By John Michener

I enjoy leading sea kayaking tours in the Gulf of Maine, where the average tide change over a six hour period is eleven feet. But the ebb and flood do not come evenly over that time. Near a tide change, the water is very slack. Not much is happening. Then energy builds in the middle of the tide cycle. Even then it may appear nothing is happening. There is no visible current, sound, or foam, but the water is moving in a powerful way, bringing dramatic change.

Ideas within movements run like the tides. After the long-awaited overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the pro-life movement (PLM) was at slack tide. Not much was happening. Ideas within the PLM were swirling in different directions as activists began to figure out which way to turn. At the time the majority view within the PLM was that states should never prosecute women for killing their own preborn children. In contrast, a minority within the PLM has argued that without the threat of prosecution, the killing would continue unabated. Those predictions have proven true.

According to the latest figures from the Society of Family Planning (SocietyFP.org), killing by abortion has continued to increase across the U.S., and even in the fourteen states with nominal abortion bans, at least 14,870 abortions per month are provided under shield laws which protect clinicians who mail abortion medication to people in states like Oklahoma and Arkansas.

I believe the tide has turned on this point. In greater and greater numbers, pro-lifers are now calling for equal protection of their preborn neighbors. The energy is building. Recently, several well-known conservative culture influencers have announced their support for equal protection. They are household names for many of us, and they have great influence. Even Abby Johnson, who not long ago opposed equal protection, has changed her mind. They said:

“[W]e affirm the principle of equal protection for the preborn, recognizing that the same laws protecting born people from violence and destruction…must protect preborn children; and…we call upon lawmakers to remove legal immunities that allow the intentional killing of preborn children to continue, and to enact laws that provide full and equal protection under the law from violence and destruction, from the moment of fertilization.”

The tide has already turned in Oklahoma. Last year, House Bill 3038, which would have extended equal protection of the law to children in the womb, as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, had the unprecedented number of twenty-seven sponsors, representing roughly 1.5 million Oklahomans. This overwhelming level of support for any other legislation would be a layup for a slam dunk. But in his first year as leader of the State House, Speaker Kyle Hilbert buried the equal protection bill deep in a hostile committee where it was refused a hearing. Similarly, in his first two years as leader of the State Senate, Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton was not supportive of equal protection. Furthermore, throughout his tenure in office, Gov. Kevin Stitt never attempted to secure the right to life for preborn Oklahomans, and he directly refused to support such pending legislation.

For some reason, our current leaders cannot read the tide, and they insist on fighting it. In 2027 legislative leaders will likely continue to uphold and protect the genocide of Oklahoma’s preborn human beings unless they have a change of heart or are led in a different direction by the new governor.

If Mike Mazzei becomes the next governor of Oklahoma, will he demand equal protection for the preborn? Mazzei has clearly stated that “life begins at conception.” Well, that is a undisputable scientific fact. Even pro-choice and pro-abortion people grant that each abortion kills a unique individual human. The pertinent question for each candidate and governor is, “What are you going to do about it?” In his survey with the local National Right to Life affiliate, Mazzei answered that those who kill their preborn children by abortion “should not be prosecuted.” This is troublesome.

Instead of providing the means to prosecute one potentially guilty woman for slaying a child, our elected leaders, with each abortion performed, have definitely allowed the execution of another perfectly innocent little girl or boy without due process of law. I believe in giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, especially those who are new to the job. I believe that the governor, senate pro tem, and speaker must have reasonable objections to equal protection; otherwise they would be on our side, the side of most pro-life Oklahomans. If these men are going to refuse to do their duty to protect the innocent, uphold the right to life, and extend equal protection of the law, then they need a good reason. The burden of proof is upon them. Gentlemen, what are your objections? “Come, let us reason together.”

Soon, the demand for equal protection will become the dominate view within the PLM nationwide, as it appears to be in Oklahoma. The energy is building. The gravity of the moment is drawing more and more of us together and strengthening our voices. With God’s help, the call and demand for equal justice will soon become a flood tide, bringing an inflow of life-saving water to wash away the blood of our innocents. It’s only a matter of time. The tide has turned.