Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to ever Living, a new podcast about valuing life
here on Earth and for eternity. We are your life
loving hosts Cindy and Jessica. Every week on ever Living,
we create a space for sharing the stories and voices
of those who work and pray to create a culture
(00:29):
that values ever.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Protect life in New England and beyond. So welcome. How
is your How is your Memorial Day weekend? Jessica?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah it was good. Yeah, No, it was very relaxing.
I went for a nice walk at the college campus
that's near near me and yeah, just really got relax.
What about you, Sinday? What what did you do for
a Memorial Day?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
We got a great chance to go to a church
cookout a little bit up north at a state park.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And there was tons of.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
People and food and volleyball. That's what Jason and I
mostly did there and it was a great time, great weather.
I got to learn how to play cornhole a little
bit better, which is pretty challenging game.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Actually, cornwall is hard. That is fun. That's fun though,
it's a fun game, but it's fair. It is hard.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yes, well, you talked about colleges.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Today's special guest is an assistant Professor of Practice at
the Bush School of Business at the Catholic University of America.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
His name is doctor Michael New.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
He's also a Senior Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lesure Institute,
A page Comstack Comstock Cunningham, Senior Fellow at Americans United
for Life Phi Beta Kappa. Graduate from Dartmouth College, master's
degree in statistics, and a doctorate in political science from
Stanford University. Doctor New researches and writes about the social
(02:16):
science of sanctity of life issues. He gives presentations on
the fifty percent reduction in the US abortion rate since
nineteen eighty and the positive impact of pro life laws.
He is a guest on EWTN Newsnightly and CNN International.
He appears on Catholic Radio and is a frequent blogger
(02:38):
on National Review Online's The Corner. Let us welcome our
special guest today, doctor Michael New.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Welcome. Oh thanks having me much appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Hi, doctor New, how are you.
Speaker 4 (02:52):
I'm doing extremely well. I had a very good weekend.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
I played my first softball game of the summer for
my Netsic Columbus game and uh yeah, my parents Saint Jerome.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
We won one game. We tied another game, but it's.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
More significantly realized because last season we did not win
a single game on the playing field. The only games
we want last year due to forfeits. So our first
game of the year we actually want, not sure for
his victory. So we're all very excited.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Wow, it's it's time for a comeback Cinderella story. All right. So,
doctor new what initially inspired you to focus on your
research on pro life issues and pro life statistics?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Can you give us?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
It's a really good question.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I mean, I honestly went to grad school to avoid
the real world for as.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Long as I feasibly could.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
You know, I really was not terribly interested in working
long hours for investment bank. I was not interested in
really going to law school because I was a big
investment for somebody I wasn't all that sure about. So
I started off in gradsical calm doing economic policy research.
My dissertation dealt with budget rolls fiscal limits, and one
(04:07):
thing I kind of noticed was that we had this
tax vault in the nineteen seventies, and a lot of
things we did to try to limit government and lower
taxes often didn't really work well long term, and That
got the wheels of my head turning that just because
you're trying to do something good, you know, doesn't really
mean you're accomplishing anything good. And I noticed the pro
lifers worked really hard. Again, this is the late nineties
(04:29):
or eight two thousands. We worked really hard trap pass
incredible pro life laws, you know, waiting periods, partical involvement laws,
laws that limited the ability of state medicaid programs to
pay for abortion. I was wondering, you know, we huffed
puff to pass these laws. Are they doing any good?
Are they saving lives? So I did to study on
this on the impact of state level pro life laws.
(04:51):
Long story, but the Heritage Foundation agreed to publish it,
and it did show pretty clearly that yes, incarnal things
we do, waiting periods and set and parnal involvement limits
on taxpayer funding, these things do lower abortion.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Rates and save lives. So I was pleased.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
I thought the PROLCT would come by and pat me
on my head and thank you for the study, and
that would be about it.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
It didn't work out that way. The study got a
lot of attention.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
I got all kinds of invitations to write and speak,
and one thing I just realized the proect movement did
not really have the road in house social scientist. So
that's what's great to do. I'm a PhD plnical size
was tam for mastery statistics. I love sancty of life
issues and there's a lot to write on about studies
and polls and other things I can do.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
So threw to over rush order ran with it. I
never looked back.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Very cool. You have quite an interesting background, doctor Michael
new Yeah, thank you for sharing all that. So tell
us a little bit about your day to day now.
What does your day to day life look like? Now
we're just for our listeners. Where you located and what
do you do on a daily base.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
I teach economics to our business students at the Catholic
University of America. I've had faculty positions at University of Alabama,
at Michigan, Dearborn, at Auve Maria, and here I am
a Catholic university. So I'm here in Washington, d C.
Things are going very well. Business school, very develop, very faithful.
My colleagues are, you know, great, they'd like the pro
(06:26):
life work I do. So I do what faculty do.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
I teach classes. I do research.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
I also run a pro Life signa wall concerting ministry
outside the d C Planned Parenthood.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
It was kind of interesting.
Speaker 5 (06:39):
I arrived in d C during the summer of two
thousand and eighteen, and I spent about a month or
so getting moved in. And one Saturday morning, I woke up,
I had to run a few errands. I got done early.
I looked at my you know, my phone. I saw
that it was still pretty early, So I thought, well,
I'll go to the d C Plant parent How about
(07:00):
the pro life people. And I've been in DC in
previous summers and we used to have a lot of pro.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Lte people praying asala consoling.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
But that day when I showed up, only two people,
two PROLA people there, and I was just stunted. You know,
I was amazing where everybody go. And you know the
clip change locations. Some folks that like do location people,
you know, moved away. They quit coming for circumstantial reasons.
So I thought, you know what, we have to get
this built back up again.
Speaker 4 (07:24):
I'm gonna come every Saturday morning.
Speaker 5 (07:26):
I'm gonna send an email on I'm gonna put it
on social media, and I try to recruit other people Uh,
the world didn't exactly bang down my door, but more
people have come, so we saw the console on Saturdays.
We've run forty eightster life campaigns in the fall of
the spring. We try to be a good prolact presence
in a tough city.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah, I know, I know. I'm friends with you on
Facebook and I always see your Facebook lives of when
you're outside the clim parenthood on Saturday morning. So that's awesome.
That's really you're doing really great work doing that.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, doctor new.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Can you share some stories about how people have been
helped through.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Sidewalk counseling.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Sure, every story, every day is different, every story is different.
Speaker 6 (08:09):
You know.
Speaker 5 (08:10):
I think praying outside of horse facilities one of the
best things you can do to build a culture of life.
And there's many great prolos activities, but I think that's
just the most powerful. And anyone who spent any significant
amount of time to probably point to you know, at
least one situation where an abortion did not happen because
they were outside the clinic that day. And every God
uses everybody. That's the one thing that's important to know
that everyone who shows up God uses. One of my
(08:32):
favorite stories was that this is a few years ago.
There's a woman who's part of our ministry and she
usually stands across the street and prays and well the
rest of.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Us kind of sidewalk console.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
And it was kind of late in the morning, and
a car drives along, sees her, pulls over and they
ask her for some information about parking, and she starts
a conversation with him. But she doesn't usually of literature,
so I know she's talking to this couple, and I
run across the street. I have some pamphlets about local
pregnancy help. And the woman designed the car tells me
(09:03):
I already have five kids. I said, don't worry, I'm
sure the six, and we just abustris the first five
and she starts laughing, which I thought it was a
good sign.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Showed the literature. And then a nun who was with
uski which comes running.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Over and Anne saw a picture of the virgin area
of the car, and obviously they were Catholic, so she
started talking with the couple got married, so we got
some good information into our hands local pregancy help of
the nun, you know, talk to her a little bit.
The car drove away and they never came back, so again,
if my friend end up and across the street praying,
(09:35):
maybe just drive by made the clack escorts get their first.
Who knows, but by just being across the street praying.
And I think we saved your life that morning. So
you know, every day is different. I know there was
a weekday. It was actually ash Wednesday, remember this, well
Fortiest Life had just started and our team was out
there for the first day and we're doing our thing.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Car pulls up.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Thankfully, we get the people before the clinic escorts due.
Woman gets out of the car. I wish you could
have taken a picture of her face that morning. It
was this look of just disgusting. She looks, goes, you
know what, everything about this is wrong. I knew this
was wrong when I went to bed last night. Rolling
up in the morning, it was wrong. On the right
over it's still wrong. I'm not doing it.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
I'm not having the abortion, and we're all pretty pleased
about that.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
And I offered some information of pregnancy help that was
local and she did seem real interested, but she said
to it didn't tell us.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Have a uper ride home, which I arranged for her.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
So uh, we wrote up You know, I think do
some good on on on that day. So it was
interesting as the first day of forty Eastern Life. I
was all excited. I thought we had the first save
of forty Easter Life. I go driving back to my
office and also to email the gallor that's some group
in Great Britain beat us out. So maybe next maybe
maybe next campaign.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
So saved a life. No, it's just amazing and thank
you for sharing. I think it's just so beautiful, like
the impact of prayer and just like being a peaceful
of prayerful presence outside of a out of you know,
abortion facility or planned parenthood. I know here in New
England in Rhode Island they recently had a baby save
outside of the planned parenthood and Providence So their Providence College,
(11:14):
their pro life group and Brown's Pro life group. We're
praying outside along with Rhode Island Right to Life and
they actually have an ultrasound van right on site from
the Rhode Island Right to Life. They have their own
ultrasound van and they recently had a baby safe too,
So it's it's really amazing. Yeah, the power of power
of prayer.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And also not just not only a baby save, but
also the mother's life is rescued from a choice that
cannot be you know, a choice that could affect that
effects her child's life and her own life, you know,
(11:55):
and the life of their.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Their friends and family too, So that's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah. We also one thing we always do.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
I always carry literature about post abortion healing through Great
Rachel's Vineyard. Obviously we wish we could stop the abortion
from happening in the first place, but situations where it
does happen, it we do the you know, post abortion
literature with us, and we always let people know help
and healing are available, and people do something to take
those pamphlets off of us. So obviously we wish the
abortions wouldn't happen, but even when they do, you we're
(12:22):
still there for them to try to bring them on
a road or in the pathway again back to hope and.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Healing exactly whatever you can do to help, right, like,
whatever support you can give them, Yeah, both mom and baby.
But well, thank you for sharing all that. So yeah,
in addition to doing that, you and you know, doing
sidewalk counseling and being a professor, you also do pro
life research. So we'd love to hear a little bit
(12:47):
more about about that. So just what what would one
of the most like compelling new findings in pro life
statistics this year that you would you would want to highlight.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Well, one thing I'm.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
Trying to let people know is that the laws are
passing are doing good. We're not nessing a big national
decline and abortion the way we might like, but we
have very good data from individual.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
States that we're doing a lot of good. I just
got back.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
I was actually in Boston on Friday presenting a paper
at a state politics conference, and I have some very
good birth data from Texas looking at the Texas Heartbeat Act,
and which again, as people may remember, that took effect
September of twenty twenty.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
One, that took effect before Daubs.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
That was really the first time we had pre board
shildren protected before the start of the third trimester in
this country.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
So one thing I tell ProLife audience is it's very
tough to count abortions.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Women go to other states, they go to other countries,
they order chemical abortion bals to the mail, So trying
to track the impact.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Of a pro life law by analyzing abortion numbers is hard.
So I always tell prolite audiences an abortions are heard account,
but babies are easy account.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
The government doesn't always do a whole lot well, but
it is pretty good at cunning babies being born. You know,
babies are hard to miss. They cry, they crawl, they
make a lot of noise. So the data we get
our babies born is usually pretty good. And we do
see it kind of an increase in babies born in
Texas after the Heartbeat Act took effect. So the Heartbeat
Act took effects September twenty twenty one. Abortions that were
(14:19):
averted starting in September where baby is born in March,
and we see the heartbedack save.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
About you know, a thousand lives every month.
Speaker 5 (14:26):
A thousand more babies are being born every month in
Texas because of the heart Beat Act.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
So that's a good finding.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
And we also find that there's some county level variation
that kind of backs us up.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
You know.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Obviously, you know, women can go to other states and
circumvent the law that way, but for some women that's
harder than others.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
I mean, if a woman lives in the eastern.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
Part of Texas, Shreveport's pretty close, sheld get an abortion there.
So it's in the western part of Texas elp you know,
like at Alpaso, New Mexico's close, but she get an
abortion there. But so but if a little bit lives
in the center part of the state, like Austin or Houston,
you know, it's far way to get to an O stage.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Facility, and we see bigger birth increases. So we do
know that.
Speaker 5 (15:05):
You know, laws aren't magical, but by making you know,
by passing laws, you know, we are doing some good.
So I think it's important though that even though we
aren't seeing huge abortion declines nationally, the laws that we
do pass, you know, based on my research from Texas
and other studies, you are saving lives. So we shouldn't
justly give up on that.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Yes, doctor New do you think do you think that
if there is a law that protects protects preborn children
at certain weeks, does if that exists in a state,
does that help mothers? And to think about oh this
(15:46):
this pro life law exists.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
In this state.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Let me let me think about keeping this child since
there is protection for rather than having no law in existence.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
That's a good question.
Speaker 5 (16:01):
I mean, I you know, sometimes the legal weight of
the law just does some good. I mean, if abortions
aren't legally available. People are law binding for the most part,
and they won't you know, they won't necessarily, you know,
obtain an abortion. It also chase people's thinking. Some limit
actually feel relief they can't get an abortion. I mean,
even the Turnaway study, which is not done by pro
(16:22):
life people and not sympathetic to us. You know, even
their findings do indicate that some women will discover that
their too for warm magislation are actually relieved. You know,
they're kind of happy that abortion options close off of
them and they will carry this pregnancy of term.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
So laws can do different things. The legal weight of certain.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Laws can have an impact. The law is also a teacher.
You know that some people they if something's legal, they
think is right. That's obviously, I think, very poor logic,
but that's the way some people think. On the converse,
if something's illegal, they're often clined to think it's either
wrong or immoral, and that may affect their thinking and
their behavior too.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
So I think laws can serve a lot of good purposes.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I think that's a really good point. And I think,
you know, this kind of something that I get when
I I table a lot on campus for because I
work for Students for Life and and on campus, we
have conversations with with students about abortion and pro life
laws and all these things. And often a response I
get is, well, women are just going to have abortions anyway,
if you even if you pass a pro life law,
(17:22):
you know, putting a limit on abortion. But I think
your data is showing the exact opposite of that, Like
the fact that abortions have actually there's actually more births
in Texas and abortions have actually decreased, is really showing
the true impact of those pro life laws.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Yeah, we've a lot good research from both the United
States and nationally that you know, laws make a difference.
You know, after ROV wide, the abortion rate in the
US pretty much doubled, you know, pretty almost almost instantly.
I mean abortion was still legal in certain parts of
the country before Row what became illegal everywhere.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Yeah, abortions went up.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
We also go to their National Data comm It's interesting
after the fall of communism, all of Eastern European countries
change their policies. Poland put some very strong pro life
laws in place. It's not completely illegal in Poland, it's
very heavily limited. Abortions fell by a lot in Poland
after those laws took effect. So we see both from
the US and other countries. Also sound in Ireland is
(18:18):
an example of a country that does something wrong or
they liberalize their abortion law. Around twenty sixteen twenty seventeen,
abortions have gone up there. So the law does make
a difference, you know, I mean putting legal protections for
pre board shildren doesn't stop every abortion, but it does
stop some.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
And you illegal protections are a good strategy.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
We have good day the US they had abroad that
you know, if you protect the freeborn, abortion numbers do
a facto go down.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I think it may reflect that this nation or the
country is a country that wants to value life and
then maybe that changes, you know, public how people feel
about protecting life once there's a law pastor.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
But absolutely think you know, I think that you know
law as a teacher, and I think when laws protect life,
that has an influence. And I think that you know,
when you legalize abortion, it has a lot of bad impacts.
Not just as abortion legal, but you have a chain
of abortion facilities of invested financial interest in keeping abortion legal.
You know, they make money, they donate the politicians will
(19:25):
do their bidding. That's a real problem and that's been
a tough obstacle for us to overcome. Also, when abortions,
you know, becomes legal, it creates a more frankly sexually
permissive society. To be honest that I think more people
start taking sexual risks the otherwise wouldn't take. You know,
people gage more sexual activity outside a marriage. That leads
to more intense pregnancies, That leads some more abortion. So again,
(19:45):
when you legalize abortion, it does a bunch of bad things.
When you protect pre board children, that does a bunch
of good things. So again we're on the right track
by by passing these laws.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Absolutely. My question for you is, obviously you do a
lot of this really awesome research, and I've done some
you know, digging on the internet to see some of
the research that you've done as well. What would you
say is the best way to show this data and
present this data to just people in everyday society, right,
like you know, young people who maybe have bought the
(20:19):
lives of the abortion industry, that think that pro life
laws have no impact or that abortion is the solution
for women. How would you how would you suggest you
have any suggestions for like presenting this data to just
everyday people.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
I mean it's very tough.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
I mean, we have very good research, good data, but
you know, we're kind of blacklisted by a lot of
mastory media outlets. I mean, I bless them a chance
to do a lot of radio and a lot of
a little bit of TV, but most of the hits
I get are from Catholic or Christian or conservative outlets,
which is fine. I mean engaging and informing my own
team is certainly a good task and what I'm happy
(20:58):
to do. It's really hard to pantry kind of the
mainstream media and you get the good news about you know,
our laws out there.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
We just have to be persistent.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Though thankfully the mainstream media does not have the power
it used to, you know, with the Internet, with social media,
with podcasts, you know, with conservative Christian, you know outlets,
we can circumvent the media. Uh, it's just important to
project good information out there. However, we can you know,
be creative about things, you know, whether it's just with
(21:26):
their own friends and you know, our circle of influence,
whether it's tailing on a college campus, whether it's right
going off bed for the school paper, whether it's bringing
the speaker to campus. You know, there's all conds ofways
get ideas out there. It's nothing that's going to be easy,
you know, be wonderful with uh, you know, the major
nightly new shows highlighted the latest and greatest pro life research.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
I don't think that's going to happen.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
But we just have to use our own sphere of
influence to you know, affect and influence and form as
many people as we can.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And I think the more that we share, uh, these
pro life stories and statistics, that perhaps the more the
mainstream media will be listening to it and they will.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Want to respond to.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
It, or maybe they've not heard it presented like this before.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
You know.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
I think I think truth, even as a way of winning,
got in the end, you know. I mean, I think
you can only live alive for so long, you know.
I think that you know, uh, good research and good
data mean. One thing I've always told friends of mine
about active of publishing is that if the data back
you up, you will win.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
There's a corollary. Winning sometimes takes a long time, but
you will win.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
And there are things, you know, media outlets have come
around on, you know, even findings that were disputed a
long time ago.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
You know, they kind of concede that, you know, we're
right about that.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
You know, for a long time there was all kinds
of questions about, uh, you know, raising children, and you know,
what's the best situation for a child to be raised in?
And Christians conservatives always said that children knew best when
they're raised by their own biological mother biological father. Now,
there are many single parents out there that work very
hard and do a great job.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
There's other arrangements out there that you have worked out for.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
People, But in general, the children do the best again,
you know, statistically, when they're raised by their own biological
mom and biological dad. And frankly, you know, academia has
come around to agree with us on that.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
You know, the data is just so overwhelming.
Speaker 5 (23:22):
They can't with a straight face say no that some
other rangements work equally well because the data just isn't
there for them. So again, you know, the truth does
have out in the end, we just be faithful and
do our job.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Well.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
I can confirm that because I studied human development and
family sciences in college and we actually read that data
at my public university. We read that data that says
that children do best when they're raised by a mother
and a father, and that was at a public university Yukon,
so you were correct about that. But yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
It's like, well there a mother and a father like
the way God formed a family, and seems like it's
the right, the right way to do it. So I
wanted to ask about your students, doctor new like you
work with the younger generation, what do you see in
(24:18):
your students in this generation and what can you share, Uh,
your interactions not nothing specific, but here's sure.
Speaker 5 (24:27):
I mean, I'm blessed to be a Catholic university. I
don't deal with the random cross section of students, but
I'll say the CUA attracts, you know, different kinds of
people at different stages of faith development.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Some people are very interested in the Catholic faith.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
But I'll also be other students who are here by
and large because they have a chance to play a
sport they enjoy competing in.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
There's other students who's like the fact that in Washington,
d c.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
And where you can get to Capitol Hill in about
a half hour from our campus. And uh, you have
other students who like a particular acad of program that
we may offer. So I do find that there is
common real hunger for the truth and are more interested
in pro life issues today that I was in college.
I mean I was, actually I've told you both. I
was at Dartmouth in the mid nineteen nineties.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
I'll just be honest.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
When I was at Dartmouth and the mid ninety nineties,
if your pro life, it was, for lack of a
better word, just weird. You know, this is a very
odd It's just for somebody to have, even in conservative circles.
I mean, I did a lot of consertive political work
in Dartmouth as a student. When I think about my
friends who were working with me, I'd say about a
third of them were pro life and thought was important.
A third of pro life on paper, there was just
(25:32):
another issue to them, and a third of the kids
again act me involved concerned politics. We're pro choice, support
legal abortion by and large. You know that's not the
case today. You talk to Writing Center of Students and
most universities, almost everybody who's like an executive of the
College Republicans is going to be pro life. And it
does see a popular position, but it's become less weird.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
You know.
Speaker 5 (25:54):
I have a lot of conversations, especially other schools, where
people would tell me I understand why you think the
way you do.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
I never heard that at Dartmouth, or at least I
didn't hear it very much.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
But even O there's schools, you know, later on with
an development of ALFRA sounds, with other things that probably
Boom's done, people do at least understand and respect our position,
I think more than they used to. So you know,
we're all this for the long haul. But I think
there's reasons for optimism in the future.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
I think, as you know of a big fast Students
for Life that I really enjoy the summit. It's great
seeing a thousand and two thousand kids in building a
culture of life. The Calvaries coming behind me out of
christ and Hawkins toldy this, But I have some claim
to being the first ever faculty advisor in sfl A history.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
We got the group off the ground, and you might
find the story of music.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
We law students who want to join the group, but
nobody actually wanted to run the group, so I took over.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Everybody.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
There is a life chain this weekend, okay, so everybody
has three jobs number.
Speaker 4 (26:50):
When you're a to the life chain, you bring a
friend of the life chain. Number three.
Speaker 5 (26:55):
You're communicate with one other group about the life chain,
your dorm, your team, your fraternity, your I don't care
your church took a group, any group, just let them
know about it, encourage them to come and life shat happened.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
We know about ten twelve people came. We have a
pro life signs for now. It was fine. I bought
coffee afterwards.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
First event in the books, so I'm thinking about next
week and then a kid walks up and me, he goes,
you a professor, it's kind embarrassing you rite a student group.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
I want to think over great a winner Johnny Coleman.
So stay in touch with it.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
So that's a great strategy.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
First advisor in your history.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
That's awesome. No, that's a great strategy. And you know,
I love what you said about you know, just the
fact that most right of center students are pro life
nowadays and like it's less weird to be pro life
because I would say that's my experience being an original
coordinator for students for Life as well on campus. Like
I I feel like you're right, Like most right of
center students would say that they're pro life and that
(27:50):
I think it is a less as you said, as
you put it, weird perspective to have nowadays for young people.
So doctor New, well, thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I wanted to ask one more questions. True, that's okay,
sorry I have This is like very interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
So doctor New, you're in the DC area. Can you
talk about what it's like to be.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
At near d C and uh part of the culture
of life there with you know, the government and politicians
and lobbyists there.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
What is that like? Its interesting?
Speaker 5 (28:26):
I mean, theream is kind of a strong, you know,
pro life subculture. I mean, I joke, there's a dozen
people of the pro life movement. We all show up
with things. So we have a lot of good don
profits doing great work, SBA, Pro Life America, you know
Loisures of their research ARM.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I'm affiliate there.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
I know the people America's you had for Life, I
know the people National Right to Life. Those other groups
aren't singulars who pro life do good work. So there's
Family Research Console, there's you know, certain Women for America.
There's other groups that are so there is kind of
a nice, strong you know pro life culture that you
can find in DC, but sometimes it doesn't reflect the
(29:02):
broader area. You know, we see that we're Sawa consoling
when I'm not from the Planned Parenthood on twelve twenty five.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Four Street, Northeast. Yeah, people are not like they're roses
at me. In general.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
You know, we get a lot of stark and pushed
back from passers by, and you know, we just offer
it up. You know, we smile, We wish them well.
If somebody does, we have a serious conversation. They're not
trying to distract us. We do try to engage them
a bit. But it's interesting. I mean, you do have
a lot of other prolite people, a lot of people
working on this issue with related issues, so you know
there are you know, you're not isolated, but it's also
(29:36):
countercultural because that's not most of the city really believes it.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Does one last thing, doctor new is do you have
anything that you could encourage our listeners or give them
hope for the culture of life in America? In for
twenty twenty five and the next and beyond. What do
you see that is hopeful.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
And where there is a long haul?
Speaker 5 (30:05):
Okay, there's no magic bullet out there. You know, nobody
has a magic wand that's going to end abortion overnight.
So any one thing, it's everything. It's prayer, it sidewalk consling,
it's legislation, it's politics, it's raising money, it's giving money,
it's pregnancy health centers.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
There's no shorte of work to be done, so we're
all in this front of the long haul.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
The one thing I always tell prolafe audience is to
give them encouragement, is that even before ov Wade was overturned,
we cut the US abortion rate in half between nineteen
eighty and twenty seventeen. So a woman, you know, in
twenty seventeen was half as like to have had an
abortion that year as their counterpart was back in nineteen eighty.
And if the abortion rate was what it was in
(30:45):
nineteen eighty, if it'd never fallen, there'd be a million
more abortions every year. So by getting active, you know,
we save a million lives every year, and we spare
a million women from a lifetime regret.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
So we succeed to get the abortion rate done, that's
very rare.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
The only other countries that have had success getting abortion
numbers down are pulland that effectively made abortion pretty much
illegal in Japan and a.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
Massive portunity collapse.
Speaker 5 (31:08):
Besides those two countries, we're the only one, at least
among industrialized countries that saw this big decline.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
An important thing to remember about decline is why it happened.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
And the reason why abortion numbers fell is because a
higher number of untended pregancies are being carried to term.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
It's not because a contraception, there's not.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
The intended pregancies weren't happening is when they did happen
with and we're choosing life.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
So why they choose life? One of three reasons We
just changed their minds, you know, you know education, Uh.
Speaker 5 (31:34):
We have more resources through pregnancy up centers, or we
passed strong pro life laws protect women and children. So
it all flows back things prolifers do, education, service legislation.
So you know we're gonna We're never promised to smooth
diidepath the victory. There'll be aggravations, setbacks, appointments where there's
a long haul and we haven't made real progress.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
We shouldn't forget that.
Speaker 5 (31:54):
We need to keep up our efforts, you know, be faithful,
be holy, and just do our best to build a
culture of life.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
So absolutely, could we should we close in prayer?
Speaker 4 (32:04):
Jessica Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Okayeah no, I'd love to all right, I can, I
can start my father Son, Holy Spirit, Amen, Lloyd, thank
you for this opportunity today for our episode in the
Ever Living Podcast. Thank you for our special guest, doctor
Michael New. We pray that his words today and the
research that he's doing in the pro life movement bring
(32:28):
light onto this issue and the impact of pro life
laws to save more lives and save more women from
a lifetime of regret. Thank you for the show, and
we pray that everybody has a great rest of the week. Amen,
Father the Holy Spirit, Amen, and doctor New. Where can
people find you? Where can they read your research? And
(32:50):
where can they follow? Can they follow you on social
media as well?
Speaker 4 (32:53):
Best thing New?
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Twitter is the best way to you know, follow me.
I'm at Michael Underscore Jay Underscore New. That's Michael Underscore
j underscored New. He goes to a friend of me
on Facebook. If you were proaly activist, we probably some
friends in common, so I will accept you your friend request.
Also on Instagram, but I don't post much there except
pictures of myself History team praying outside of the worst facility.
(33:15):
But it's a good thing to do. So getting but
x slash Twitter is the best way to reach me.
And every article, every interview, including this one, I will
post there.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Awesome, awesome, great.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
So do we have time Doctor new every week? Jessica
and I we share a pro life or a life
affirming Bible verse. You're welcome to stick around for that
and it's just me and Jessica sharing or.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
If you have one too. But Jessica, do you have
a yea life valuing Bible?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Okay, go ahead, I do. So. I picked Genesis one
twenty eight, and this is when Adam and Eve are
in the garden and you know, God has just created them,
and this is basically what it says is and God
bless them, and God said to them be fertile and multiply.
So this is a direct instruction from God to have
(34:10):
children and to find joy in those children. And I
think that that is just a pure example of the
pro life movement. And yeah, the value of children and humanity.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Yeah, I think if humanity stopped at Adam and Eve
the end, it would be pretty small world.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
The Bible verse that I chose is from Luke.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Fifteen Versus four to seven. So Jesus told them this parable,
What man of you, having one hundred sheep, if he
has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety
nine in the open country and go after the one
that is lost until he finds it. And when he
(34:59):
has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he comes home he calls together his friends
and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for
I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so
I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous
persons who need no repentance. So this file of verse
(35:20):
reminds me that.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Even out of one hundred sheep, if there's one that
is lost, that Jesus cares about even that one. Even
though you could say, oh, there's ninety nine others, why
not just leave the one? But like Jesus loves every
one of us, and we'll, you know, find it.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
There's value in all of our lives and all of
our all human life.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
So yeah, doctor.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Nude, do you have anything to add or we could.
Speaker 5 (35:51):
I'm going to give the favorite verse for sowal counsels
everywhere parverse twenty four, Verse eleven.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
Rescue those were being taken.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
Away to death, hold back those who are stubling to
the slaughter.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
Hm. Wow, that's powerful. Rescue this, yes, well, that is powerful.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Thank you for joining us today, Doctor new.
Speaker 4 (36:14):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Thank you, well, we appreciate it, all.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Right, Culture Life, the Grant State, thank you you too.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
All Right, everyone, see you. Thank you for listening to
the ever Living Podcast. If you have scripture questions or
things you'd like to share, please feel free to email
us at ever livingpod at gmail dot com. Also make
sure to follow us on Instagram at ever dot living podcast.
(36:45):
And if you like this podcast, please make sure to
subscribe and share with a friend and give us a
five star review. See you next week. May God bless
you and be very near to you, and may you
be ever living