The World and Everything in It: June 21, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. My name is Caleb, and I live in the beautiful province of Quebec, Canada. I'd like to invite you to pray for the French speaking population in Quebec, which is considered one of the last unreached people groups in North America. And I hope you enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! Chris Christie endorsed Donald Trump for president back in 2016, but now he’s running a campaign to take Trump down. What are his chances?

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday. Also today, news from around the world on WORLD Tour. Plus, evangelizing Muslims in the Middle East.

AUDIO: God began to put on my heart the idea that I might dedicate my life to serving these Muslim people which I used to hate.

And WORLD opinions commentator Ryan Bomberger celebrates one year since the end of Roe v Wade.

REICHARD: It’s​ Wednesday, June 21st. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning! 

REICHARD: Now the news with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Hunter Biden plea » President Biden’s son Hunter has cut a plea deal with the Justice Department that will likely spare him any time behind bars. He’s pleading guilty to federal tax offenses to avoid prosecution on a felony weapons charge.

President Biden had little to say when asked to comment.

JOE BIDEN: I’m very proud of my son.

Republicans are calling it a slap on the wrist. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy:

KEVIN MCCARTHY: It continues to show the two-tier system in America.

He said there is one standard of justice for the son of a Democratic president, and another for a former Republican president.

The Justice Department charged Hunter Biden with tax evasion and a felony count of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user. That charge could have carried up to a 10-year prison sentence.

These charges are separate from Biden family bribery accusations that House Republicans are currently investigating.

Ukraine » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned yet more Russian drone attacks, mostly aimed at or near Kyiv.

Ukraine’s air defenses took down all but three of the 35 Iranian-made drones. Ballistic missiles also struck the Zaporizhzhia region.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken says the U.S. is committed to supply air defenses and other weapons to Ukraine.

TONY BLINKEN: As the battlefield has changed, we’ve adapted to that. And we are in constant communication with the Ukrainians to make sure that they have what they need.

Ukrainian forces claim to have gained some ground against Russian forces despite heavy resistance.

Caribbean storms » Tropical Storm Bret is expected to strike the Caribbean by late Thursday.

National Hurricane Center specialist Robbie Berg.

BERG: It’s a little odd to have these types of systems out in the deep tropical Atlantic this time of year. That tends to happen more as we get into July and August.

Earlier, the storm was predicted to become a hurricane by the time it reached the island.

The National Hurricane Center is advising everyone in the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to closely monitor the storm.

Forecasters are also keeping a close eye on another system chasing Bret, that could slam the Caribbean as a dangerous hurricane.

Sub search » The U.S. Coast Guard says a missing submarine has less than 24 hours of breathable air left for the five people are on board.

Rescuers last night continued searching the North Atlantic for the deep-water sub that has been missing since Sunday.

Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick:

JAMIE FREDERICK: This is a complex search effort which requires multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialized equipment.

The sub lost contact with a Canadian research vessel less than two hours after it began a dive to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.

SCOTUS rejects appeal over trans dorm » The Supreme Court has declined to hear a Christian college’s challenge to a Biden administration transgender rule. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: The College of the Ozarks filed a lawsuit against a rule issued in 2021 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The department sought to force colleges to assign transgender individuals to the dorms of their choice, rather than placing them in dorms corresponding with their biological sex.

Lower courts sided with the Biden Administration on a procedural point, saying the college hadn’t actually suffered any harm from the law.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Charitable giving » Charitable giving in the United States declined in 2022. It was only the fourth time in the last four decades that donations did not increase year over year.

That’s word from a new report released by the Giving USA Foundation.

Total giving fell 3.4% in last year to about $500 billion in current dollars, a drop of 10.5% when adjusted for inflation.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Washington Wednesday with Matt Klink. Plus, sharing the gospel with one’s enemies.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 21st of June, 2023.

You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re glad to have you along today. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up on The World and Everything in It: Washington Wednesday.

Today, two of the most recent Republican entrants in the 2024 presidential race: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Let’s begin with Burgum because he’s a name you’re probably not as familiar with.

So, here is a short bio: Burgum is 66, he’s a father of three, and he was successful in business before getting into politics. Burgum built a software company and sold it to Microsoft in 2001 for more than a billion dollars. He then served as a senior vice president with Microsoft until 2007.

Earlier this month, he pointed to his experience in tech as he announced his campaign for president.

DOUG BURGUM: Technology is changing every job, every company in every industry. And this change will become more rapid than ever before and we need new leadership for the changing economy.

The two-term governor was first elected in 2016, and again in 2020.

And as governor, built a conservative track record on both fiscal and social issues.

Now, Chris Christie: 60 years old, father of four, and once considered one of the GOP’s brightest stars. Early on, he was a highly popular governor, even as he made budget cuts once believed to be political suicide in a liberal state like New Jersey.

And he rose to national prominence with viral video moments from town hall events in which, shall we say, he shed the traditional political decorum:

CHRIS CHRISTIE: Well listen, let's start with this: I stood here and very respectfully listened to you. If what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time I talk, then I have no interest in answering your question.

But all that momentum came to a screeching halt in 2013 with the so-called “Bridgegate” controversy. Before that, he agitated many Republican voters when he embraced President Obama, literally just before the 2012 election.

His 2016 campaign for president never gained much traction, but he still played an important role.

Think back to February of 2016, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign was picking up steam. And it appeared that those who wanted someone other than Donald Trump might have been starting to coalesce behind Rubio.

But then came this: Christie humiliated Rubio on a presidential debate stage in New Hampshire. Listen to this:

CHRISTIE: That’s what Washington DC does, the memorized 25-second second speech that is exactly what his advisors gave him. 

RUBIO: Those are the facts. Here’s the bottom line, this notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing is just not true. 

CHRISTIE: There it is. There it is, the memorized 25-second speech. There it is everybody!

Rubio’s momentum collapsed after that, and Christie was credited with taking him down.

Now, Christie says if Republicans will put him back on the debate stage, he’ll do the same sort of thing and take down Donald Trump. But will his tactics work on an experienced street fighter like Trump?

REICHARD: Not a bad question! Joining us to talk about that and more is Matt Klink. He is a political strategist and president of Klink Campaigns. Matt, good morning!

MATT KLINK: Hey, good morning, Mary. How are you?

REICHARD: Matt, as you know, Christie soured on Trump after the former president’s response to the 2020 election results and has been a vocal critic ever since that time.
The former governor says he’s the only Republican in the field willing and able to really take the fight to Donald Trump. His pitch to voters and donors is put me on that debate stage, and I’ll put Trump in his place. Matt, is that an effective sales pitch and do you think it will earn him a place on the debate stage?

KLINK: It absolutely should earn Chris Christie a place on that debate stage. Look, Chris Christie is is a fighter. He does like to mix it up. He's very quick. He knows where the the pressure points are in most political arguments, and he is definitely in tune with what the broader public is thinking. He's a very sophisticated politician, so he could damage Donald Trump. And again, because he is so outspoken, and he actually relishes the opportunity to fight. He's the type of candidate that Donald Trump would not want to be on a debate stage with.

REICHARD: We’ve talked before about how a large field benefits Trump and hurts Gov. Ron DeSantis, who really needs for this to be a two-person primary race. So on the one hand, Christie is one more candidate to divide the non-Trump vote. But on the other hand, maybe he succeeds in taking Trump down a peg or two. So do you think Christie’s presence in this race is good news or bad news for DeSantis?

KLINK: Christy's presence right now is good news for Ron DeSantis. But the "for right now" is the optimal part of that sentence. Ron DeSantis needs to get out and do the same thing that Chris Christie is doing to Donald Trump, take him on directly and fight for this nomination. And the challenge here is that if you if any candidate frankly, even if Ron DeSantis, doesn't have the voter support for this, then he or she needs to drop out quickly. We can have multiple candidates in the race, provided that they get in and if they don't get traction that they get out.

REICHARD: Well, one would assume that Christie’s goal is not just to take down Trump, but to become president. Can you see a path for him, if support for Trump drops below, say 40%, could Christie overtake DeSantis to become “the guy” for non-Trump GOP voters?

KLINK: The path for Chris Christie to actually get the nomination is littered with with potholes. Obviously. he's kind of gone more mainstream media or liberal media. He appears regularly on ABC seven. He is quite the controversial figure himself. I think Chris Christie's role here is more to ensure that Donald Trump is not the nominee than that Chris Christie is the nominee. He will never say that because that would be a credential that would disqualify him immediately. But the odds of him winning are incredibly long, him being Chris Christie.

REICHARD: Let me ask you about Gov. Doug Burgum. What is his lane within the party and who is the voter that Burgum may appeal to?

KLINK: I can pretty much guarantee you that Doug Burgum will crush it in North Dakota. You know, frankly, I don't know why. Governor Burgum decided to get in. I mean, look, North Dakota is a is a small well run Republican state. Typically that is not a pathway for successful governors. I mean, obviously the response to that would be well look what Bill Clinton did in Arkansas. I mean, I think North Dakota is considerably smaller than Arkansas. Again, one hopes that he gets in, he gives his message a go, if it takes off more power to him would love to have a strong conservative Republican in the race. But if his message doesn't get traction, and he continues to pull, you know, 1% to 4%, he should, you know, you know, fail quickly and go back to being a great governor in North Dakota.

REICHARD: Well, before we let you go, let me ask you about the current frontrunner in this race, which of course is Donald Trump. Most Republicans, including many of his opponents, believe the recent federal indictment is political and unjust. Do you think this helps Trump long-term, or might voters eventually grow weary of the drama?

KLINK: The challenge for Donald Trump is he needs I mean, Donald Trump needs to not be thinking about the Republican primary. He's thinking general election. And if he needs independent voters and suburban women voters, this is not going to help him. And look, I think that a lot of Republicans, myself included, believe that there is definitely a two-tiered justice system, that if you're a Republican, you get it, you get it much harder from the entrenched bureaucracies in Washington D.C. than you do if you're a Democrat. But this problem with Donald Trump and the classified documents, that is a problem of the President's own making. Don't forget, Trump has 37 charges against him, he has to go 37 and 0. Think about that. He has to win all 37 of the charges, or he goes to jail for a minimum of 10 years. So this is really serious, I think a lot of Republicans, they're upset right now and support is flowing toward the former president. But when push comes to shove, and the realpolitik of who can most credibly defend the Republican mantle against arguably a an incumbent president that is less than there intellectually and mentally, the answer is, it's probably not going to be Donald Trump, it's going to be someone else. And it's just going to take a while for that to play out.

REICHARD: Yeah. What is it a concrete example of what you mean by the two tiered justice system?

KLINK: Well, I mean, just look at what happened to Donald Trump that, you know, from the very moment of his declared candidacy, the investigations were started on him, investigations that we now know, proved to be a complete hoax. The whole Hillary Clinton and the Steele Dossier, the you know, the impeachment trials. Hunter Biden's laptop, the 50 intelligence professionals putting an ad in the newspaper, for the only reason we now know through emails that have been recovered, because Joe Biden needed a talking point during the debate to refute what Donald Trump was going to say. I mean, this is the federal, parts of the federal government, FBI, CIA and others, actively colluding with the Democratic Party to keep Donald Trump from being president.

But again, the charges against Donald Trump in this case, not the New York City case with Alvin Bragg, this one they need to take seriously but it reinforces the narrative of the two tiered system of justice.

REICHARD: One last question: DeSantis so far has focused on attacking President Biden’s policies. It seems that he’s only jabbing Trump as a counter-punch when Trump attacks him. It appears he doesn’t want to alienate Trump’s supporters. Is it a good strategy for him to leave the dirty work, if you will, to super PACs and other candidates, or do you think he should be drawing sharper contrasts with Trump?

KLINK: It's still very early in the 2024 election cycle. The first debate on stage won't even be until August, with the first caucus in Iowa in early 2024. So there certainly is more time. But as every month passes, and Trump's lead remains at, you know, 20 plus points, at some point DeSantis is going to, I mean look DeSantis can run a great general election campaign, but only if he's in the general election. He's going to have to go after Donald Trump eventually. And that if he wants to be, you know, step on that stage person to person with Donald Trump, he's going to have to get tough and not counterpunch. He's going to have to be aggressive and go after former President Trump.

REICHARD: Matt Klink with Klink Campaigns has been our guest. Matt, thanks so much!

KLINK: Thanks for having me.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: It’s WORLD Tour, with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Uganda students attacked — Today’s global roundup starts in western Uganda where residents are still reeling from a deadly insurgent attack.

AUDIO: [Funeral singing]

Grieving family members cried and sang on Sunday as they buried some of the 42 people who died in the Friday night attack on a secondary school.

AUDIO: [Mourning]

Ugandan authorities said the insurgents targeted two dormitories just over a mile from the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Authorities said the attackers used a petrol bomb to target some of the students and also shot others to death. Some of them were burned beyond recognition.

The victims include a school guard and 38 students. The insurgents also abducted six students and fled into Congo.

MAN: [Speaking Kikonzo]

This 16-year-old survivor says he and his schoolmates hid under their beds as the insurgents opened fire on the door and windows.

Authorities blamed the Allied Democratic Forces, a militant group that operates in eastern Congo and has ties to the Islamic State.

Janet Museveni is Uganda’s first lady and education minister.

JANET MUSEVENI: The government through the security agencies is trying to follow up what actually happened. And it is on the top of the situation, we believe that justice will prevail.

Authorities have detained 20 suspects.

Greece shipwreck — We head over to Greece.

AUDIO: [Chanting protesters]

About 200 people marched to the offices of the European border agency and the Greek coast guard on Sunday.

That’s after a deadly migrant sinking off the Greek coast killed at least 81 people last week. Hundreds of others are feared missing at sea.

The migrants had boarded the fishing vessel from eastern Libya and were heading for Italy when the boat began sinking. Responders rescued more than a hundred of the migrants. The passengers include people from Egypt, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, and Syria.

This nurse with the Hellenic Red Cross says the survivors were all young men.

NURSE: One young man started to cry and said “I need my mother, I need my mother.” This was a very difficult moment as a nurse of Hellenic Red Cross and as a mother to listen to a young man in a very bad situation.

Greek authorities have faced criticism over their delayed response. But the coast guard has argued the migrants initially insisted they did not need help.

Jeremy Laurence is the spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights office.

JEREMY LAURENCE: What happened on Wednesday underscores the need to investigate people smugglers and human traffickers and ensure they are brought to justice.

Greek authorities have detained nine Egyptian suspects. Authorities in Pakistan have also arrested 12 suspected traffickers. More than 1,200 migrants have died or gone missing this year across the Mediterranean.

Indian heatwave — Next to India, where residents are battling sweltering conditions.

AUDIO: [Waterpark]

Residents crowded in waterparks and along the riverbanks to cool off over the weekend.

AUDIO: [Ambulances]

Authorities said about 170 people have died during the heatwave in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and in eastern Bihar state.

Many of the victims were over 60 years old and had preexisting conditions.

MAN: [Speaking Hindi]

This man in Bihar said his relative collapsed after going out in the afternoon. Doctors later declared him dead at a hospital.

Power outages in the region have left many without fans or air conditioners as hospitals struggle to respond to the rising needs.

India typically experiences severe heat conditions in the summer before the monsoon rains begin.

Mexico missing — We close today in Mexico.

AUDIO: [Chanting]

Dozens of chanting family members held banners with photos of their loved ones outside the Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City.

Attendees said they hoped the Sunday march and prayer will draw attention to the people who go missing in the country because of violence.

AUDIO: [Mass]

Participants attended Mass together and later met with church representatives.

WOMAN: [Speaking Spanish]

This woman whose son went missing says the event provided an opportunity for them to be heard.

Mexican authorities launched a registry of missing persons last month after authorities tracked more than 100,000 missing people.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 21st. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Evangelizing Muslims.

In the Middle East Egypt has the greatest number of Christians, but not the highest concentration among the population. That country is Lebanon, about one-third of Lebanese identify as Christian.

REICHARD: The rest as Muslim, and that’s caused friction. Many Christians have not forgotten the 1860 Civil War that left 20,000 Christians dead and destroyed nearly 400 villages.

EICHER: But God is at work in this country of 4 million people. WORLD Correspondent Jill Nelson has this story of a Lebanese man’s journey to Christ and his five decades of ministry to the people he once called the “enemy.”

JILL NELSON, REPORTER: Georges Houssney joined a boy’s street gang as a young child in the 1950s. He roamed the poorer streets of Tripoli, Lebanon where he vandalized buildings and fought rival gangs.

GEORGES HOUSSNEY: And so I learned all kinds of evil things in the streets, including lying, deceiving, cussing and bad language, beating people up and being beaten up and all that.

Houssney’s mom was Greek Orthodox and his dad Maronite Catholic. His Christian community taught him to strike first against Muslims or risk being killed.

Muslims forces destroyed his home during the 1958 civil war that forced his family to flee.

HOUSSNEY: Hatred began to brew in me toward Muslims.

One day when Houssney was around 11, a Lebanese seminary student visited his neighborhood. He found Houssney playing soccer and fighting with other kids, and he handed him the Gospel of Matthew in Arabic.

The man’s warmth was a stark contrast to the coldness of the priest at Houssney’s school.

HOUSSNEY: I was blown away by the love and care that guy had toward me, and he began to visit my home and witness to me and my family and share the gospel.

Houssney started attending the Baptist mission center the seminary student launched. Every Sunday afternoon, he arrived early and waited with excitement for the doors to open. Within a year, he gave his life to Christ and left his street gang.

His Greek Orthodox school required him to go to mass on Sunday mornings, and took attendance. But someone reported that Houssney was also attending the Baptist church—a church the school called “a cult.”

HOUSSNEY: So they began to actually abuse me, physically beating me with a baton to pressure me to not continue and threaten me to be kicked out of school.

But this only emboldened the young boy.

HOUSSNEY: I persevered and was encouraged by my small church, about 20 members, very small, humble church in a rented apartment. It wasn't something fancy, but for me, it was my world, my new world.

Still, his parents were worried he would lose the scholarship at the Orthodox school and have to attend one of Tripoli’s problematic public schools. They scolded him.

HOUSSNEY: You're going to be worth nothing. You're going to become a garbage collector, beggar in the streets if you don't get an education. Why are you doing that? Shaming the family, on and on.

The school eventually expelled Houssney. He had to go to the local public school, where he saw more evil than he did on the streets.

HOUSSNEY: So I pleaded with God, I said, Lord, is it true you want me to become a garbage collector and a beggar on the streets like my mother told me?

Houssney knew the English schools in town rarely offered scholarships. His family was poor, but he decided to visit and plead his case. The second school he visited was British.

HOUSSNEY: So I told him my story and his eyes teared. He came around the desk and picked me up like a daddy would pick up his child and hugged me and said, “Son, don't worry. You don't have to pay a penny. I'll put you through all the way to high school without paying.” God showed me his hand on my life through that.

This was all part of what Houssney calls his “first conversion.” During his “second conversion,” God gave him a heart for his enemies, and it began in 1964 at age 14. He was visiting his mother’s village when a Swiss team of evangelists from Operation Mobilization knocked on his door. They quickly picked up on Houssney’s love for Jesus.

HOUSSNEY: They said, “We’re going door to door, we're witnessing. Would you come with us?” I said, “Yeah.” I was excited. So they came the next day in a van filled with literature, Bibles and materials and so on.

Houssney was eager to join them and helped translate as they traveled from village to village. But he panicked when their route took them to a Muslim village that was embroiled in a long-standing feud with his mom’s Christian village.

He refused to go any farther, but the team leader challenged Houssney.

HOUSSNEY: He said, “Didn’t Jesus die for Muslims too? What does it mean that God so loved the world? Aren’t Muslims part of the world? And God began to put on my heart the idea that I might dedicate my life serving these Muslim people, which I used to hate.

Houssney spent the next eight summers going door to door with this missions team and eventually covered most of northeastern Lebanon.

AUDIO: [Video training]

Since that second turning point in his life, he has helped translate the Bible into modern Arabic and has produced training materials for churches and missionaries in both English and Arabic.

The United States became his home base when the 1986 Lebanese civil war kept him from returning home.

During that time, Houssney founded Horizons International. The organization ministers to international students in 10 U.S. cities and has ministry centers around the world, ­including nine in Beirut.

And the school he’s a part of ministers to kids with backgrounds like his.

HOUSSNEY: We have a school, 160 kids. Almost all of them became Christians. And some of them have brought their families to Christ.

Houssney says you don’t have to be an expert in Islam to reach your Muslim neighbor.

AUDIO: [Arabic gospel music]

HOUSSNEY: So when I preach, I preach the gospel only. No mention of Muhammad or Islam or where you used to be. I don't talk about darkness. I talk about light.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jill Nelson.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 21st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. June 24th of 2022. It’s a day many of us won’t forget, because on that day, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. You can hear the reaction of pro-lifers when they heard the news in this audio from Fox.

FOX NEWS: Conservatives in government and in law have been working for 50 years to overturn it. And this is the live reaction now in real time outside the Supreme Court in our nation’s capital. What you’re seeing there– people who are overjoyed about it in this shot here.

EICHER: This Saturday marks the one year anniversary of that momentous ruling. Here’s WORLD opinions commentator Ryan Bomberger with a reflection.

RYAN BOMBERGER, COMMENTATOR: I’ll never forget where I was on June 24, 2022. I was alone in our Radiance Foundation offices. My kids were at summer camp for the week. My wife, Bethany, and our staff were at the Pro-Life Women’s Conference.

The phone rang. It was my wife crying as she tried to get out the words: “They did it. They did it. Roe was overturned!” It was an insanely surreal moment. I created a video for Instagram to announce the landmark Supreme Court ruling. I was so overwhelmed. With tears flowing, I tried to express my joy in this video.

VIDEO: I don’t even know what to say…Other than praise God. Thank God!

I was conceived in rape but adopted in love. Ten of my twelve siblings were adopted – all marked with the dehumanizing and false label of being “unplanned, unwanted and unloved.” I’m married to the love of my life who was a single mom for nearly two years. She walked away from an abusive relationship only to find out she was pregnant. The biological “father” wanted the baby aborted, but Bethany refused. She named that precious baby girl, Radiance – the reason for the name of our pro-life organization, the Radiance Foundation.

Today, we’re the homeschooling parents of four awesome kiddos. Two were adopted. All are so deeply loved. And none of this would’ve happened if my life had been snuffed out by the violence of abortion.

This is why I celebrate the overturning of that supremely wrong 1973 Supreme Court decision. Roe enabled the most marginalized to become the most mutilated. It weaponized the myth of the “unwanted child” to enrich a corrupt industry rooted in fear and exploitation. It allowed Planned Parenthood and abortionists, nationwide, to prey on vulnerable women with substandard care.

But Dobbs changed the trajectory of limitless abortion-on-demand. The New York Times’ Tracking the States database reveals how much has changed. Since the monumental decision, fourteen states have banned nearly 100% of abortions. All include exceptions to save the physical life of the mother and most with rape and incest exceptions. Georgia banned abortions after 6 weeks. North Carolina’s 12-week ban begins July 1st. Nebraska and Florida banned abortions after 12 and 15 weeks respectively, although the Sunshine State recently passed a 6-week ban which is under judicial review. In fact, many states have had judges unjustly interfere with existing state laws or new legislation passed in Arizona, Utah, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Wyoming and Iowa. Tragically, abortion is still legal currently legal in varying limits from 22 weeks up until birth in thirty states, plus Washington D.C.

This weekend I will rejoice over the historic Dobbs victory at the National Celebrate Life Day on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. Even so, I know we have many battles to win before legal abortion is history.

VIDEO: I just thank God that the men and the one woman–Justice Amy Coney Barrett–finally overturned the Supremely wrong Roe decision. Thank you. Jesus! Thank you, Jesus.

I’m Ryan Bomberger.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: taking the pulse of pro-lifers at a Walk for Life event in Michigan. And, how one man is using his hands to put pieces of history in the hands of people across the nation.

That and more tomorrow. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

A reminder that June is WORLD’s giving drive. We do this twice a year and rely on you to keep us supplied. wng.org/donate. And thank you for your support!

The Bible says: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John chapter 4, verse 1.

Go now in grace and peace.

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