[From a press conference at the Ohio Statehouse, June 24, 2022]
We stand here today with joy in our hearts, that after 50 years of enduring a well-entrenched lie in America, truth has finally seen its day in court.
Roe vs Wade was an unconstitutional fable from the outset, and everyone faithful to judicial interpretation knows it. There is no right to destroy a child, or have someone help you do that, in our Constitution, and our founders would never have provided for actions like that, for the same reason that we should not today. It is the most deeply unethical and unjust action a human being can take against another.
The idea that women are somehow deprived if they do not have the right to abortion is a tragic reflection of the mental health of our nation. But we can turn that around. I look forward to the day when the women's movement in this country is led by happy, life-honoring mothers and daughters, a time when the vast majority of women will respect life from conception to natural death and celebrate motherhood and parenting.
These noble values need to be taught once again in biology classes. Our girls have been poisoned by bigoted myths like The Handmaid’s Tale. Instead they should be taught the noble ethic of authentic human rights in America. I challenge every woman who believes that she is being deprived of something essential without abortion, I challenge that woman to search her heart.
I too was once “pro-choice.” Decades ago, I was a volunteer at a Planned Parenthood clinic. I deeply regret my participation in misleading teenage girls and not having the foresight to know I was joining a gravely mistaken movement.
Reckless, heartless sexuality is wrecking individual lives in America and here’s where it starts—hardening your heart enough to toss away the life of a child. Well, the time for that to end is now. Through our misguided laws established under Roe, we’ve made it easy for women at their most confused and men at their most irresponsible, to go ahead and do the unthinkable.
Just because it has been common and routine, does not lessen the brutal outcome. Over 60 million people in America are missing because our hearts didn’t love enough.
My hope is that here in Ohio and in other states, the many hard-won pro-life laws passed in recent years will now go into effect. And so what does the future look like? When abortion is no longer so readily available, people will pause to think about what they are doing ahead of time, because they will not only respect the potential for life, but they will come to have the deepest respect for their own bodies and for each other. Just as before Roe, my hope is that there are far fewer unwanted pregnancies and much more humane, thoughtful sexual behavior, ideally in marriage.
Let’s never forget that peace begins with a full recognition of human life. And let’s hope that this is the beginning of a new era of peace in America.
