Over this past weekend, millions of Americans participated in March For Life rallies all across the country. Pro-life advocates marched on their state capitals to express their support for the pro-life movement and their commitment to protecting the unborn. In Texas, thousands of people traveled to Austin to support the effort to eliminate abortion in the United States. 

RedState spoke with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who spoke at the event, has been an ardent defender of life on Capitol Hill, opposing the pro-abortion crowd and promoting legislation designed to protect the unborn. When asked what message he believes this year’s march sends to the rest of the nation, he kept it simple: “We’re winning.” 

The lawmaker focused on the progress that the pro-life movement has made since the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973 that legalized abortion. “We’re winning. And the message of hope, the message of opportunity, the promise for life is winning out over the message of despair and of death,” he said. 

Roy also explained the true nature of the battle over abortion, suggesting that it is more about changing minds than focusing solely on legislation. He described the efforts of Planned Parenthood to push women into aborting their children: “When we see Planned Parenthood, we see funding that is going to try to convince women to have an abortion…ignoring what that does to her and ignoring what that does to that life.” He continued, “It’s less about the rules and regulations about abortion and more about hearts and minds, and we’re winning. We’re winning those hearts and minds.” 

The representative pointed to the difference in the number of abortions being reported today and the number of procedures that were performed shortly after Roe v. Wade, stating that the rate was “almost 30 abortions per 1,000 women in 1980.” He added, “We’re now down to 14.6 which is less than it was in 1973 when Roe was decided. We’re winning, and we just gotta keep that message going.” 

Rep. Roy also noted the number of young people who attended the march in Austin. Indeed, there were a significant number of individuals ranging from elementary school age to those who were young, college-aged, adults. “You see all these young people and you see all these young people of faith,” Roy pointed out. “It’s mind-blowing to me how out of touch the liberal elitist culture is.” 

Pro-life Texans won a series of victories over the past few years, passing legislation that protects babies who survive abortion attempts and defunding Planned Parenthood at the local level. But Planned Parenthood recently opened five new offices in the state. However, Roy insisted that the pro-life movement is still gaining ground, citing recent actions from the Trump administration.

“An enormous benefit is this administration is working hard to make sure that Title 10 dollars aren’t going to fund organizations like Planned Parenthood,” he explained. “They just allowed a Section 1115 waiver which allows us to take women’s health dollars from the federal government and use those for women’s health services without funding abortion. That’s an enormous win.” 

The conversation turned to the Democrats’ efforts to take over the Texas House of Representatives. Indeed, the Democratic Party has been mobilizing to push the state closer to turning blue. Now, failed presidential candidate Robert “Beto” O’ Rourke is helping to lead the effort to remove Republicans from power. But Rep. Roy thinks their odds of success are greatly exaggerated:

“Democrats have this irrational exuberance about their chances in 2020. But we’re going to beat them like a drum. This is a conservative state, people are moving here for conservative values, people are moving here because they love Texas. They’re not going to buy into this leftist propaganda and this leftist agenda that is represented by people like Wendy Davis, Nancy Pelosi, the radical left like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

Roy concluded that people moving to Texas are “choosing freedom and hope, not that leftist negativity and despair.” 

It’s not often that we hear about the many successes that the pro-life movement is winning. But the numbers reveal that the situation is not as dire as it might seem. With a sustained effort and people like Rep. Chip Roy in Congress, perhaps those seeking to protect the unborn will continue to win “hearts and minds.” 

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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