It’s June 13, 2026, and you take your seat in Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center at the Republican Party of Texas convention. The convention hall screen shows the subject of the debate: the legislative priority to seek equal protection for preborn children under the law. A silhouette steps to the microphone and says, “What I would like to request is that we take out ‘equal protection.’” You look around, confused. How did a pro-choice group get in here? The delegate identifies herself: “Amy O’Donnell, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.”
To many pro-life Christians, this contradiction makes no sense, because few realize that the pro-life establishment is actively fighting against equal protection.
Pro-Hypocrisy
The goal of the pro-life establishment (the collection of the major pro-life organizations and leaders) is to regulate, not abolish, abortion. The Students for Life website opens with a landing page stating: “Save babies. Empower women. Abolish abortion.” That’s the stated slogan, but the actions of organizations like Students for Life speak to a different reality. This isn’t a difference in strategy but a difference in goal.
The pro-life establishment is diametrically opposed to equal protection because it subjects mothers who murder their children to equal punishment. This philosophy was reflected in Louisiana in 2022 when a bill (HB 813) passed out of committee with a vote of 7-2 before being gutted and killed by the same legislator who had replied, on the record, “Absolutely,” when asked about its passage.
That day, a letter signed by more than 70 pro-life organizations, including National Right to Life, SBA Pro-Life America, Americans United for Life and March for Life Action, was released, with its position echoed by Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America, stating this:
“We state unequivocally that we do not support any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women and we stand firmly opposed to include such penalties in legislation.”
Given that abortion numbers have risen in pro-life states since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, how can organizations that call themselves pro-life and call abortion murder oppose a bill that would have provided equal protection for the unborn?
What Did God Say?
Scripture declares that man is made in the image of God [Genesis 1:27] from fertilization; thus, we should show no partiality in judgment [James 2:9] for every human being and image-bearer of God is equally valuable [Galatians 3:28] and ought to have the same protection under the law. Abolitionism can be defined as obedience to God above all, demanding the exact same legal protections for the unborn as the born.
A product of the pro-life establishment’s secular commitments and feminist underbelly, the pro-life movement calls abortive mothers “second victims,” and declares equal protection cruel. But cruelty is lying to post-abortive mothers. The Bible tells us that sin must be recognized and repented of [1 John 1:8–9]. It tells us that the law is a tutor [Galatians 3:24] that restrains evil [Romans 13:3–4] and points us to Christ, who restores us through an eternal, perfect sacrifice [Hebrews 10:14].
The pro-life establishment ignores the Bible to favor the world, whereas abolitionism submits to God’s word above worldly politics. Abolitionists recognize that the only response to the culture of death is the Gospel. When we write into law special murder rights for mothers and state there ought to be no prosecution for them, we acquit the guilty and condemn the innocent. God tells us that is detestable to him [Proverbs 17:15].
Baby Steps, Right?
Year by year, the pro-life establishment puts forth bills to regulate, not abolish, abortion. Some may claim that all steps are good. A heartbeat law here, a week limit there. Small steps are the way! Herein lies a great distinction. When a law specifically writes partiality into the code and lies about when human value begins, it is sin. We must not do evil that good may come [Romans 3:8]. Only righteous steps advance justice; drafting and enacting partial laws do not.
A common retort is that incremental bills simply save whom it is possible to save. But when a legislator votes for a compromise bill, that vote delivers a double message. First, the children who meet the criteria will be protected. Second, the children who do not meet the criteria are abandoned, and their murder is sanctioned by the state.
From a biblical perspective, compromising on equal protection to preserve political leverage is nothing less than child sacrifice. It is time for Christians to stop funding the regulation of child sacrifice and demand equal protection for every image-bearer.
Thankfully, student-led movements are rising to represent abolitionism. Aggies for Abolition is the new Texas A&M chapter of Students for Abolition, established to equip students to stand for equal protection on campus, in our culture and at the state legislature when the next session begins. The movement is garnering national attention and shifting the Overton window, as evidenced recently by a collection of pro-life leaders signing a statement for equal protection. It has become clear that the standard of justice will never change and that the call for equal protection and the abolition of abortion will only grow louder.
