands of conversations and little acts of defiance (some of which might result in jail time) in which we all must continually engage. To my shame, I’ve been unsuccessful. But I hold out hope that maybe — just maybe — knowing that some people are still rescuing and accepting the consequences will help more of you overcome your fears and excuses and transform you from being mere pro-lifers to the heroic champions preborn children both need and deserve.

Four years is not long. They will be over before we know it. Considering the volatile, unpredictable nature of American politics, it’s entirely possible that by 2029 both Congress and the presidency will be controlled by radical pro-aborts, and they will exploit the powerful federal Deep State (which we foolishly tried to control instead of dismantle) to oppress pro-life activists while pushing for a nationwide right to abort. Such back-and-forth, tug-of-war nonsense has to stop. The lives of innocent babies are too important to waste on such a fruitless exercise.

This election has provided us an opportunity, nothing more. As someone who has tasted just a little bit of what preborn children suffer every day, I plead with you: Please don’t let this opportunity go to waste.

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