{"id":2255118,"date":"2024-05-29T14:58:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T18:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-defense-of-life-has-proven-to-be-a-political-winner\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T15:02:45","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:02:45","slug":"the-defense-of-life-has-proven-to-be-a-political-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-defense-of-life-has-proven-to-be-a-political-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting life has shown to be a successful political strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-defense-of-life-has-proven-to-be-a-political-winner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2255118&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The speech by Michael \u2064Knowles at the University of Illinois\u2063 Urbana-Champaign \u200cemphasizes the importance \u200bfor conservative federal \u2064candidates to support life, babies, mothers, and respect \u2062the Dobbs\u2062 Supreme \u2064Court ruling on state-based abortion regulation. It highlights the political\u200d benefits of this stance and\u200d the \u200cneed\u200c for strategic wisdom \u2062in navigating such critical issues. Michael Knowles&#8217; speech at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign underscores the significance of conservative federal candidates endorsing\u2062 life, babies,\u200d mothers, \u200dand honoring the Dobbs Supreme Court decision regarding state-controlled abortion\u200c laws. It emphasizes the \u200dadvantageous political outcomes of this position and \u2062stresses the \u2064essential strategic approach required to tackle these pivotal matters effectively.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is the second part of a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6nAjBG7xVhc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">speech<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  delivered by <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/show\/the-michael-knowles-show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Michael Knowles<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Conservative candidates for federal office across the nation should say that they support life, they support babies and mothers, and they respect the Supreme Court precedent established in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dobbs <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">that abortion is a matter for the states rather than the federal government. Such a stance allows candidates to sidestep a thorny issue in a tough election year <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">without sacrificing their principles<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It does not delve into what ought to be done at the state level, nor should it, since the candidates are running for federal office. It allows candidates to be wise as serpents, which we have to be if we want to get anything done in politics, but also innocent as doves, which we have to be if we want to do anything that is actually worth doing in politics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mouthing off and losing elections does not advance the pro-life cause; likewise, abandoning our principles to win elections also does not advance the pro-life cause. Pro-life losers do no more to protect innocent life than pro-abortion candidates do. We <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">have <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to win. And likewise, conservatives who win by caving on fundamental principles are no better than liberals. \u201cWhat will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?\u201d (Mark 8:36).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To win by caving on the fundamental right \u2014 the right to life \u2014 would constitute a deal with the Devil. And ironically, like all deals with the Devil, the dealmakers ultimately won\u2019t even get what they bargained for. Because such a deal most likely won\u2019t even help conservative candidates win.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How many pro-abortion conservatives have gotten elected in recent years? Susan Collins? There are some, but not many. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2018\/06\/pro-choice-republicans-in-congress-are-nearly-extinct.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New York Magazine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  ran a piece a couple of years ago on \u201cthe near extinction of pro-choice Republicans.\u201d They\u2019re a dying breed \u2014 and for good reason. When Republicans squish on so fundamental an issue, they lose more support than they gain. When faced with the choice between an incoherent Republican and a coherent Democrat, voters often choose the latter. There\u2019s no substitute for the real thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I understand the fear among pro-life candidates. Since the <em>Dobbs<\/em> decision, pro-lifers have suffered some political losses. Voters in Kansas and Kentucky rejected proposed constitutional amendments protecting life. Voters in California, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio ratified a new license to abortion in their state constitutions. Legislators in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Vermont voted to expand access to poisonous abortion pills. Legislators in Minnesota and New Jersey expanded the license to abortion to include all nine months of pregnancy. It isn\u2019t cowardice for political candidates to take those facts into consideration when crafting their campaign messages.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/show\/the-michael-knowles-show\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pro-abortion side has made much of these political victories to encourage their own politicians and to intimidate conservatives from taking too strong a stance in defense of life. But those pro-abortion wins only tell half the story. Less than one year after <em>Dobbs<\/em>, a study revealed that 30,000 babies had already been saved from abortion. Each of those lives is of incalculable value in itself. But that number in the aggregate also represents the durability of state laws against abortion. Half of U.S. states now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/remember-when-media-freaked-out-over-amy-coney-barrett-and-the-right-wing-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Remember When Media Freaked Out Over Amy Coney Barrett And The Right Wing Supreme Court?\">significantly restrict abortion<\/a>. Fourteen states ban abortion across all nine months, and more states than that ban abortion after a baby\u2019s heartbeat can be detected around six weeks or at least after the first trimester.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not only are those laws durable; they\u2019re also popular, as Governor Scott Walker \u2014 the leader of Young America\u2019s Foundation \u2014 pointed out early last year. Governor DeWine in Ohio signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/montana-voters-reject-measure-requiring-care-for-babies-born-alive\/\" title=\"Montana Voters Reject Measure Requiring Care For Babies Born Alive\">born-alive bill<\/a> that threatened two abortion clinics; he won reelection by a huge margin \u2014 more than a million votes. Governor Noem signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/48-senators-vow-to-oppose-any-legislation-that-funds-abortion\/\" title=\"48 Senators Vow To Oppose Any Legislation That Funds Abortion\">pro-life bill<\/a> in South Dakota; she beat her liberal opponent by almost 30 points. Governor DeSantis in Florida signed a six-week abortion ban; he wrecked his opponent by a million-and-a-half votes. In all those states, the defense of life has proven at some point recently to be a political winner. Every pro-life governor won \u2014 and most of them won big \u2014 in their midterm elections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prudence is not opposed to principles. Quite the opposite. If you want proof, look no further than the Left. Does the Left <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ever <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">squish on its principles? Even when its principles are insane and unpopular? No. The vast majority of Americans oppose trans-ing kids \u2014 68%, to be exact, according to a recent Washington Post\/Kaiser Family Foundation <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/tablet\/2023\/03\/23\/nov-10-dec-1-2022-washington-post-kff-trans-survey\/?itid=lk_inline_manual_21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">poll<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Does that fact cause liberals to back away from their positions on the issue? Certainly not. It causes them to double down \u2014 in the schools, in the libraries, in public policy all the way up to the President of the United States, who recently signed an executive order enshrining the sexual mutilation of children into national policy. If that weren\u2019t creepy enough, he signed the bill flanked by sexually confused teenagers. And this sort of thing is nothing new.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even before we became degraded to the point that we had to debate whether or not boys can become girls, the liberals demonstrated the power of holding firm to their principles in the face of stark opposition. We saw this clearly in the so-called \u201cgay marriage debate.\u201d It\u2019s easy to forget now, but the notion of \u201cgay marriage\u201d was extremely unpopular among both Democrats and Republicans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When \u201cgay marriage\u201d came up for popular vote in liberal California of all places, it failed. Even in liberal California, most people did not think it advisable or even possible to redefine the bedrock political institution, which has meant the same thing pretty much everywhere for all of human history. Even so, liberals just kept pushing and pushing. In the legislatures, through the executive branch, and ultimately through the judiciary, which succeeded at redefining marriage in our law through the bizarre romantic poetry of Justice Anthony Kennedy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The liberals never cave on their principles. They only double down. First, they wanted abortion to be safe, legal, and rare. Then, they dropped the \u201crare.\u201d Now, through their embrace of poison pills and dodgy clinics, they\u2019ve even dropped the \u201csafe\u201d part. They just want more abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Liberals double down on policies such as abortion-on-demand and transgenderism, even when they\u2019re politically unpopular, because they are expressions of the ultimate liberal principle \u2014 the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">raison d\u2019etre <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">of the political Left \u2014 which is total liberation: from tradition, from morality, from family, even (in the case of transgenderism) from ourselves and our own bodies. These types of policies are what the Left\u2019s all about. Without constantly pushing the boundary of liberation, the liberals have no reason to exist in politics, and voters have no reason to elect them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The same principle holds true for conservatives. In a way, we have a major political advantage over the liberals \u2014 because our views on these questions are so much more reasonable. We hold that boys and girls are different. We believe that murder is wrong. We believe what most people have always believed just about everywhere. And we <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">continue <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to cling to the particular facts and customs that have allowed our civilization to flourish. That\u2019s what <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">we\u2019re <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">about. That\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">our <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">reason for being in politics. We\u2019re <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">conservative<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. We don\u2019t want to liberate ourselves from everything. We want to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">conserve <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">things: most tangibly, the traditions and institutions that constitute our way of life; more abstractly, our rights and the natural law from which we deduce those rights; and ultimately, our proper place in the world \u2014 our relationship with our fellow creatures as well as with our Creator, who we hold to have endowed us with certain rights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If we cease to stand for those things, not only will we not improve our chances of winning; we will guarantee that we never win again. Salt that loses its savor cannot be salted and is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden on by men (Matthew 5:13-14). Conservatives need to be smart, but we need to stay salty. We need to win, and no one ever wins through surrender.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In his speech at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Michael Knowles emphasized that conservative federal candidates must openly back life, babies, mothers, and uphold the Dobbs Supreme Court ruling on state autonomy in abortion matters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":2255119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2023\/12\/MKnowlesheadshot-copy.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2255118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2023\/12\/MKnowlesheadshot-copy.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2255119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}