The World and Everything in It: May 24, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. My name is Kim Fridy. My husband and I live in Pelham, Alabama with our five children, ages 7 to 16. I work at Walmart as a pharmacist. I hope you enjoy today’s program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his candidacy for president today.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk strategy today on Washington Wednesday. Also today, news from around the world on World Tour. Plus, ahead of Memorial Day part two of our story on service members still missing in action or prisoners of war. And WORLD Opinions commentator Ryan Bomberger on self-evident truths.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, May 24th. 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: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Debt limit » Debt ceiling talks are grinding on in Washington with few signs of progress.

Negotiators from the White House and the speaker’s office traded more budget-cutting ideas Tuesday. But Republicans warned of a “lack of urgency” at the White House. Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters there’s no time to waste.

KEVIN MCCARTHY: Well, we’re not there yet. So I mean, it’s difficult because you take a couple of days to write the bill. You’ve got 72 hours here and then you’ve got to get the Senate to act.

But White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the notion of a lack of urgency absurd.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: There is a good faith effort here. We just have to continue to do that, and then we can get into a bipartisan reasonable budget agreement.

With barely a week to go before a deadline as soon as June 1, failure to strike a deal would certain to throw financial markets into turmoil.

House Republicans passed a debt ceiling increase last month that would reduce overspending at the same time. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called that bill “dead on arrival.”

McCarthy says he won’t bring forward any bill forward “that doesn’t spend less than we spent this year.”

Illinois Catholic clergy investigation » The Illinois attorney general reports that child sexual abuse in the Catholic church happened far more often than the church admitted.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul:

KWAME RAOUL: It is my sincere hope that this report will shine light on those who violated their positions of power and trust to abuse innocent children and on the men in church leadership who covered up that abuse.

The report names 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers accused of abusing children in the state. That’s over four times more the number reported by the church when the investigation began in 2018.

Surgeon general social media » The U.S. surgeon general is calling for immediate action from tech companies and lawmakers to protect children from the harms of social media. WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has more.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: A report released by Dr. Vivek Murthy says a growing body of evidence shows apps like TikTok and Instagram are bad for children’s mental health.

The report says 95 percent of young people ages 13 to 17 use a social media platform, and a third of them use it—quote— “almost constantly.”

Lawmakers have proposed several restrictions, such as banning social media for children under 13, expanding privacy protections, or disabling the most addictive product features for young people.

Critics of this type of legislation argue the platforms provide a community for some young people and restrictions could be harmful.

For WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

Typhoon » Typhoon Mawar is bearing down on the U.S. territory of Guam where a federal emergency declaration has been issued.

Residents of the island were preparing for a direct hit from a Category 5 storm.

National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Doll:

PATRICK DOLL: It's not getting a weaken much maybe 5 or 10 miles an hour would be my guess on the sustained winds. About—with that 160 mile an hour sustained near the center, we could have gusts up towards 200 miles an hour if not a little more.

Officials asked anyone not living in concrete homes to seek shelter elsewhere. Many houses on the island are made of wood and tin.

Target Pride Month » Some Target department store locations, particularly in the South, are reportedly minimizing some of their LGBT Pride Month displays to avoid a backlash similar to the Bud Light boycott. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Fox News cited a company source in reporting that corporate leaders placed “emergency” calls to some store managers.

They instructed them to move displays of so-called pride merchandise away from the entrances to smaller spaces near the back of their stores.

The retailer’s June “Pride Month” collection includes products for children, merchandise with pro-transgender slogans and swimsuits designed to conceal a person’s biological sex.

Anheuser-Busch has thus far lost billions of dollars amid a customer boycott after its Bud Light brand partnered with transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney.

Other major chains including Starbucks, Nike, and Adidas are facing calls for boycotts over their promotion of transgenderism in their advertising.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

S.C. Abortion » A new pro-life bill is headed to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk.

The new law restores a state law the South Carolina Supreme Court killed which protected unborn babies after six weeks gestation. The Court ruled that law violated individuals’ privacy.

Current law protects the unborn after 22 weeks.

McMaster is expected to sign the bill which the state Senate approved last night.

I'm Kent Covington. 

Straight ahead: Washington Wednesday. Plus, Bringing a service member’s missing remains home to rest.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Wednesday, May 24th, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Well, today is Washington Wednesday, and the battle for the GOP presidential nomination is filling out.

On Monday, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott announced his candidacy.

And according to numerous reports, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will officially launch his White House campaign today.

We’ll have more on Sen. Scott’s campaign in the days ahead, but today we’ll talk about Gov. DeSantis as polls indicate he is Donald Trump’s top challenger in this race.

Quick background on him:

DeSantis is a married father of three. He is a former Navy officer. He stationed at Guantanamo Bay Cuba in 2006. He deployed to Iraq the next year. He served as a legal adviser to SEAL Team One, and later worked at the Justice Department as a Special Assistant US attorney in Florida.

REICHARD: DeSantis ran for Congress in 2012 and won. He was reelected twice before winning a close contest for governor in 2018. Voters reelected him last year in a landslide.

He began making national headlines in 2020 with his handling of the pandemic, and many of those headlines were not flattering. Democrats called him reckless when Florida became the first big state in the nation to roll back pandemic restrictions.

RON DESANTIS: We will get Florida back on its feet by using an approach that is safe, smart, and step-by-step.

He also made national headlines last year when he flew dozens of illegal immigrants from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard, a playground for the wealthy in Massachusetts where some public officials had declared their towns sanctuary cities.

DESANTIS: The minute even a small faction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door, they all of a sudden go berzerk.

DeSantis further put his stamp on the immigration issue by sending resources to the southern border to help out.

EICHER: The governor has also brought a never-back-down attitude to the culture wars in Florida, repeatedly declaring “Florida is where woke goes to die.”

As evidence he outlawed the teaching of Marxist racial ideologies like critical race theory in public schools.

DESANTIS: No taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country or to hate each other.

He also signed the “Florida Parental Rights in Education Act” derided in the media as the “don’t say gay” law. DeSantis held firm, He repeatedly stressed that it meant to protect young children from LGBT gender indoctrination in school.

That bill would later spark a high-profile showdown with one of Florida’s largest employers, The Walt Disney Corporation. That fight continues. Disney publicly opposed it.

REICHARD: That called the attention of Gov. DeSantis and GOP lawmakers to a special arrangement that Disney had enjoyed in Florida for generations, essentially operating its own private government.

DeSantis argued that if Disney acts as an arm of political activist groups, then taxpayers are essentially funding that activism. And he later signed a bill stripping the company of its privileges.

Disney has since sued, accusing the governor of political retaliation.

And numerous Republicans agreed with Disney. They included rival presidential candidates Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

On pro-life issues, DeSantis signed a law drawing the line of protection down to 6 weeks. Trump called the bill “too harsh.”

EICHER: Politically in the 2022 midterms, DeSantis was about the only bright spot in what was supposed to be a Republican “red wave.” It didn’t happen on a national level. But it did happen in Florida.

DeSantis defeated Democratic rival Charlie Crist by almost 20 points. He won voters across many demographics. He even won in traditionally deep-blue counties.

DESANTIS: God bless you all! Thank you very much! Thank you for a historic landslide victory!

And the governor’s political coattails were strong, too. Republican candidates won all the way down the ticket.

At the same time, Trump took heavy criticism as many of his endorsed candidates fizzled.

And in the weeks and months that followed, numerous hypothetical head-to-head polls had DeSantis leading Trump among Republicans.

REICHARD: But as memories of the midterms have faded and as Donald Trump has ramped up his campaign, the polls have shifted. DeSantis enters today the underdog.

Trump has about 60% support —6-0 —in recent polls. Six-zero. DeSantis is running a distant second with about 16%.

EICHER: Well here now to talk more about candidate Ron DeSantis is Alex Olson. He is a Florida-based political consultant who has been running a pro-DeSantis PAC called Ron to the Rescue. While not officially a part of the campaign, Olson and his partners have been canvassing states to drum up support for DeSantis.

REICHARD: Alex, good morning!

ALEX OLSON, GUEST: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

REICHARD: Let me start with this:  In your view, what’ll the core campaign message be from DeSantis in this race?

OLSON: I think there are three key issues that DeSantis is going to have to tackle to beat Trump in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina. And these are issues that Trump was at a very poor record on. So that's going to be the Second Amendment, that's going to be pro life, and that's going to be the vaccine. So if I was on the official side, those are the three issues that I would urge DeSantis and his team to tackle and I'll go through each one.

So first off is the most relevant, it's the vaccine and Dr. Fauci. Dr. Fauci served under Trump's administration, Trump's administration rapidly pushed out the vaccine, a lot of the Republican base are not too fond of that. DeSantis has taken several jabs at Trump regarding that issue. So I think that's going to be a dominating force, right? What DeSantis did in Florida fighting against the pharmaceutical companies and fighting against vaccine passports, everything that kind of the foundations were laid under the Trump administration.

The second is the issue of pro life. While it might not be the best issue for the general election, it sure can decide the primary and President Trump has taken several jabs at the pro life community, I would say the backbone of the primary electorate, saying that they have cost and and abortion laws have cost Republicans, such as in the 2022 midterms. DeSantis has taken taken a firm stance with the pro life community. He's taking a firm stance and pushing pro life policy throughout Florida, as we've seen as this legislative session wrapped up. So that's going to be a great issue for DeSantis to center his campaign around.

And then third is obviously the Second Amendment. Trump was similar to Reagan where folks didn't realize that Trump was actually not very pro Second Amendment. I mean, Trump's administration pushed through the Bump Stock Act. Well, DeSantis just signed in constitutional carry legislation here in Florida. So I think those are going to be the three dominating issues. There's going to be other things, you know, DeSantis’s record in Florida with the economy, etc. But they should hound in and focus on those three topics, if they are to win this primary.

MR: In 2016, more than half of Republican voters — at that time — wanted someone other than Trump as the nominee … but they couldn’t agree on who that should be. The rest of the field was splintered, and Trump won the nomination with less than half of the overall vote.
For DeSantis to beat Trump, that can’t happen again. He’ll need people who want a Trump alternative to coalesce in support behind DeSantis. How does he do that? How can he turn this into a head-to-head, two-person race?

OLSON: Yeah, it was very unfortunate when you're on one side of the aisle, and you see 10 or so candidates talking about jumping in the race. And we've seen several now: Nikki Haley, Tim Scott recently, Larry Elder, all very great people, I think, but are serving a different purpose. In my personal belief, I think especially Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, they are really vying for that VP spot. It's not to run a official campaign because they understand they can't beat Trump. But it's, Hey, let's pose up someone like Tim Scott, whoever the primary winner may be, whether that be DeSantis or Trump, Tim Scott would be a very valuable VP. So I think he's playing his cards, right.

But how does DeSantis overcome that? Well, he's a lot better off than any of the other viable candidates in 2016. He, at this moment, almost has 4X the cash on hand that, that President Trump has. Their folks are scrambling to get donors to go through with their pledges because DeSantis's team have done such a great job in raising money. So not only is DeSantis in a much better place than say Ted Cruz was in 2016, his name ID nationally is just so much higher. So that being said, he's going to have to play his cards right with some of the other candidates, whether that's bringing them into his lane, like Nikki Haley coming on as a VP. And he's going to have to continue to like wage an aggressive campaign to show that the only two candidates that are really in play are Trump and DeSantis. But once again, his biggest actor, he has a lot of money, their warchest is immense. And it's one of the best ever built. And as long as folks like us on the back end, can use that money right, there's no reason why we can't get neck and neck with Trump and make some alliances with some of the other folks in the race to kind of build that coalition that want to see someone other than President Trump.

MR: Let’s talk about what it’ll take to peel some GOP voters away from Trump. What is the most effective argument that DeSantis can make to convince a Trump supporter to pull the lever for him instead?

OLSON: Yeah, I think it goes back to that issue that I mentioned earlier. I think mentioning that DeSantis is the more conservative candidate when you're talking about policy. It's it's we're living in this weird parallel universe where Trump is taking a lot of the leftist positions compared to DeSantis. I think that's because he's trying to rebuild an electorate for the general, but it's not serving him well in the primary. I talk with a lot of voters. Not only do we run the Ron to the Rescue Super PAC, but but we run races across the country, whether that be district attorneys, congressional, gubernatorial and voters we talked to all across the country, especially in the the Republican electorate, want to see someone who is actually conservative and doesn't waver on the issues.

DeSantis has proved that this legislative session, he didn't care when several moderate Republicans in the House said “we don't want to touch a prolife piece of legislation”. He hasn't wavered on on any of that, or any of these other policy that he's pressed. And I think that's how he's going to highlight it when he speaks to the voters. When the ads start going up on TV, it's gonna say, Who do you want here? Do you want to see someone who's more populous in nature? Who is going to take more leftist policies at the expense of your conservative values? Or are you going to take someone who is a proven conservative, and who is going to press for policies that the base actually wants? The base doesn't want someone who waivers and as Trump continues to waiver on on several of these issues, and tries to take the leftist pedestal because he wants to be more viable in the general, DeSantis is going to be able to build up his base.

REICHARD: Our guest has been Alex Olson with the political action committee Ron to the Rescue. Alex, thanks so much!

OLSON: Thank you.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Nigeria oil refinery - We begin today’s global news roundup here in Nigeria.

SOUND: [Commissioning]

Nigeria’s outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday commissioned Africa’s biggest single-train oil refinery in the commercial hub of Lagos state.

Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote built the $19 billion refinery that also includes a fertilizer plant, power station, and deep seaport.

He says it should help meet the country’s demands and also scale up exports.

ALIKO DANGOTE: We have built a refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day, plus 900,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene in a single train which is the largest build ever.

Nigeria is a top oil producer but still imports refined petroleum products for use.

Several refineries have shut down over oil theft, structural neglect, and pipeline vandalism.

The newly-launched plant is expected to begin operations in July.

Colombia children — We head over to Colombia where authorities are still searching for four missing children.

SOUND: [Soldiers]

The children were on board a single-engine propeller plane with their mother, a guide, and the pilot when it crashed over three weeks ago in the Amazon jungle.

Colombian troops found the wrecked plane last week along with the bodies of the three adults. Indigenous community members have joined in the search.

AUDIO: [Speaking Spanish]

This Indigenous man says he believes they can still find the children inside the jungle.

A Colombian special police command has also dropped flyers from helicopters with a message for the children.

Moldova rally — We head over to Moldova.

AUDIO: [Crowds chanting]

Tens of thousands of Moldovans gathered in the capital of Chisinau on Sunday to support the country’s bid to join the European Union.

They waved EU flags, sang, and chanted.

Moldova is sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania. The country became a candidate for the EU last June, four months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Moldova hopes to join the bloc by 2030.

AUDIO: [Speaking Romanian]

Moldovan President Maia Sandu saying an EU membership will guarantee Moldova’s security and peace.

The Eastern European nation will host the European Political Community Summit next month.

India heat wave — Next, to India.

SOUND: [Street noises]

Residents across the country are battling sweltering weather conditions, with the temperature rising to 113 degrees Fahrenheit in some regions.

The India Meteorological Department issued new heatwave warnings on Monday for several areas, including the capital New Delhi.

Soma Sen Roy is with the India Meteorological Department.

SOMA SEN ROY: So that is a very dehydrating condition. Again, heat wave is a very silent killer.

Authorities in states like West Bengal shut down schools.

Forecasters expect light rain and cloudy weather later in the week.

Philippines Fire — We close today in the Philippines, where a massive blaze tore through a historic post office in the capital city.

SOUND: [Emergency response]

Firefighters brought the flames under control on Monday, more than seven hours after the fire began.

Authorities said it started in the basement of the five-story building. Investigators are looking into what started the fire.

The Manila Central Post Office features high columns and a traditional neoclassical architecture. The national landmark was first built in 1926, and later reconstructed in 1946 after it suffered damage during World War II.

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

NICK EICHER, HOST: “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream." Well, now a company in Japan now has a frozen treat that will make your credit card scream.

Last week, the Guinness World Records tweeted that Cellato, a Japanese gelato company, is selling the priciest ice cream in the world, a dish called byakuya.

Not familiar with that flavor? Well, it’s not exactly french vanilla. Here’s audio from IEnt Live:

IENT LIVE: It's made with a blend of rare and expensive ingredients, including white truffles, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and sake lees.

That’s right. Truffles, cheese, alcoholic fruity paste, and even edible gold. Pretty sophisticated flavor palette there. And because you can’t have your ice cream and eat it, too, there is a handcrafted metal spoon that comes with it. So that’s good.

IENT LIVE: If you're looking for a truly luxurious ice cream experience is the one for you. But be warned, it's not cheap.

Not cheap for sure. Just saying it’s expensive doesn’t quite get at it.

A single 4.3 ounce serving of this byakuya ice cream rings up at just over sixty-five hundred dollars. The Guinness World Records team couldn’t even participate in the taste test.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It probably just tastes like ice cream, anyway.

EICHER: Maybe it tastes like sour grapes. It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, May 23rd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Part two of the search for America’s service members who never came home.

Yesterday, we heard the story of veterans and family members who preserve the memories of those missing in action. According to the Department of Defense, more than 80,000 U.S. troops are still missing, going back to World War II.

EICHER: But what is it like for families who find out years later that the remains of their loved ones have been found?

WORLD Senior Writer Kim Henderson brings us this report.

PASTOR: Good morning. I invite you to rise.

KIM HENDERSON, SENIOR WRITER: Thomas Green’s funeral has been a long time coming.

SOUND: [VOLLEYS AND TAPS]

And no one understands this better than his brothers, David and Michael.

BROTHERS: He got into Vietnam in September of ’71. (Yeah, the 15th he left for Vietnam.) And he was killed the 26th of October.

But Thomas’ remains were under the South China Sea—unrecovered—for more than half a century. The work of finding the remains of missing troops like Green belongs to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Its teams include investigators, scientists, archaeologists, and in Thomas’ case, divers. Last year the Agency made 166 such recoveries.

In Green’s case, DNA matching proved to be the key. His mother gave a sample long ago, then David says he did, too, in 2005.

DAVID: It’s just a cheek swab, so they had the two samples that they could compare to.

Despite the rain, a lot of people have come to Thomas Green’s funeral here in Southern California. One group is standing in formation. They’re members of the ROTC at Ramona High School, Greens’ alma mater.

Rick Jordan is their commander.

RICK JORDAN: So it's important for them to realize people sacrifice for this country, and he made the ultimate sacrifice. And the least we can do is come here today. The very least we can do is come here today and show our respect for him and what he did.

Several of the students are close to Thomas Green’s age when he left for basic training—18.

Debby Hull is at the funeral, and she’s at the gathering at the VFW afterwards. She remembers 18-year-old Thomas Green quite well. But she was younger than him.

DEBBY HULL: My parents wouldn’t let us date. Okay. After they met Tom, “We know you're fine.” Let me go on a picnic with him for the first time.

The couple got engaged just after Thomas enlisted. He set aside part of his army paycheck for Debby to go to Bible college.

HULL: Once he was done serving his time, we were going to go on the mission field.

But a helicopter crash changed all that. Getting over Thomas’ death was hard. Not knowing what really became of him was harder. Debby says she couldn’t believe it when she got a call from her brother early this year.

HULL: He said, “I just want to tell you that I got an email from somebody who says they're looking for you. I don't know if there's truth behind it, but they think they have found Tom's body.”

Larry Burns is commander of the Ramona VFW post. He says the return of Thomas Green’s remains have caused quite a stir.

LARRY BURNS: Thomas is actually on our wall. We have a wall of honor. And he's already on there. So I've got to change his plaque, because it says when he was missing, but I haven't finished where he's found, and then today, when he was interred, so that's going to happen.

Another VFW member, John Hine, describes it as the final mile after years of memorializing Thomas.

JOHN HINE: We didn't really expect any kind remains to come back. We figured it was long gone. So this is a little bit of a shock that they actually found him and we get a chance to bury him here in Ramona.

He’s right. More than 81,000 military personnel are listed as missing in action or killed in action, bodies not recovered. Very few will ever be found, identified, and buried.

AUDIO: [LORD’S PRAYER]

So finding Thomas’ remains is something akin to a miracle. It’s a blessing acknowledged during his funeral.

SOUND: [BAGPIPER AND HYMN]

Jeffrey Horn is a Lutheran pastor. He conducted the service. Later, Horn spoke of the spiritual implications of the search for soldiers’ remains.

JEFFREY HORN: God created us body and soul. And while our souls rest with Christ after we die, we wait the day of His return on the last day, and he will raise all of us physically from the dead.

Horn says it’s important to honor remains and support families.

HORN: But there is hope on the last day, and those whose bodies we don't have here, Christ knows where they are, he will raise them. He has the power to do that. So that is our hope.

SOUND: [BAGPIPER AND HYMN] 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson in Ramona, California.

EICHER: To read the full print feature story on Thomas Green’s funeral, look for the May 20 issue of WORLD Magazine. And we’ll post a link to the digital version of the story in the transcript of this episode.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, May 24th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

We’re coming up on a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but the Dobbs decision didn’t overturn pro-abortion sentiment. If anything, it’s radicalized activists further.

Here now is WORLD Opinions commentator Ryan Bomberger who says now is the time for moral clarity on abortion.

RYAN BOMBERGER, COMMENTATOR: Remember those truths that our founding fathers declared were “self-evident”? Generations later, many of our elected leaders can’t seem to grasp what they are. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These are the words proclaimed by our Declaration of Independence.

Back in January, Vice President Kamala Harris infamously omitted our first right, Life, from that lineup. It was necessary in order for her to craft a narrative that defines freedom as the right to kill innocent human beings. In that speech she mourned the overturning of Roe v. Wade and eliminated ‘the Creator’ as the source of our endowed and unalienable rights. Harris then, bizarrely, went on to claim: “These rights were not bestowed upon us.” Perhaps in her fake herstory version of our founding documents we somehow magically give ourselves our Natural rights. We’re not self-endowed with these rights. We aren’t created equal by government. We’re created equal by the God she aborted from her remarks.

Vice President Harris isn’t the first or the last politician to deny our God-given worth and mangle documented history.

In 1973 one branch of our federal government removed all protections for the most endangered human lives: the unborn. The Supreme Court delivered the supremely wrong Roe v. Wade decision, erasing all pro-life laws enforced by the vast majority of states. That same year, another branch enacted protections of endangered animal lives. A Democrat-controlled Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) eleven months after the unconstitutional Roe ruling. It, apparently, was much more important to protect animals than humans.

President Biden, during his election campaign, even claimed he co-sponsored the bill. He didn’t. Honestly, he’s made a career of telling outrageous lies.

The Democratic Party, led by the most pro-abortion president in history, is united in its extremism on abortion: no limits, no clinic/abortionist accountability, no protections for even babies born alive after botched abortions.

The Republican Party, which called for a Constitutional amendment in its platform to protect the “fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed,” is in disarray on the federal level as it equivocates on its position. So, while Democrats are running full force waving the flag of unlimited abortion up until birth, Congressional Republicans are largely running away.

Last week the country celebrated Endangered Species Day. I felt like it begged a moment of moral clarity. Under the ESA, Americans are fined up to $12,000 per violation and imprisoned for trafficking, harming, or killing an endangered animal. Alternatively, Roe enabled abortionists to be paid $500 to over $3,000 per violent act for harming or killing an endangered human being.

Sometimes I wish the most marginalized humans were treated like animals – endangered ones. At least federal law would protect them.

I’m Ryan Bomberger.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Curbing social media. Montana is the first state to ban TikTok, but will that stand up in court?

And our occasional series What Do People Do All Day? This time we’ll go backstage to see the crew of a theater company in action. 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.

The Bible says: Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. Ephesians chapter 5, verses 8 through 12.

Go now in grace and peace.

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