Monroe County Right to Life supporters urged not to give up hope

LASALLE – Pro-life supporters are being urged not to give up fighting for life despite passage of Proposal 3 last fall and state legislative efforts this year to further erase any restrictions on abortions in Michigan.

Guest speaker William Wagner cited Winston Churchill’s famous “Never give up” speech during World War II to encourage those protecting babies in the womb to continue supporting and advocating for women in crisis pregnancies. He said there’s no evidence in the U.S. Constitution that supports the right to an abortion.

“Things are bad in the Legislature. We have to make sure you don’t lose hope and give up,” he told about 175 guests at the Monroe County Right to Life (RTL) annual banquet last week at LaRoy’s Hall in LaSalle. “We have to (stay) in the battle in the public policy arena and this cultural divide on a daily basis. We are called to continue standing for life in the face of evil.”

Saying he was speaking from his heart, he said the battle between good and evil has been going on since the beginning of time. He cited freedoms of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for every human that are guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence and compared today’s cultural battles over abortion with British parliamentarian William Wilberforce who fought until his death to abolish the slave trade in Great Britain.

“You’ve been fighting this battle for a long time since Roe passed,” said Wagner, a former federal judge and currently a tenured university professor. “Take the heart of Jesus and show people what we are dealing with. We’ve got to change some hearts. But like Wilberforce, the fight is not done here in Michigan – we have to keep on fighting. Even a little child knows the self-evident truths of the dignity of a human child.”

As president of the Michigan-based Great Lakes Justice Center, he authored an amicus curiae brief on behalf of RTL of Michigan calling for overturning Roe v. Wade in the 2019 Dobbs case that was decided in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The center also authored essays on the effects of Proposal 3 before the statewide measure was approved by voters last November. The proposal basically enshrined abortion in the state constitution without any restrictions, he said. As chairman of Salt & Light Global, he helped write an amicus brief in the Dobbs decision that helped overturn Roe v. Wade nationwide in 2022 and return the abortion issue to the states.

“Thank God we have some good judges who know how to follow law and not change it to fit their personal perspective,” he said.

However, despite the reversal of Roe v. Wade, all of the restrictions that had been placed on abortions in Michigan over the past 50 years were wiped out by passage of Proposal 3.

“We went from being the best protected state in the country to the least protected state,” Wagner, 63, said. “You can’t make up a right to abortion and put it in the state constitution, but that’s what they did (with Proposal 3). We got rid of the (protections) and put in a right to kill an unborn child. I’ve got a copy of the bills they’re looking at now. They’re putting partial-birth abortion into law, allowing taxpayer money to fund abortions and repealing informed parental consent and licensing requirements … that’s evil.”

He said partial-birth abortion has become a bipartisan issue.

“I think some of you in this room and Jesus are going to change the hearts of people so that no longer will this issue divide everyone,” he said.

Brad Smith, development coordinator for Michigan RTL, also spoke at the banquet and noted that 300,000 babies were saved while abortion on demand took place under Roe v. Wade. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, pro-abortion supporters are “coming after everything” in their attempt to keep abortion viable in Michigan, he said.

“These bills go way beyond what they promised they wouldn’t do,” Smith said. “They lie. They just don’t care. The pro-abortion Legislature and governor are even trying to strip basic medical standards from being enforced on the abortion industry. They have proven that they are not about choice but about money and killing children. This governor vetoed funding to help pregnant women, including women in college who are being offered support to choose life. They don’t want the choice for life to be an option.”

There is a free telephone hotline for women in crisis pregnancies to call for help: 800-57-WOMAN (96626). The hotline is “all about supporting women to empower them to choose life. It is letting them know that they can choose life instead of death, and we will help them,” Smith said.

He said Proposal 3 is history and the pro-life movement should refocus its efforts to continue saving lives and not look back.

“Elections have serious consequences – that’s what’s happening in Lansing,” he said. “We are doubling down and fighting back harder than before. The most important child we can save is the next one – we’ve got to work hard on educating people.”

Smith encouraged audience members to contact their legislators in both the state House and Senate to urge them to vote no on the “Reproductive Health Act” package that was introduced by Democratic legislators. The package, which includes House Bills 4949 through 4959 and Senate Bills 474 to 479, calls for the repeal of many abortion regulations such as abortion clinic licensing regulations, informed consent provisions which include a 24-hour waiting period, the Medicaid funding ban, partial-birth abortion ban and the born-alive infant protection law. These restrictions continue to enjoy the broad support of Michigan citizens, including the majority of those who voted for Proposal 3, he said.

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Three seniors from St. Mary Catholic Central High School – Maureen Smith, Sierra Goins and Anna Cuccia – said they are looking forward to voting in the next general election in 2024 after hearing remarks from both Wagner and Brad Smith.

“We need to start paying attention to what is being said because I can make a difference,” Goins said.

Cuccia said students are learning about the U.S. Constitution in class and different political views about how government works.

“There are differences in religious and moral viewpoints” on the issue of abortion, she said.

Joe Boggs, master of ceremonies for the dinner, urged supporters and people of all political persuasions to attend the Michigan March for Life Nov. 8 in Lansing to advocate for life. The march is taking place outside the state Capitol on the one-year anniversary of passage of Proposal 3 to “send a powerful message to our elected officials, citizens of our state and the nation at large,” Boggs said. “Join us as we peacefully advocate for the protection of all human life from conception to natural death.”

More information about the march and local buses that will be provided to Lansing is at RTL.org/events/march.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County Right to Life supporters urged not to give up hope