Rebooting The Pro-Life Movement
By REY FLORES
It was the blizzard of 2016 which almost derailed the national March for Life in our nation’s capital a couple of weeks ago, but thanks to some hearty pro-life souls, the March proceeded as planned, albeit a little smaller than expected.
Some made the great escape out of D.C. before the snow started falling in the late afternoon, but many of these same folks also got stranded across eastern highways. One group even celebrated Mass on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on an altar made of snow and ice. (See Donald DeMarco’s editorial “Fire From Ice” on p. 4A of this week’s issue.)
Either way, the blizzard was symbolic of where the pro-life movement stands today. It is paralyzed to the point that, as you read this column to the end, thousands of babies will again be aborted in the United States alone. Why aren’t we stopping this? What has happened?
On the day before the March, I attended the March for Life expo held at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to meet a man I’d like to introduce you to.
His name is Henry Hewes and he is a pro-life Democrat who is running for president. Hewes has run for the presidency in the past, and also for mayor of New York City back in the late 1980s.
While his chances may look like a long shot, part of Hewes’ plan is to air a series of powerful pro-life ads on major media broadcast and cable networks. These ads will be tied into his campaign. This, however, will need the entire pro-life movement, or at least a good-sized portion of it, supporting Hewes’ efforts.
Hewes and I talked at length about the state of the pro-life movement today and why it is in need of a major reboot.
Hewes hit the nail on the head when he boldly stated: “Imagine if we knew that a man across the street was about to murder a child and we all knew about it. Wouldn’t we do all that we could to go over there and stop this man from killing this baby?”
“Then why aren’t we doing all that we can to stop abortion in America?” Hewes added.
During our conversation, we agreed that while a lot of work has been done, many lives have been saved, and many efforts and sacrifices have been made, we must admit that we as the pro-life movement have largely failed during the last 40-plus years.
Hewes said that abortion continues to be the law of the land “even though the pro-life position is morally and scientifically right; and it is also the case despite the fact that the majority of Americans are opposed to abortion on demand.
“Bottom line is that we have failed to educate the public effectively. We have also failed to raise the necessary money to win this fight.”
Hewes is already on the primary ballot in several states like New Hampshire, Louisiana, Missouri, Arizona, and even Puerto Rico — to name a few. Hewes knows his chances are slim, but still seeks to get a piece of the votes that otherwise would go to the third-place Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley.
The key is to put out some powerful pro-life ads as part of his presidential run and hopefully get some national pro-life organizations and prominent leaders to support Hewes’ efforts, particularly in helping to raise funds for the ads.
Hewes is absolutely one hundred percent correct when he states that the pro-life movement has failed to raise the necessary money to win.
It takes money to win battles and to win a war. Planned Parenthood has a tremendous financial advantage, especially given that our own tax dollars are being awarded to them by a corrupt government that peddles, promotes, and perpetuates a culture of death.
We mustn’t, however, just throw our hands up and complain. We need to put our money where our mouths are and step up our game financially. We mustn’t get stuck in the rut of the old “the grass is greener on the other side” mentality. We need to water our own lawn and maintain it financially evergreen until we end abortion.
Hewes also believes that “we have failed to manage the political process in Washington, D.C.”
This is true. We must demand an end to the systemic killing of innocent preborn children, instead of continuing to accept empty symbolic gestures and policies from do-nothing politicians who like to label themselves pro-life for their own political gains.
Even in Texas this past week, a grand jury which was supposed to investigate Planned Parenthood for selling baby parts instead has now indicted whistleblowers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt. And this is a result of our inability to make the necessary changes in government at all levels to stop these ongoing injustices.
I agree with Hewes that it’s time to reboot the pro-life movement and start again: “We must commit ourselves to assembling the human and material resources necessary to get Congress to pass a resolution every year stating unequivocally that life begins at conception and that the unborn child is indeed a person.”
Hewes added: “We must move beyond the paradigm of balkanized organizational politics and personalities. We must move toward a world of practical politics and unity that can turn the tide once and for all.”
After months of watching the political three-ring circus of the 2016 presidential race, meeting Hewes was a breath of fresh air. Any pro-life organization interested in helping promote and support the Hewes campaign would be wise to do so, in order to get his pro-life ads on as many television screens across America.
Indeed, we have an opportunity as a Christians and as a pro-life movement to not only think outside the box, but to act outside the box and break free from the constraints that has put this movement in a dangerously complacent spot.
Anyone interested in learning more about Hewes can visit his website: www.electHenryHewes2016.com.
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
