On July 18, after two special sessions and weeks of fighting, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed one of the most expansive abortion restriction laws of any state in the country over the howls of the abortion lobby. The law bans abortion in the state after 20 weeks gestation (when pre-born babies have been scientifically shown to feel pain), requires all abortion facilities to meet the requirements of ambulatory surgical centers, requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles and ensures that the abortion pill RU-486 is used in accordance with FDA guidelines. This bill will dramatically reduce the number of abortions in Texas and improve the health and safety standards for women, but the abortion lobby fought tooth and nail against this legislation.
In Austin, the pro-abortion movement took their directives straight out of the Saul Alinsky playbook (Rules for Radicals). They knew they had very little chance of actually stopping the passage of the bill, so their goal was to make life as miserable as possible for the pro-lifers (a favorite tactic of Alinsky’s). When they couldn’t get their way, they threw as big of a temper tantrum as they could muster, even resorting to kicking college kids out of a YMCA for wearing pro-life t-shirts in to shower. They tried to intimidate pro-lifers with threats, vulgarity, chanting, screeching and throwing everything but the kitchen sink.
With pro-life legislation sweeping across the nation, abortion activists are increasingly on the defensive, trying to fend off abortion restrictions at every turn. They saw Texas as an opportunity to stop it. If pro-lifers can’t pass legislation in Texas, where can they pass it? If the pro-life movement can’t gather as much support for legislation as abortion activists can to oppose it, where else will they be able to?
On top of that, pro-abortion organizations on the Left such as Organizing for America and the Democratic Party have targeted Texas to turn it blue for electoral politics. Similar legislation was just passed in North Carolina and Ohio, yet Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby did not descend upon those states like they did in Texas.
Texas was the Holy Grail for the abortion industry. They wanted all eyes on Texas to show their opposition to the bill. But they made a fatal mistake. America has just seen the abortion movement for what it really is: a bunch of overgrown children in hysterics over the “right” to kill babies.
Their tactics were pretty simple. They used ridicule (Alinsky’s 5th rule), aggression, and intimidation to deter pro-lifers in Texas and send a message to weak GOP politicians that if they dare take on the abortion industry, “this” is what they face. If folks have a miserable time doing something, they are less likely to do it again (Alinsky’s 6th rule). When pro-life legislators and activists saw what happened in Austin, they were supposed to be too scared or intimidated to try in their own state. Who would want to put themselves through that?
Well, I have news for the pro-abortion movement: it’s not going to work.
Click “like” if you are PRO-LIFE!
Pro-lifers are more motivated than ever before. We can feel the wave that will bring an end to abortion in our land (a phenomenon we also see in the polls). But as we gain ground in the states, the response from the abortion movement will only become more vicious. They are desperate and they will continue to lash out. If pro-lifers understand this, we will be prepared for what is to come.
First, we cannot and will not be intimidated by mob tactics and attempted terror. The injustice of abortion motivates us far beyond what any pro-abort can muster. When you’re surrounded by angry abortion activists who are screeching and carrying vulgar signs, remember what we fight for.
Second, Texas allowed us to expose the tactics of the abortion movement to many for the first time. When average Americans see the heart of abortion activists, they will not want to be associated with that. Most Americans were appalled when they heard the chants of “Hail Satan” and by the police reports that pro-abortion activists were planning to throw urine and feces at peaceful citizens and elected officials. Now that their true colors have been shown, we must expose it in the media, to our family and friends, and through our social networks.
Third, control the conversation. We must push our messaging points and force pro-aborts to respond to the very thing they wish to ignore: abortion. Keep the game on our turf, where we are strongest and most comfortable. Showing the humanity of the pre-born baby through words and images is our biggest strategic advantage, and there is no good response to it from the abortion movement, which is why the New Yorker even recently pointed out that the word abortion was missing from Planned Parenthood and Wendy's Davis' vocabulary during their stunt.
In Rules for Radicals, Alinsky also wrote that, “Ridicule is man’s (or woman’s) most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.”
Let’s not mince words here; the pro-abortion (or “pro-choice”) position is ridiculous. The idea that it is somehow ok to kill innocent babies in the womb, even those who have been scientifically proven to feel pain, is completely absurd and everyone knows that, deep down in their heart. We cannot be afraid to follow Jesus’ example and point out the error in the ways of our opponents.
If past social justice movements are any indication, as the pro-life wave floods across America, the abortion movement will become more violent and aggressive in the coming years as they lose more ground. We cannot let up. We know what their playbook is. Let’s use it against them.