Don’t give up the fight for women and girls

“Elections have consequences.” It’s a phrase we repeatedly hear in the lead-up to an election, and this year’s midterms were no different, particularly for issues facing women and girls.

To begin, pro-abortion activists and politicians have reminded us since the fall of Roe v. Wade that this election would be particularly consequential for women. These activists have spent the months since Dobbs inundating them with the deceptive message that their ability to be a functioning member of society hinges on access to abortion.

Sadly, while we don’t have the full results from Election Day yet, it’s clear that the abortion industry’s damaging lies took root—and there will be consequences. In five states, voters chose abortion over protecting life. As a result, these states have denied justice to women and their children who will continue to be victimized by an industry bent on profiting at the cost of human suffering—including the suffering of little girls in the womb.

It should come as no surprise that those who deny the sanctity of human life created in God’s image commonly also deny His good design in creating us male and female. Consider this: Not only are legislators introducing extreme pro-abortion policies, but they are completely writing women out of these bills, referring to women as “persons who are pregnant” instead of “women” or “mothers.” As long-time Democrat Tulsi Gabbard said of her departure from the Democratic Party, it has rejected “the objective truth and reality that women exist.”

In fact, the pro-abortion proposals that were ratified in Vermont, California, and Michigan on Tuesday not only radically expand abortion access, but they similarly expand the reach and devastating consequences of gender ideology. For example, by using ambiguous language like “reproductive autonomy” and “reproductive freedom,” these states have opened the door for underage girls and boys to receive life-altering hormones and other medical procedures without parental consent or knowledge—something Planned Parenthood is all too eager to provide.

The destruction of the distinction between the two sexes is being paired with the destruction of the sanctity of human life. And it’s all tied up in a package promising that these policies will serve women well.

What women really need from their elected representatives are policies that reflect the truth that women are equal in dignity and worth—but are not the same in all respects—as men, and protect women from the devastating results of unrestricted, unregulated abortion.

This means that states should build on the incredible work accomplished since 2020 in protecting women’s sports. In the last three years, 18 states have enacted laws to ensure female athletes aren’t forced to compete against men. That kind of nationwide movement for legislative change is almost unprecedented, but it’s a direct result of women pushing back against the substitution of identity for biology when it comes to women’s rights.

We’ve also seen an increase in parents challenging public schools’ efforts to indoctrinate children with gender ideology and hide important medical information about children from their parents. We know that young girls are particularly vulnerable to the lies of gender ideologies, and some school officials are exploiting this confusion and even encourage life-altering interventions without notifying parents, let alone asking for parental consent. Regardless of the final outcome of Tuesday’s election, parents should continue to pressure their representatives in Congress and state legislatures to enact policies that ensures parents are in full control of the upbringing and education of their children.

And when it comes to abortion, after the Dobbs decision the states have greater freedom to enact commonsense regulations to prevent the intentional taking of human life and to protect the health and safety of women.

Elections do have consequences, but what we do with the results of elections is of even greater consequence. This is not the time to be discouraged. The work to protect women and the unborn will continue in legislatures across the country beginning in January.

And as Christians, we must speak the truth in the public square about God’s design for male and female, not only for the sake of truth itself, but to protect women and girls from the devastating results of the world’s lies about gender, womanhood, and motherhood. We should seize this cultural moment and, wherever God gives each of us opportunity, be passionate advocates for policies that actually lift up and protect women.