The movement to abolish abortion has finally reached critical mass. Enough concerned and educated citizens are shining their lights into the darkness that we can see clearly the warped thinking and scheming of our “pro-life” politicians. The sides are finally becoming clearly delineated. No more obfuscation and hiding behind rhetoric. For the first time, magistrates are being forced to state clearly what they are, or are not, willing to do to abolish abortion. This has been a watershed month in the history of the pro-life and abolitionist movements. Three sides have emerged thus far, but soon there will be only two.
The Right Side is led by Senator Joseph Silk, backed by grassroots activists, former gubernatorial candidates Dan Fisher and Randy Brogdon, conservative Christians, and the growing abolitionist movement. The Right Side seeks to criminalize abortion, ignore the courts, and establish justice.
The Wrong Side is led by Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, Chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party Pam Pollard, Tony Lauinger of National Right to Life, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, and several compromised Catholics leaders. The Wrong Side seeks to continue obeying black-robed tyrants rather than God, and maintain the status quo. Senator Treat could still relent and repent and become a great abolitionist hero.
Sitting on the Sideline are Governor Kevin Stitt, Lt. Governor and Senate President Matt Pinnell, and Speaker of House Charles McCall. Those on the Sideline hope to stay out of the fracas, but they will soon have to choose a side. As it did for the defenders of the Alamo when Travis drew the line in the sand, or for the Israelites when Joshua said “Choose you this day…,” the time has come for these men to choose the Right Side. If they decide not to choose, they still have made a choice.
No amount of political posturing, rhetoric, blaming, or redefining terms will change the bottom line. Ultimately, there are only four men who can abolish abortion in Oklahoma:
- Governor Kevin Stitt
- Lt. Gov. and Senate President Matt Pinnell
- Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat
- Speaker of the House Charles McCall
If abortion continues in Oklahoma, the blood of those innocent victims will be on the hands of these four men. The Legislature defines what is criminal, and the Executive upholds the law. Citizens often suggest that we give these men more time to learn about abolition and that we patiently educate them. The truth is that these steps have already been taken over many months, and in some cases, years. These men have seen videos, they have read articles, and they have had long conversations with abolitionists who have explained clearly to them their duty before God and under our constitutional form of government. Each legislative day that passes without Pinnell, Treat, and McCall advancing a bill of abolition is a day they have chosen to keep abortion legal. Each day that Stitt has not directed state police to blockade abortion death camps is a day he has chosen to allow the holocaust to continue in his jurisdiction.
In an effort to cover their cowardice, the Wrong Side has launched a counterattack of pernicious lies and schemes. There is not enough room to answer them all here, but we will address the top three:
First, the Wrong Side is repeating the lie ad nauseum that we have three co-equal branches of government, and that every official must submit to evil dictates of the courts. This has never been true. Governor Stitt, Lt. Gov. Pinnell, Pro Tem Treat, and Speaker McCall have the courts outnumbered in branches of government and in authority. Judges can issue opinions all day, but they have no authority to make law or carry out any of their wishes. They carry no guns or handcuffs. In fact, Lt. Gov. Pinnell, Pro Tem Treat, and Speaker McCall could lead the Legislature to criminalize abortion so that perpetrators can be prosecuted, and they could simply impeach for “neglect of duty” any judge who attempted to protect abortion. As chief executive, Governor Stitt needs no further authorization than his oath of office and our constitutions to mobilize state police to close down abortion death camps.
Second, the Wrong Side is claiming that “Nullification has been tried and failed.” Both Pro Tem Treat and GOP Chair Pam Pollard have advanced the lie that the Nullification side lost in the “Civil War,” but the War of 1861 was fought over secession, not Nullification. The ability to secede was quashed for the generation living in 1865, but nullification has been practiced by northern and southern states both before and after the War of 1861.
In fact, nullification works every time it is implemented, because by definition, nullification is an action taken. To nullify something means to cancel it out, to make it of no validity or force. Therefore, we can easily make a list of instances where the sovereign states have nullified unconstitutional federal policies to protect the innocent from federal aggression. The New England states nullified Madison’s trade embargo and refused to participate in the War of 1812. Virginia and Kentucky passed articles of nullification regarding the suppression of free speech under the Sedition Act, and South Carolina nullified the Tariff of Abominations. Today, several states, including Oklahoma, are nullifying federal laws against the use of cannabis. Wisconsin and other states nullified the federal Fugitive Slave Act in the 1850s to free runaway slaves on the underground railroad. Similarly, modern day abolitionists say we should nullify the supreme Court’s opinions on abortion to rescue innocent preborn children.
On the other hand, states have chosen not to nullify many unconstitutional policies such as REAL ID, the Transportation Security Administration, and abortion. Oklahoma did nullify REAL ID for almost ten years, but then our magistrates blinked and backed down. Similarly, Texas was poised to reject the TSA, but then chose to capitulate. These instances are no failure of Nullification; rather, they are a failure of courage and leadership. If we were to ask Master Yoda whether we should try nullification, he would answer, “Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”
Third, the Wrong Side is advancing Senate Bill 195, a pernicious policy, authored by Pro Tem Treat, which he is a calling a “trigger bill.” It ought to trigger every Oklahoman to call for his impeachment, since it blatantly destroys our state sovereignty and the rule of law by explicitly handing over jurisdiction of abortion to the federal government. The bill states that Oklahoma will criminalize abortion only when “The United States Supreme Court overrules the central holding of Roe v. Wade…thereby restoring to the State of Oklahoma the authority to prohibit abortion” or when “An amendment to the United States Constitution is adopted that restores to the State of Oklahoma the authority to prohibit abortion.” Remember, those powers not delegated to the feds are reserved to the states. This evil piece of legislation is a direct abdication of state authority. It spells out that Oklahoma will obey the supreme Court, rather than uphold the law of God and our constitutions. Those legislators who support SB 195 are blatantly breaking their oaths of office to uphold our constitutions.
Ultimately, stopping the shedding of innocent blood is a simple battle of wills. A chief executive will have to order his men at arms to physically stop the bloodshed. A legislature will have to close legal loopholes so that violators can be prosecuted.
To reiterate, there are four state officials who can lead the right course of action: Governor Kevin Stitt, Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, and Speaker of the House Charles McCall. We speak now to these men:
Gentlemen, your duty, per your oaths, is to uphold the Oklahoma Constitution and the Constitution of the United States, both of which clearly spell out the right to life. No doubt you have been told that the “supremacy clause” of the Constitution defines the supreme Court’s opinions as the “law of the land.” However, article six, paragraph two of the Constitution gives supremacy to the Constitution itself.
Citizens will forbear, and so we should, but there comes a point when forbearance becomes cowardice and sin. You have a duty to interpose against this federal attack upon the preborn, not to accommodate it. The founding of this union and our history demonstrate that you do not have to obey immoral, unjust, and unconstitutional court opinions of the supreme Court. You possess lawful authority to uphold the law of God and our constitutions. When God’s law is disregarded by the judges of the supreme Court, your duty is not to bow down to them, but to resist them and uphold our constitutions to protect innocent lives. May God grant you the courage to execute your duty.