June 28, 2024 • 29 mins
Unlock the latest insights into the pro-life movement with Nicole Hunt, an attorney and spokesperson for Focus on the Family. Hear firsthand about the transformative impact of the Dobbs case of 2022, which nullified Roe v. Wade and handed back legislative power to the states. We'll walk through the seismic shifts in state-level activities, from trigger laws that immediately went into effect to various efforts enhancing abortion protections. This episode promises a thorough exploration of these pivotal legal changes and their implications for the ongoing pro-life battle.
Discover the crucial role that pregnancy resource centers, such as Heartbeat of Miami and Eve's Hope, play in this movement. Nicole sheds light on how these centers provide essential support and resources to women facing unplanned pregnancies. We'll also discuss the significant stakes of voter turnout among pro-life advocates, especially in the face of the abortion industry's initiatives to pass pro-abortion amendments. Learn about Florida’s critical 60% threshold for passing measures and the potential ripple effects of new amendments.
Lastly, we emphasize the necessity of voting with a biblical worldview on sanctity of life, religious freedom, and parental rights. Nicole Hunt stresses the importance of evaluating political candidates based on their stance on life's value in the womb. Combining prayer, voting, and active involvement with local pregnancy resource centers forms a holistic approach to advance pro-life values. Tune in to understand how this multifaceted strategy can address both the physical and spiritual dimensions of protecting unborn and preborn lives.
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Announcer (00:02):
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Radio exclusive where weintroduce you to some amazing
people.
In John, chapter 15, verse 15,jesus says I have called you
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(00:22):
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Joey (00:27):
Well, God's Way Radio family.
I am on the phone with someonevery special, Just got to meet
them via Focus on the FamilyMinistries and she's going to
tell us all about what is goingon in the pro-life movement, the
pro-life space.
I mean, I'm going to learn somuch along with you guys.
(00:48):
Nicole, thank you for joiningus.
Nicole (00:52):
Happy to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
Joey (00:54):
Awesome.
Well, if you don't mind,sharing with the listeners a
little bit of your backgroundand what you're doing today over
there at Focus on the Family,yeah, absolutely so.
Nicole (01:03):
I'm an attorney by training and I serve as a writer
and a spokesperson for Focus onthe Family.
One of my areas of specialtiesis on the sanctity of human life
and, of course, it has neverbeen a more exciting time to be
a member of the pro-lifecommunity, because it's just
been such a special last coupleof years to see the fall of Roe
(01:25):
and then to see so much activityat the state level people
getting out there and voting andvoting their values and being
able to advocate for life.
So it's a really exciting timeto be a part of the pro-life
movement and I just feel reallyblessed to be a part of the
pro-life community who'sadvocating and working to
(01:46):
advance policy goals that meetour values.
Joey (01:51):
You know, I mean you said so much there and all that
you're doing and we're going toget to it towards the end of our
conversation, I know, but whenwe hear about policy and
politics and the court decisionsit can seem distant sometimes
and we're going to bring it home, I know, at the end of our
conversation.
We want to give people thingsthat they could do, but before
(02:14):
we get there, some of ourlisteners maybe are not aware of
so much of the history and thebackground.
I know it's asking a lot, butcould you kind of summarize for
us what is this Roe v Wade, roev Wade that is thrown around so
much, and what is thesignificance of the I forget the
name of the case thatoverturned it, I believe just
(02:36):
two years ago?
Nicole (02:38):
Yep, absolutely so.
Roe v Wade was the case thatcame from the United States
Supreme Court thatconstitutionalized abortion.
It legalized it across theUnited States.
There were some states that hadabortion laws in place that
allowed it to happen and somethat didn't.
That happened in 1973.
And so fast forward 49 yearsand the court heard the Dobbs
(03:02):
case back in 2022.
And in June of 2022, I think itwas one of the last days of
their term they announced thatRoe had fallen and it was
Supreme Court Justice SamuelAlito who wrote the words that
changed the course of humanhistory.
(03:23):
He said the Constitution doesnot confer a right to abortion
and of course, that's been theargument that the abortion
advocates have been arguingright since 1973, and even
before that that the right to anabortion was somehow in our
Constitution.
And of course, there's no wordabortion in our Constitution,
(03:44):
and they were extrapolating uponwords that are in the
Constitution.
But the interesting thing is isthat you know the proper way
and the way that many of thejudges, who justices, who are on
the court today look at theConstitution and when they're
asked a question of is this aconstitutional right, is this a
constitutional right, well, theylook back to see when the
framers wrote the Constitution.
(04:06):
Is this a right that they wouldhave had in mind when they
wrote these words?
And what we do know is thatthat's certainly not something
that the framers would haveendorsed, and, in fact, many
state laws protected pre-bornbabies from abortion,
specifically protected them.
So anyway, so that was anexciting, exciting moment.
(04:30):
I remember I remember hearingabout it?
Yeah, not just inconstitutional law, but for the
whole country, right?
Because this is the right wayto interpret things for our
constitution.
So constitutional order wasrestored, which is very
important for the longevity ofour nation.
To have appropriateconstitutional order, and
specifically the power to createpolicy, taken out of the hands
(04:53):
of the people, was notappropriate.
That's not how the framers setup our government.
The power to legislate andcreate policy is supposed to be
in the hands of the people andthe people's representatives.
So the exciting thing thathappened years ago was that that
power was taken out of thehands of the federal judiciary
court and it was put back intothe hands of the people and
(05:13):
their elected representatives,and so that, of course, has
spurred a bunch of activity inthe last two years.
As your listeners probablyremember hearing almost
immediately, some states hadtrigger laws that went into play
right away and startedprotecting lives.
In about a dozen states therewere laws like that that went
(05:37):
into effect, and then in othersthere were states who were
doubling down on abortionprotections, and so they went to
work as quickly as possible.
So we've seen this play out atthe state level.
We've seen it play out in thecourts.
A lot of these cases have beenappealed to the court system,
and then we've also seen it playout on people's ballots.
Right, we've been started tohear of a lot of states who are
(06:00):
considering abortion amendmentsto state constitutions, and this
is one of the avenues by whichthe abortion industry is trying
to advance their cause.
Since they lost theconstitutional right to abortion
in the US Constitution, they'retrying to create it in all of
(06:20):
the state constitutions.
So that's what we're seeingplay out at the ballot box and
in the courts, and then, ofcourse, in our law houses, where
state policy is made.
Joey (06:31):
Wow, I mean, and this is so much more important and one
of the reasons I wanted to haveyou with us as we approach
November of 2024, this beingrecorded in July.
We're just a few months awayfrom some big elections, from
some big decisions.
Are there any ones thatespecially stick out to you,
(06:52):
whether certain states ornational level, decisions that
affect pro-life and pre-born?
Nicole (07:01):
Yes, absolutely so.
Right now there are four statesthat will have an abortion
related ballot measure on folksballots, and Nevada is the most
recent one that all of thesignatures were just qualified
for the ballot, so we'll see itin Nevada.
(07:21):
Of course, your listeners therein Florida will probably
recognize that there's been alot of activity on this issue in
Florida, and so the Floridaabortion amendment has also
qualified for the ballot.
There's another abortionamendment in South Dakota,
there's one in Colorado andthere's another in Maryland.
So we've got five that havealready are for sure going to be
(07:45):
on the ballot.
And then we've got another Ithink six that we're considering
six or seven that are possiblygoing to be on the ballot, and
for listeners, those are in NewYork, arizona, arkansas,
missouri, montana and Nebraska.
So really it's happening allaround the country, nebraska.
(08:06):
So really it's happening allaround the country, and you know
if you live in one of thesestates for your listeners in
Florida.
I think you should be payingvery close attention to what's
happening there, because I dobelieve, and what we're seeing
how we see this play out is thatthe abortion issue is used by
the left to turn out voters, andso that's what's happened in
all of the other seven states.
(08:26):
So, since Dobbs was decided twoyears ago, there have been
seven states that haveconsidered an abortion related
ballot measure, and some of themin some of those cases, it was
a pro-life measure andunfortunately, the pro-life
measures lost and then theabortion constitutional
amendments won.
(08:47):
So what we do know is that theabortion industry has a 100%
success record in advancingtheir agenda through ballot
measures.
So it is so, so important forpro-life individuals to register
to vote, to get out there andto vote and to encourage their
(09:08):
friends to vote, to registertheir church members.
Make sure that everyone isready to go to vote pro-life
this November.
And in Florida, of course, it'sgoing to be very important
because I do believe theabortion industry has their
target set on your state.
They are trying very hard toflip states that are pro-life to
support a pro-abortion agenda,and the one thing I will say
(09:32):
that Florida has working intheir favor is that the
threshold.
There's a threshold for passagefor these types of ballot
measures, and in some statesit's only 50% plus one.
Now in Florida it's very high,it's actually 60%.
So of all the people that getout there and vote on this
amendment, 60% of them have toall support the amendment.
(09:52):
So it makes it harder, ofcourse, for the abortion
industry to pass something likethis in Florida, but I don't
think it's going to stop themfrom trying to do it.
They're going to throw a lot ofmoney into this.
So, people of faith who arepro-life, we need to be engaged
in this battle at the ballot box.
Joey (10:08):
Yeah, and it's not to say, it's not to take the gas off,
right?
Oh, they need 60%.
Oh, then I don't need to go.
No, we all still need to go andbe involved.
And again, to get very, veryspecific about what we're
talking about here we're talkingabout the ballot, or the
amendment being on the ballot,that would legalize certain
(10:28):
abortions, or abortions till acertain time, whereas right now
it is all illegal.
Nicole (10:33):
That's right.
So this amendment, thisabortion amendment, it would
create a so-called right toabortion in the state
constitution before viability,which, as a reminder, is the
time at which a baby can liveoutside the womb or at any time
to preserve the health of themother and the health of the
mother.
That's very important that wehear that language.
Joey (10:54):
That seems like a very broad phrase.
Nicole (10:57):
Oh, that's right.
We're not talking about thelife of the mother, we're not
talking about saving a mom who'sgetting ready to die.
It's about the health of themother, which actually gets very
gray, because a lot of peoplewill say, well, I'm stressed out
and I'm having like mentalanxiety, and now I, that is my
reason to get an abortion in thethird trimester or even the
second trimester.
(11:17):
And, um, you know, those in theprolet community would say, no,
that is a temporary problem andthe answer you're looking at is
a permanent solution that cannever be undone.
Right?
And the pro-life community?
We believe that women who findthemselves in unplanned
pregnancies and aren't sureabout pursuing it are
abortion-minded.
What they need is not abortion,they need a community, they
(11:42):
need resources, they need tofeel loved, they need to be told
hey, you can do this and wewill help.
And that is the future of thepro-life movement and that's how
we're going to change heartsand minds on the issue of
abortion, so that we can makeabortion unthinkable.
Joey (11:58):
That's awesome, you know, not seeing these ladies as the
villain, necessarily, but thosein need of help and support,
like you said.
You know, I think, of two localministries here.
I mentioned them to you earlierand you were pleased to hear
about them and for our listeners, you hopefully have heard about
them before here, either on thepodcast or on air at God's Way
(12:20):
Radio, and one of them isHeartbeat of Miami, a pregnancy
center, a Christian ministry,and then the other is Eve's Hope
.
And both of these ministries,both of these organizations,
they're looking at the pre-bornchild, they're looking at the
mom.
Eve's Hope has this really neatmission for lack of a better
(12:42):
term something they're trying toget going more and more.
Nicole, you probably like thiswhere they try to have a man
there, a volunteer, that's amale that if anybody walks in
with their partner man, theycould talk to another guy as
well.
So I love that.
I really love what they'redoing over there.
Nicole (13:02):
Yeah, I mean pregnancy resource centers.
They are the tip of the spearfor the pro-life movement when
it comes to making a difference,and a couple of statistics on
them.
That I think is just sofascinating, and I think your
listeners will find itfascinating too.
Pregnancy help organizationslike these pregnancy resource
centers are actually reallypopular among Americans.
(13:23):
They're supported by 83% ofAmericans across the country, so
that is just such great news.
They're doing amazing work and Ithink that the word is getting
out.
Of course, the abortionindustry is trying to target
them, to shut them down and tokeep them from doing their work.
They have a lot of success.
In some states, laws are beingpassed to limit their ability to
(13:45):
advertise and to tell peopleabout what they do, but, praise
God, they continue to find waysto serve women and I think this
is a really fantastic statisticIn 2022, these pregnancy
resource centers, which, acrossthe nation, number about 3,000.
They are providing services toover a million people and the
(14:09):
type of services we're talkingabout pregnancy tests,
ultrasounds, resource services,parenting services, housing
training, job training,parenting training these kinds
of services.
They totaled about $358 millionworth of services that were
(14:31):
provided either free or superlow cost, so what we see is that
pregnancy resource centersthey're actually showing up and
helping women.
All that Planned Parenthood hasto offer is an abortion and a
quick boot out the door.
Really, if you have anyproblems, follow up with the ER.
Joey (14:49):
Is Planned Parenthood privately funded, or it's
government, or it's both?
Nicole (14:54):
Yeah, they have both, so they're funded by the
government, and then they alsoget a lot of support from other
organizations.
Joey (15:03):
People that want that agenda.
I would imagine Yep, that'sright.
Nicole (15:06):
That's right, absolutely so.
It is really imperative.
And the truth is, as morestatistics come out on all the
amazing work of pregnancyresource centers, politicians in
states where there is authorityto advance law are trying to
give more state funding towardsorganizations like pregnancy
resource centers, like the onesthat you mentioned in Florida,
(15:27):
because these organizations areactually not just walking with
women before they have babies,they're walking with them after
they have their babies andthey're helping the whole family
, as you mentioned about the,the dad, or the, the male who's
available to help at one of thepregnancy resource centers you
mentioned.
I love that about a lot ofthese resource centers.
They have, like men's coachingprograms and parenting programs
(15:50):
to help families know okay, thisis, this is how we're going to
move forward.
How can I be a man here andsupport my family and get the
job security that I need inorder to help my family thrive?
So this is where the pro-lifemovement's going and I would
just encourage your listenerslike get involved in your
community, get involved inhelping these women through
(16:11):
these pregnancy resource centers.
Some people have money.
If you have money to give, givethat.
If you have talent to give, ifyou know like, if you can teach
parenting classes, go give yourtalent.
If you're really great atorganizing, go organize and help
these pregnancy resourcecenters.
Just volunteer your time tohelp them get organized.
I know when I was I have fourchildren and when my children
(16:32):
were really young I didn't havea bunch of time to give to
pauses during the day.
I was so busy trying to takecare of all my kids.
But I got training so that atnighttime, when the Pregnancy
Resource Center was closed, theywould still need someone to
answer the helpline if somebodycalled, and so I would get the
Pregnancy Resource Center'sphone transferred to my cell
(16:55):
phone and every night before Iwould go to bed I would just
pray over anyone who might callthat night.
And lots of times over theyears that I did that.
I got calls in the night aboutpeople from people who were
abortion minded, and we set upappointments and we got them
into the clinic and I got totalk to them and I just did it.
If they called, you know, andso there's always a way you can
(17:15):
serve.
If you have a heart to serve,get connected to your local
pregnancy resource center andask them what can I do to help
you?
Because there's alwayssomething that you can do.
Joey (17:25):
That's amazing.
I know a group from our churchjust went and did some painting
and some stuff for the building.
It was at one of them.
I think it was Heartbeat ofMiami.
So, yes, there's always younggirl in Florida that she's
trying to leave the state andshe gets in trouble with the
(18:01):
police.
It's this.
It tries to make it look veryscary.
Have you seen or heard anythingabout this?
Nicole (18:06):
I have not seen that.
That commercial, no, but what?
What ended up happening in thecommercial?
Joey (18:13):
It was, I don't, I don't know.
They just left like acliffhanger.
It was a total, just emotionalplea oh, you're going to get in
trouble with the police.
She got stopped and didn't makeit to the state line.
There was no informationprovided, it was just oh, this
is scary.
Do you hear that?
Is there any validity to it?
Are ladies being arrested?
(18:39):
I mean, if anybody's seeingthis and only hearing those
kinds of misinformation, I meancould you shed some light on
that?
Nicole (18:49):
Sure, yeah.
So, generally speaking, theabortion industry, the way that
they advance their cause which,by the way, the majority of
Americans only OK.
So the majority of Americanssupport restrictions on abortion
.
So the latest Gallup pollingshow that about 62, which is
down by two points, so 64 lastyear, but still the majority, 62
(19:13):
percent of Americans supportsome kind of restriction on
abortion.
And what we know, though, isthat in a lot of these states,
especially states like Floridaand others that are going to be
targeted for abortion amendments, the abortion industry is using
fear to try to drive people tothe polls to vote in favor of
(19:35):
abortion amendments, and theyuse it by spreading honestly
lies about what will happen ifthese abortion amendments which,
by the way, are super extreme,the majority of these amendments
.
Now, in Florida, it's a littledifferent, but, technically
speaking, because there's theexception for the health of the
(19:56):
mother, you can get an abortioneven very very late into your
pregnancy, but the majority ofthe laws don't even have that.
They actually use softerlanguage in Florida, probably
because they didn't think theycould pass the most extreme kind
, but, for example, the measurethat was passed in Ohio, which
was the most recent abortionamendment.
(20:17):
It included abortion up untilthe moment of birth for any
reason and without anyrestrictions at all, like no
questions asked.
So these are very, very extremepositions that the majority of
Americans say they do notsupport.
And in fact, when they're askedlike do you believe that
abortions in the last trimestershould be legal or illegal?
(20:41):
70% of Americans say illegal.
And yet these measures arebeing passed.
And the reason why this ishappening, the reason why we see
this disconnect, is because theabortion industry is very, very
good at fear-mongering and theywalked around in Ohio and told
women and men that if thisabortion amendment isn't passed,
(21:04):
women are going to die, yourdaughter is going to die or your
wife is going to die.
And of course that is not true,because every state in America
that has a pro-life law in placehas an exception for the life
of the mother.
So that is just not true.
It's a lie.
It's a lie that is spread.
And, of course, all of theselaws are targeting the
(21:28):
abortionist, the person that isactually performing the abortion
.
They do not target the moms.
Joey (21:35):
The moms are not going to jail.
That is very good to know.
That is very good to know.
They're not target the moms.
That is very good to know.
That is very good to know.
Nicole (21:39):
They're not going to jail.
It's about the doctors who areperforming these.
So, of course, the leftcontinues to push out their lies
, and they're simply doing thatso that they can confuse people
or get them so scared that theyvote in a way that's not
consistent with their beliefs.
Joey (21:54):
Yeah, vote in a way that's not consistent with their
beliefs.
Yeah, you know that's so.
I mean that little clarityright there.
It's about the personperforming the abortion, not the
mom.
I mean, again, you know I'm sograteful to be speaking with you
.
I know we have less than 10minutes left and I'm learning so
much.
I mean, I'm benefiting so much.
I know our listeners will aswell, just getting clarity.
(22:15):
And you know, one thing I wouldsay, and I'd love for you to
comment on it, and you knowagain, this is me speaking
personally.
You know, it's, it's it's.
What is the issue?
Right, there's there'ssecondary issues or there's
consequences for lack of abetter term to the decisions,
but we're protecting human life.
(22:35):
It's about the life of thepre-born human being, and I
think the focus could get off ohwell the mom, oh well the
doctor, or well, this or wellthat.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
What's the main issue?
There's a human life at stakehere.
Am I on track?
Is that something that weshould be thinking about?
Is that helpful for peoplemaking these decisions or
(22:56):
hearing these arguments?
Nicole (22:58):
Absolutely.
I mean, I think, and especiallyas Christians and that's where
we need to start is that ourbiblical worldview informs us
that all human life has dignitybecause we are made in the image
of God.
We are image bearers, whichmeans that every pre-born baby,
beginning in the womb, is animage bearer of God himself.
(23:21):
And secondly, the history ofthis country recognizes that the
right to life is the firstright.
Without life, it's impossibleto exercise any other right
protected under our Constitution.
And this life is apre-political right.
(23:42):
It's a right that is endowed tous by our Creator and not by
the government.
Therefore, our laws need toreflect that life begins in the
womb.
If it's not a human that's inthe womb.
What is it?
Joey (23:57):
Yeah.
Nicole (23:58):
This is a human rights issue and these are human lives
and they deserve to be protected.
Joey (24:03):
Amen.
I'm excited.
I want to see things happen.
I'm excited for what'shappening, for what's been
happening.
You know I want to get tosomething here and again.
(24:32):
This is one of those peopledon't like to talk about this,
but I think it could be a goodopportunity.
And again, we here at God's WayRadio, we don't stray away from
difficult topics, but evenreference specific candidates,
even reference, you know,elections at all levels.
How important is this issuewhen we go to vote for each
candidate?
Nicole (24:50):
I personally think that it is very important.
I think it's one of the threemost important topics that I
look at as a Christian.
When I'm looking at, what do Ineed to consider here as I vote
in an election?
So I'll tell you the three thatI think are the most important
and that listeners, as you votefor candidates for office,
(25:12):
consider.
The first is sanctity of humanlife, like what we are talking
about.
What does this candidatebelieve on the issue of abortion
?
The second is on religiousfreedom, because it is
impossible for us to exerciseour faith in an open and free
and public society if thegovernment is passing laws that
restrict our religious freedom.
And then the third I believethat we should be considering
(25:35):
are parental rights.
Is this a candidate that wouldrespect and support my rights as
a parent to direct the moralupbringing, medical, educational
upbringing of my child?
And so those are three areasthat I think are very important
for Christians to pay attentionto, very important for
(25:57):
Christians to pay attention to,and you know I just want to say
that, as Christians, ourworldview must inform our values
and our values should be basedon biblical truth and a couple
of verses for you to keep inmind, as you consider, should I
really vote my biblical views?
Well, first consider Proverbs 29, 2, which says when the
righteous are in authority, thepeople rejoice, but when the
(26:19):
wicked rule, the people mourn.
What do we know?
What does this tell us?
It tells us that believers knowthat there is wisdom in good
leadership.
So when good leaders are inauthority, our families and our
communities are thriving, butwhen the wicked are in control,
(26:39):
communities are thriving, butwhen the wicked are in control,
our lives are difficult.
So we should absolutely keepthese things in mind and I
personally think that, on theissue of the sanctity of human
life, we should be asking wheredoes this candidate stand on
abortion?
Does he or she believe thatlife is valuable and worth
protecting in the womb, and willhe or she promote policies that
protect pre-born human life?
If the answers are yes, then Ithink that's a great somebody
(27:03):
that believes in the value oflife in the womb and they're
gonna advance policies.
And if it's no, I think youshould consider looking at other
candidates.
Joey (27:10):
I can't thank you enough for being willing to take that
question head on.
I think it's so, so important.
Nicole, we're pretty much outof time If there was anything
left for you to share on whatour listeners can do next.
We learned how we should reallyevaluate our vote.
We learned about working withlocal pregnancy resource centers
(27:31):
.
Is there anything else that wecould be doing to advance the
issue?
The rights of these unborn andpreborn human beings.
Nicole (27:43):
You know, the only other thing I would add is just to
pray.
Pray that God would move inthis generation for revival,
because, at the end of the day,what we are hoping for is to
change people's hearts and minds.
End of the day, what we arehoping for is to change people's
hearts and minds, and thatreally is a spiritual awakening
to see truth about not just thedignity of the pre-born, but
(28:04):
what God calls good in our world, how he's called families and
parents to be good forcommunities.
And so what we want is aspiritual awakening, and that
requires prayer and it requiresour votes and it requires our
hands to be busy at work.
But just don't forget, there'sa spiritual battle at play here,
and so we're going to doeverything we can in the
(28:26):
physical realm as we also battlein the spiritual realm.
So pray that the Lord wouldmove and would open people's
eyes to see that abortion is ahuman rights issue and that
these lives, these babies, needto be protected.
Joey (28:40):
Amen.
Nicole Hunt from Focus on theFamily.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you, my sister, so much for
spending some time with us.
Nicole (28:47):
Thank you for having me.
Announcer (28:48):
God bless.
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Joey (00:27):
Well, God's Way Radio family.
I am on the phone with someonevery special, Just got to meet
them via Focus on the FamilyMinistries and she's going to
tell us all about what is goingon in the pro-life movement, the
pro-life space.
I mean, I'm going to learn somuch along with you guys.
(00:48):
Nicole, thank you for joiningus.
Nicole (00:52):
Happy to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
Joey (00:54):
Awesome.
Well, if you don't mind,sharing with the listeners a
little bit of your backgroundand what you're doing today over
there at Focus on the Family,yeah, absolutely so.
Nicole (01:03):
I'm an attorney by training and I serve as a writer
and a spokesperson for Focus onthe Family.
One of my areas of specialtiesis on the sanctity of human life
and, of course, it has neverbeen a more exciting time to be
a member of the pro-lifecommunity, because it's just
been such a special last coupleof years to see the fall of Roe
(01:25):
and then to see so much activityat the state level people
getting out there and voting andvoting their values and being
able to advocate for life.
So it's a really exciting timeto be a part of the pro-life
movement and I just feel reallyblessed to be a part of the
pro-life community who'sadvocating and working to
(01:46):
advance policy goals that meetour values.
Joey (01:51):
You know, I mean you said so much there and all that
you're doing and we're going toget to it towards the end of our
conversation, I know, but whenwe hear about policy and
politics and the court decisionsit can seem distant sometimes
and we're going to bring it home, I know, at the end of our
conversation.
We want to give people thingsthat they could do, but before
(02:14):
we get there, some of ourlisteners maybe are not aware of
so much of the history and thebackground.
I know it's asking a lot, butcould you kind of summarize for
us what is this Roe v Wade, roev Wade that is thrown around so
much, and what is thesignificance of the I forget the
name of the case thatoverturned it, I believe just
(02:36):
two years ago?
Nicole (02:38):
Yep, absolutely so.
Roe v Wade was the case thatcame from the United States
Supreme Court thatconstitutionalized abortion.
It legalized it across theUnited States.
There were some states that hadabortion laws in place that
allowed it to happen and somethat didn't.
That happened in 1973.
And so fast forward 49 yearsand the court heard the Dobbs
(03:02):
case back in 2022.
And in June of 2022, I think itwas one of the last days of
their term they announced thatRoe had fallen and it was
Supreme Court Justice SamuelAlito who wrote the words that
changed the course of humanhistory.
(03:23):
He said the Constitution doesnot confer a right to abortion
and of course, that's been theargument that the abortion
advocates have been arguingright since 1973, and even
before that that the right to anabortion was somehow in our
Constitution.
And of course, there's no wordabortion in our Constitution,
(03:44):
and they were extrapolating uponwords that are in the
Constitution.
But the interesting thing is isthat you know the proper way
and the way that many of thejudges, who justices, who are on
the court today look at theConstitution and when they're
asked a question of is this aconstitutional right, is this a
constitutional right, well, theylook back to see when the
framers wrote the Constitution.
(04:06):
Is this a right that they wouldhave had in mind when they
wrote these words?
And what we do know is thatthat's certainly not something
that the framers would haveendorsed, and, in fact, many
state laws protected pre-bornbabies from abortion,
specifically protected them.
So anyway, so that was anexciting, exciting moment.
(04:30):
I remember I remember hearingabout it?
Yeah, not just inconstitutional law, but for the
whole country, right?
Because this is the right wayto interpret things for our
constitution.
So constitutional order wasrestored, which is very
important for the longevity ofour nation.
To have appropriateconstitutional order, and
specifically the power to createpolicy, taken out of the hands
(04:53):
of the people, was notappropriate.
That's not how the framers setup our government.
The power to legislate andcreate policy is supposed to be
in the hands of the people andthe people's representatives.
So the exciting thing thathappened years ago was that that
power was taken out of thehands of the federal judiciary
court and it was put back intothe hands of the people and
(05:13):
their elected representatives,and so that, of course, has
spurred a bunch of activity inthe last two years.
As your listeners probablyremember hearing almost
immediately, some states hadtrigger laws that went into play
right away and startedprotecting lives.
In about a dozen states therewere laws like that that went
(05:37):
into effect, and then in othersthere were states who were
doubling down on abortionprotections, and so they went to
work as quickly as possible.
So we've seen this play out atthe state level.
We've seen it play out in thecourts.
A lot of these cases have beenappealed to the court system,
and then we've also seen it playout on people's ballots.
Right, we've been started tohear of a lot of states who are
(06:00):
considering abortion amendmentsto state constitutions, and this
is one of the avenues by whichthe abortion industry is trying
to advance their cause.
Since they lost theconstitutional right to abortion
in the US Constitution, they'retrying to create it in all of
(06:20):
the state constitutions.
So that's what we're seeingplay out at the ballot box and
in the courts, and then, ofcourse, in our law houses, where
state policy is made.
Joey (06:31):
Wow, I mean, and this is so much more important and one
of the reasons I wanted to haveyou with us as we approach
November of 2024, this beingrecorded in July.
We're just a few months awayfrom some big elections, from
some big decisions.
Are there any ones thatespecially stick out to you,
(06:52):
whether certain states ornational level, decisions that
affect pro-life and pre-born?
Nicole (07:01):
Yes, absolutely so.
Right now there are four statesthat will have an abortion
related ballot measure on folksballots, and Nevada is the most
recent one that all of thesignatures were just qualified
for the ballot, so we'll see itin Nevada.
(07:21):
Of course, your listeners therein Florida will probably
recognize that there's been alot of activity on this issue in
Florida, and so the Floridaabortion amendment has also
qualified for the ballot.
There's another abortionamendment in South Dakota,
there's one in Colorado andthere's another in Maryland.
So we've got five that havealready are for sure going to be
(07:45):
on the ballot.
And then we've got another Ithink six that we're considering
six or seven that are possiblygoing to be on the ballot, and
for listeners, those are in NewYork, arizona, arkansas,
missouri, montana and Nebraska.
So really it's happening allaround the country, nebraska.
(08:06):
So really it's happening allaround the country, and you know
if you live in one of thesestates for your listeners in
Florida.
I think you should be payingvery close attention to what's
happening there, because I dobelieve, and what we're seeing
how we see this play out is thatthe abortion issue is used by
the left to turn out voters, andso that's what's happened in
all of the other seven states.
(08:26):
So, since Dobbs was decided twoyears ago, there have been
seven states that haveconsidered an abortion related
ballot measure, and some of themin some of those cases, it was
a pro-life measure andunfortunately, the pro-life
measures lost and then theabortion constitutional
amendments won.
(08:47):
So what we do know is that theabortion industry has a 100%
success record in advancingtheir agenda through ballot
measures.
So it is so, so important forpro-life individuals to register
to vote, to get out there andto vote and to encourage their
(09:08):
friends to vote, to registertheir church members.
Make sure that everyone isready to go to vote pro-life
this November.
And in Florida, of course, it'sgoing to be very important
because I do believe theabortion industry has their
target set on your state.
They are trying very hard toflip states that are pro-life to
support a pro-abortion agenda,and the one thing I will say
(09:32):
that Florida has working intheir favor is that the
threshold.
There's a threshold for passagefor these types of ballot
measures, and in some statesit's only 50% plus one.
Now in Florida it's very high,it's actually 60%.
So of all the people that getout there and vote on this
amendment, 60% of them have toall support the amendment.
(09:52):
So it makes it harder, ofcourse, for the abortion
industry to pass something likethis in Florida, but I don't
think it's going to stop themfrom trying to do it.
They're going to throw a lot ofmoney into this.
So, people of faith who arepro-life, we need to be engaged
in this battle at the ballot box.
Joey (10:08):
Yeah, and it's not to say, it's not to take the gas off,
right?
Oh, they need 60%.
Oh, then I don't need to go.
No, we all still need to go andbe involved.
And again, to get very, veryspecific about what we're
talking about here we're talkingabout the ballot, or the
amendment being on the ballot,that would legalize certain
(10:28):
abortions, or abortions till acertain time, whereas right now
it is all illegal.
Nicole (10:33):
That's right.
So this amendment, thisabortion amendment, it would
create a so-called right toabortion in the state
constitution before viability,which, as a reminder, is the
time at which a baby can liveoutside the womb or at any time
to preserve the health of themother and the health of the
mother.
That's very important that wehear that language.
Joey (10:54):
That seems like a very broad phrase.
Nicole (10:57):
Oh, that's right.
We're not talking about thelife of the mother, we're not
talking about saving a mom who'sgetting ready to die.
It's about the health of themother, which actually gets very
gray, because a lot of peoplewill say, well, I'm stressed out
and I'm having like mentalanxiety, and now I, that is my
reason to get an abortion in thethird trimester or even the
second trimester.
(11:17):
And, um, you know, those in theprolet community would say, no,
that is a temporary problem andthe answer you're looking at is
a permanent solution that cannever be undone.
Right?
And the pro-life community?
We believe that women who findthemselves in unplanned
pregnancies and aren't sureabout pursuing it are
abortion-minded.
What they need is not abortion,they need a community, they
(11:42):
need resources, they need tofeel loved, they need to be told
hey, you can do this and wewill help.
And that is the future of thepro-life movement and that's how
we're going to change heartsand minds on the issue of
abortion, so that we can makeabortion unthinkable.
Joey (11:58):
That's awesome, you know, not seeing these ladies as the
villain, necessarily, but thosein need of help and support,
like you said.
You know, I think, of two localministries here.
I mentioned them to you earlierand you were pleased to hear
about them and for our listeners, you hopefully have heard about
them before here, either on thepodcast or on air at God's Way
(12:20):
Radio, and one of them isHeartbeat of Miami, a pregnancy
center, a Christian ministry,and then the other is Eve's Hope
.
And both of these ministries,both of these organizations,
they're looking at the pre-bornchild, they're looking at the
mom.
Eve's Hope has this really neatmission for lack of a better
(12:42):
term something they're trying toget going more and more.
Nicole, you probably like thiswhere they try to have a man
there, a volunteer, that's amale that if anybody walks in
with their partner man, theycould talk to another guy as
well.
So I love that.
I really love what they'redoing over there.
Nicole (13:02):
Yeah, I mean pregnancy resource centers.
They are the tip of the spearfor the pro-life movement when
it comes to making a difference,and a couple of statistics on
them.
That I think is just sofascinating, and I think your
listeners will find itfascinating too.
Pregnancy help organizationslike these pregnancy resource
centers are actually reallypopular among Americans.
(13:23):
They're supported by 83% ofAmericans across the country, so
that is just such great news.
They're doing amazing work and Ithink that the word is getting
out.
Of course, the abortionindustry is trying to target
them, to shut them down and tokeep them from doing their work.
They have a lot of success.
In some states, laws are beingpassed to limit their ability to
(13:45):
advertise and to tell peopleabout what they do, but, praise
God, they continue to find waysto serve women and I think this
is a really fantastic statisticIn 2022, these pregnancy
resource centers, which, acrossthe nation, number about 3,000.
They are providing services toover a million people and the
(14:09):
type of services we're talkingabout pregnancy tests,
ultrasounds, resource services,parenting services, housing
training, job training,parenting training these kinds
of services.
They totaled about $358 millionworth of services that were
(14:31):
provided either free or superlow cost, so what we see is that
pregnancy resource centersthey're actually showing up and
helping women.
All that Planned Parenthood hasto offer is an abortion and a
quick boot out the door.
Really, if you have anyproblems, follow up with the ER.
Joey (14:49):
Is Planned Parenthood privately funded, or it's
government, or it's both?
Nicole (14:54):
Yeah, they have both, so they're funded by the
government, and then they alsoget a lot of support from other
organizations.
Joey (15:03):
People that want that agenda.
I would imagine Yep, that'sright.
Nicole (15:06):
That's right, absolutely so.
It is really imperative.
And the truth is, as morestatistics come out on all the
amazing work of pregnancyresource centers, politicians in
states where there is authorityto advance law are trying to
give more state funding towardsorganizations like pregnancy
resource centers, like the onesthat you mentioned in Florida,
(15:27):
because these organizations areactually not just walking with
women before they have babies,they're walking with them after
they have their babies andthey're helping the whole family
, as you mentioned about the,the dad, or the, the male who's
available to help at one of thepregnancy resource centers you
mentioned.
I love that about a lot ofthese resource centers.
They have, like men's coachingprograms and parenting programs
(15:50):
to help families know okay, thisis, this is how we're going to
move forward.
How can I be a man here andsupport my family and get the
job security that I need inorder to help my family thrive?
So this is where the pro-lifemovement's going and I would
just encourage your listenerslike get involved in your
community, get involved inhelping these women through
(16:11):
these pregnancy resource centers.
Some people have money.
If you have money to give, givethat.
If you have talent to give, ifyou know like, if you can teach
parenting classes, go give yourtalent.
If you're really great atorganizing, go organize and help
these pregnancy resourcecenters.
Just volunteer your time tohelp them get organized.
I know when I was I have fourchildren and when my children
(16:32):
were really young I didn't havea bunch of time to give to
pauses during the day.
I was so busy trying to takecare of all my kids.
But I got training so that atnighttime, when the Pregnancy
Resource Center was closed, theywould still need someone to
answer the helpline if somebodycalled, and so I would get the
Pregnancy Resource Center'sphone transferred to my cell
(16:55):
phone and every night before Iwould go to bed I would just
pray over anyone who might callthat night.
And lots of times over theyears that I did that.
I got calls in the night aboutpeople from people who were
abortion minded, and we set upappointments and we got them
into the clinic and I got totalk to them and I just did it.
If they called, you know, andso there's always a way you can
(17:15):
serve.
If you have a heart to serve,get connected to your local
pregnancy resource center andask them what can I do to help
you?
Because there's alwayssomething that you can do.
Joey (17:25):
That's amazing.
I know a group from our churchjust went and did some painting
and some stuff for the building.
It was at one of them.
I think it was Heartbeat ofMiami.
So, yes, there's always younggirl in Florida that she's
trying to leave the state andshe gets in trouble with the
(18:01):
police.
It's this.
It tries to make it look veryscary.
Have you seen or heard anythingabout this?
Nicole (18:06):
I have not seen that.
That commercial, no, but what?
What ended up happening in thecommercial?
Joey (18:13):
It was, I don't, I don't know.
They just left like acliffhanger.
It was a total, just emotionalplea oh, you're going to get in
trouble with the police.
She got stopped and didn't makeit to the state line.
There was no informationprovided, it was just oh, this
is scary.
Do you hear that?
Is there any validity to it?
Are ladies being arrested?
(18:39):
I mean, if anybody's seeingthis and only hearing those
kinds of misinformation, I meancould you shed some light on
that?
Nicole (18:49):
Sure, yeah.
So, generally speaking, theabortion industry, the way that
they advance their cause which,by the way, the majority of
Americans only OK.
So the majority of Americanssupport restrictions on abortion
.
So the latest Gallup pollingshow that about 62, which is
down by two points, so 64 lastyear, but still the majority, 62
(19:13):
percent of Americans supportsome kind of restriction on
abortion.
And what we know, though, isthat in a lot of these states,
especially states like Floridaand others that are going to be
targeted for abortion amendments, the abortion industry is using
fear to try to drive people tothe polls to vote in favor of
(19:35):
abortion amendments, and theyuse it by spreading honestly
lies about what will happen ifthese abortion amendments which,
by the way, are super extreme,the majority of these amendments
.
Now, in Florida, it's a littledifferent, but, technically
speaking, because there's theexception for the health of the
(19:56):
mother, you can get an abortioneven very very late into your
pregnancy, but the majority ofthe laws don't even have that.
They actually use softerlanguage in Florida, probably
because they didn't think theycould pass the most extreme kind
, but, for example, the measurethat was passed in Ohio, which
was the most recent abortionamendment.
(20:17):
It included abortion up untilthe moment of birth for any
reason and without anyrestrictions at all, like no
questions asked.
So these are very, very extremepositions that the majority of
Americans say they do notsupport.
And in fact, when they're askedlike do you believe that
abortions in the last trimestershould be legal or illegal?
(20:41):
70% of Americans say illegal.
And yet these measures arebeing passed.
And the reason why this ishappening, the reason why we see
this disconnect, is because theabortion industry is very, very
good at fear-mongering and theywalked around in Ohio and told
women and men that if thisabortion amendment isn't passed,
(21:04):
women are going to die, yourdaughter is going to die or your
wife is going to die.
And of course that is not true,because every state in America
that has a pro-life law in placehas an exception for the life
of the mother.
So that is just not true.
It's a lie.
It's a lie that is spread.
And, of course, all of theselaws are targeting the
(21:28):
abortionist, the person that isactually performing the abortion
.
They do not target the moms.
Joey (21:35):
The moms are not going to jail.
That is very good to know.
That is very good to know.
They're not target the moms.
That is very good to know.
That is very good to know.
Nicole (21:39):
They're not going to jail.
It's about the doctors who areperforming these.
So, of course, the leftcontinues to push out their lies
, and they're simply doing thatso that they can confuse people
or get them so scared that theyvote in a way that's not
consistent with their beliefs.
Joey (21:54):
Yeah, vote in a way that's not consistent with their
beliefs.
Yeah, you know that's so.
I mean that little clarityright there.
It's about the personperforming the abortion, not the
mom.
I mean, again, you know I'm sograteful to be speaking with you
.
I know we have less than 10minutes left and I'm learning so
much.
I mean, I'm benefiting so much.
I know our listeners will aswell, just getting clarity.
(22:15):
And you know, one thing I wouldsay, and I'd love for you to
comment on it, and you knowagain, this is me speaking
personally.
You know, it's, it's it's.
What is the issue?
Right, there's there'ssecondary issues or there's
consequences for lack of abetter term to the decisions,
but we're protecting human life.
(22:35):
It's about the life of thepre-born human being, and I
think the focus could get off ohwell the mom, oh well the
doctor, or well, this or wellthat.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
What's the main issue?
There's a human life at stakehere.
Am I on track?
Is that something that weshould be thinking about?
Is that helpful for peoplemaking these decisions or
(22:56):
hearing these arguments?
Nicole (22:58):
Absolutely.
I mean, I think, and especiallyas Christians and that's where
we need to start is that ourbiblical worldview informs us
that all human life has dignitybecause we are made in the image
of God.
We are image bearers, whichmeans that every pre-born baby,
beginning in the womb, is animage bearer of God himself.
(23:21):
And secondly, the history ofthis country recognizes that the
right to life is the firstright.
Without life, it's impossibleto exercise any other right
protected under our Constitution.
And this life is apre-political right.
(23:42):
It's a right that is endowed tous by our Creator and not by
the government.
Therefore, our laws need toreflect that life begins in the
womb.
If it's not a human that's inthe womb.
What is it?
Joey (23:57):
Yeah.
Nicole (23:58):
This is a human rights issue and these are human lives
and they deserve to be protected.
Joey (24:03):
Amen.
I'm excited.
I want to see things happen.
I'm excited for what'shappening, for what's been
happening.
You know I want to get tosomething here and again.
(24:32):
This is one of those peopledon't like to talk about this,
but I think it could be a goodopportunity.
And again, we here at God's WayRadio, we don't stray away from
difficult topics, but evenreference specific candidates,
even reference, you know,elections at all levels.
How important is this issuewhen we go to vote for each
candidate?
Nicole (24:50):
I personally think that it is very important.
I think it's one of the threemost important topics that I
look at as a Christian.
When I'm looking at, what do Ineed to consider here as I vote
in an election?
So I'll tell you the three thatI think are the most important
and that listeners, as you votefor candidates for office,
(25:12):
consider.
The first is sanctity of humanlife, like what we are talking
about.
What does this candidatebelieve on the issue of abortion
?
The second is on religiousfreedom, because it is
impossible for us to exerciseour faith in an open and free
and public society if thegovernment is passing laws that
restrict our religious freedom.
And then the third I believethat we should be considering
(25:35):
are parental rights.
Is this a candidate that wouldrespect and support my rights as
a parent to direct the moralupbringing, medical, educational
upbringing of my child?
And so those are three areasthat I think are very important
for Christians to pay attentionto, very important for
(25:57):
Christians to pay attention to,and you know I just want to say
that, as Christians, ourworldview must inform our values
and our values should be basedon biblical truth and a couple
of verses for you to keep inmind, as you consider, should I
really vote my biblical views?
Well, first consider Proverbs 29, 2, which says when the
righteous are in authority, thepeople rejoice, but when the
(26:19):
wicked rule, the people mourn.
What do we know?
What does this tell us?
It tells us that believers knowthat there is wisdom in good
leadership.
So when good leaders are inauthority, our families and our
communities are thriving, butwhen the wicked are in control,
(26:39):
communities are thriving, butwhen the wicked are in control,
our lives are difficult.
So we should absolutely keepthese things in mind and I
personally think that, on theissue of the sanctity of human
life, we should be asking wheredoes this candidate stand on
abortion?
Does he or she believe thatlife is valuable and worth
protecting in the womb, and willhe or she promote policies that
protect pre-born human life?
If the answers are yes, then Ithink that's a great somebody
(27:03):
that believes in the value oflife in the womb and they're
gonna advance policies.
And if it's no, I think youshould consider looking at other
candidates.
Joey (27:10):
I can't thank you enough for being willing to take that
question head on.
I think it's so, so important.
Nicole, we're pretty much outof time If there was anything
left for you to share on whatour listeners can do next.
We learned how we should reallyevaluate our vote.
We learned about working withlocal pregnancy resource centers
(27:31):
.
Is there anything else that wecould be doing to advance the
issue?
The rights of these unborn andpreborn human beings.
Nicole (27:43):
You know, the only other thing I would add is just to
pray.
Pray that God would move inthis generation for revival,
because, at the end of the day,what we are hoping for is to
change people's hearts and minds.
End of the day, what we arehoping for is to change people's
hearts and minds, and thatreally is a spiritual awakening
to see truth about not just thedignity of the pre-born, but
(28:04):
what God calls good in our world, how he's called families and
parents to be good forcommunities.
And so what we want is aspiritual awakening, and that
requires prayer and it requiresour votes and it requires our
hands to be busy at work.
But just don't forget, there'sa spiritual battle at play here,
and so we're going to doeverything we can in the
(28:26):
physical realm as we also battlein the spiritual realm.
So pray that the Lord wouldmove and would open people's
eyes to see that abortion is ahuman rights issue and that
these lives, these babies, needto be protected.
Joey (28:40):
Amen.
Nicole Hunt from Focus on theFamily.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you, my sister, so much for
spending some time with us.
Nicole (28:47):
Thank you for having me.
Announcer (28:48):
God bless.
We hope you enjoyed Friends andFamily, unique conversations
recorded and produced in ourstudios, where you get a chance
to hear what God is doing inpeople's lives.
Jesus tells us in John 15,verse 15, I have called you
friends For all things that Iheard from my Father I have made
known to you.
So that's why we love to sharethese exclusive interviews with
(29:09):
you.
Our hope is that through theirstories God will be made known
to you.
But you can only find them hereon God's Way Radio.
Just check godswayradiocom forour full program schedule.
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