Fighting Abortion in a Post-Dobbs America (Guest: Prudence Robertson)

With the fall of Roe, the fight against abortion has taken new directions. What is the state of the pro-life movement today, and what needs to be done to make abortion illegal and unthinkable in all 50 states? We’ll ask the host of EWTN Pro-Life Weekly these important questions.

Crisis Point
Crisis Point
Fighting Abortion in a Post-Dobbs America (Guest: Prudence Robertson)
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Links

• ETWN Pro-Life Weekly
• Prudence Robertson Twitter account

Transcript:

Eric Sammons:

With the fall of Roe V. Wade, the fight against abortion has taken new directions. What is the state of the pro-life movement today and what needs to be done to make abortion illegal and unthinkable in all 50 states? That’s what we’re going to talk about today on Crisis Point. Hello, I’m Eric Sammons your host and the editor chief of Crisis Magazine. Before we get started, I just want to encourage people to like and subscribe to the channel, let other people know about it. We always appreciate that. Also, you can follow Crisis Magazine on all different social media channels and our handle is just always @crisismag. So our guest today, we have special guest today, Prudence Robertson, who is the host of EWTM Pro-Life Weekly. She used to work for the National Pro-Life Group, Susan B. Anthony list, before that. EWTN Pro-Life Weekly airs every Thursday night at 10:00 PM Eastern Time. She has been featured in numerous national media outlets, including the Daily Caller, Washington Times, and the Federalist. Welcome to the program, Prudence.

Prudence Robertson:

Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

Eric Sammons:

Okay. I have the most important question first. Did you or did you not have the greatest confirmation teacher ever?

Prudence Robertson:

I did. I had the most fantastic confirmation teacher ever. His name was Eric Sammons and he taught me everything I need to know about being a warrior for Christ when I was becoming confirmed.

Eric Sammons:

Very good. So for those who, probably most people don’t know, but prudence actually was the same age as my oldest daughter. And they were in the same home homeschool group together. And our parish priest very nicely allowed me to teach all the homeschool kids confirmation. Prudence, your sister was also in it, Anna. And I’m not making this up, that is seriously one of the best things I’ve ever done as far as… I really have great memories of it. That was such a great group of kids. I loved all you guys and it really was great.

Prudence Robertson:

It was so great. And we actually held most of the classes at my house, I think, or maybe we switched locations or something like that, but I remember such fond memories too. Some of my closest friends growing up were in that class together and you taught us so well. We had an expert teacher.

Eric Sammons:

I muddled through and you guys seem to have turned out okay, so I couldn’t have screwed you up too much. So let’s get started. A little bit about you first, though. Why did you decide to get into full-time pro-life work?

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah, well, ever since I was very young, I’ve been very pro-life. My family raised me to be pro-life and my sister, Mia, who was in that confirmation class with me, she is 23 days younger than me and she was adopted from Vietnam. And so her adoption story is really what first enabled me to understand what abortion is because the alternative for a lot of women, unfortunately, to adoption is abortion. And I just became very aware of the fact that had Mia not been adopted, she wouldn’t have been a part of our life and our family would’ve been so different. And so that really motivated me to fight for the right to life of all people, all unborn babies. And I got my start in the movement, praying in front of abortionist LeRoy Carhart’s late-term abortion clinic, that was in Germantown for a long time, which was about 15 minutes from my house.

Since then, that clinic has closed down, praise God, but Carhart still performs abortions in Maryland and Bethesda and has a late-term abortion facility in Nebraska as well, so that’s kind of how I got my start. And then I knew I wanted to work in politics, work in DC and the pro-life issue was the one that I was the most passionate about. So I was blessed to get an internship at the Susan B. Anthony List, which is now called Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. And I worked in their communications department for about three years, really just learning the ins and outs of the movement, who the key players are, what’s at stake. And that’s also how I got to know Catherine Hadro, who was the former host of Pro-Life Weekly. And that’s how this opportunity came about for me as well through that job at Susan B. Anthony List, so that was my journey here.

Eric Sammons:

And I remember our families both in front of Leroy Carhart’s abortion clinic when it first started up, we were still in Maryland at the time and it was just awful. For those who don’t know, he’s one of the few abortion providers in the country who does very late term abortions. And he started up in Maryland, I guess that was around 2008, 2009, something like that. And we spent many a days in front of that clinic and I was very happy to hear when it shut down, but of course, like you said, he’s still operating. So we need to keep working. Now, like most young people, your entire life has been lived in not only a Roe world, but also a Casey world. So how did you react when Dobbs came down?

Prudence Robertson:

So I was at the court that morning and a lot of people weren’t exactly sure what day it was going to be because, for people who don’t know, the way that it works is these cases that the Supreme Court considers each year, they don’t tell you the exact day or time when they’re going to release an opinion or a decision on a case, you have to wait and they release the days that they’re going to announce opinions, but not the exact opinions. And so a lot of people thought that Dobbs wouldn’t happen that day, but regardless of that, pro-life groups had been out in front of the court at every possible decision day so that when the decision came down, we would be ready to celebrate. So I was at that mindset as well. I was like, okay, I probably won’t happen today, but all head to the court anyway, just to see.

And I just remember walking towards the court and starting to hear a lot of cheering, a lot of excitement. And I was like, wow, I think it’s happening. And then yep, sure enough got the notification on my phone that Roe versus Wade and Casey had been overruled. And it really was a moment where you just had to stop and praise God because we’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, since before I was born, long before I was born. Since Roe versus Wade was first decided, America has been under the thumb of really just some of the most extreme abortion jurisprudence in the world. Most people don’t realize that Roe versus Wade allowed for abortion on demand up until the moment of birth in our country for far too long. And a lot of countries actually got ahead of us in that period when it comes to protecting life. The majority of European countries have limits on abortion at either 15 or 12 weeks.

So the fact that we in America, the leaders of the free world, were allowing abortion on demand up until the moment of birth. It was unconscionable. And so it really was a cause for celebration and for rejoicing. And I think one of the things that struck me the most was that this decision came down on the feast of the sacred heart. And that really just highlighted for me how much of a spiritual battle this is and what a great victory we have won. It was certainly a cause for rejoicing among all of us in the movement.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah, I will admit, I mean, I’ve been involved with pro-life work since the early nineties, for a very long time, and I’m not a real emotional guy, but I teared up. I mean, I just couldn’t help myself. It was just because… And mostly was thinking of all the people who have done so much. I mean, just the warriors who came before us who have just done… I mean, particularly those who go to the abortion clinic every week, week in and week out. You and I both know people like this that they’re there every single week and they just never stop going and it doesn’t matter what the weather is, especially in states where all of a sudden now abortion is basically at least restricted or banned, even, I mean, it just was very emotional to think about all the work that had been done. And like you said, the spiritual connection of the fact that it came down the feast of the sacred heart, also this year, which was the nativity of Saint John the Baptist. So it really was just an amazing and emotional day, really, for all of us.

Prudence Robertson:

Right and answer to prayer for sure. And the thing that made me emotional too was just thinking about all the babies that are going to be saved and you’ve seen these pro-life laws start to go into effect. And in states like Texas, the abortion numbers have been cut in half. It really goes to show how important it is to change the laws, even though changing public opinion on this issue is a whole nother battle. You’ve got to have those pro-life laws really setting the tone for the way our nation is going to operate when it comes to this and saving these unborn lives.

Eric Sammons:

So for 50 years, the pro-life movement was directed towards the number one first goal was the overturn of Roe. And now that we have that, how does the pro-life movement have to shift? What should the focus be now?

Prudence Robertson:

Right, so what overturning Roe versus Wade did very simply was it put the power back in the hands of people in the states. And now instead of being a one front battle where we’re trying to overturn Roe versus Wade on the national level, it’s a 50 front battle. We are working to enact laws in all 50 states that will protect unborn lives. And thankfully, this is also a cause for rejoicing, the day that Roe versus Wade was overturned, there were already about half of the states that had pro-life laws on the books. My last count of this was 24 states have either enacted laws or moved to enact laws that essentially ban abortion. Now, 14 of those states laws have actually gone into effect and the remaining 10 are facing legal hurdles or perhaps there’s pro-abortion executives governors that are blocking those pro-life laws that are already in place.

So now it’s really about going into those states, figuring out what the unique strategy is going to be in all 50 states and making sure that that happens. It’s not going to be easy in some states. I think Michigan is a really good example of this, where since 1931, they’ve had a law on the books banning abortion, but because they have an extreme pro-abortion governor now, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, there’s no way that law is going into effect. So we have to be talking to people on the ground, making sure people know about her extremism and working to get her out of office in November, so that’s just an example of the type of strategy that we’re going to need to take. And again, as I mentioned, that’s going to happen in all 50 states.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah. I’m going to put up this map on the screen that is from a pro-abortion website. So like they say, expanded access protected, not protected, not protected means good. Hostile means good, legal. And for those who are watching, you can see the lay of the land. Obviously, the darker is the best, the darker it is. And so like you mentioned, Michigan, they listed as, I think, hostile or not protected. Yeah.

Prudence Robertson:

Hostile, yeah.

Eric Sammons:

Hostile, but the situation there is the governor there she’s extremely pro-abortion. And so while it’s hostile, really, she has to go, right?

Prudence Robertson:

Right. Yeah, and what’s very fascinating about this is that in Michigan, the legislature just failed to install in November, they wanted to have a vote on abortion and essentially enshrine the right to abortion in the state, put that in the constitution, but they couldn’t get enough votes to even have that be a vote in November as a ballot referendum or initiative, so that just goes to show Michiganders are totally against this extremism from Governor Whitmer. I mean, this woman kept churches and grocery stores closed during COVID-19, but kept abortion facilities open and deemed abortions essential care. And this is not what Michiganders want and they have to make that known in November at the ballot box.

Eric Sammons:

Let’s talk about another state right now, which is Kansas. And we all were very excited, obviously when Dobbs fell, when we heard there’s going to be the vote, but of course it failed. So what I want you to do, if you could, could you explain exactly what was on the ballot and then maybe explain why you think it failed?

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah, happy to. So Kansas on the ballot had an amendment called the Value Them Both Amendment and it was a confusing amendment. I’ll just start by saying that. I think one of the main reasons that it failed is because people really didn’t know what they were voting for. And these ballot initiatives, these referendums, they have a history of being notoriously confusing. So a lot of people in the movement, while we were disappointed that this happened, it wasn’t a huge surprise, but this amendment was actually a neutral amendment. It simply would have made it so that there can never be a right to abortion stated in the constitution, simply that that would not be allowed in the state. And legislators would have the ability, the power to legislate on abortion as they’ve been elected to do, so they could pass a 15-week limit, a 20-week limit.

If they wanted to allow abortions up to a point, this would still be allowed, should the amendment have them passed, but that being said, it was a pro-life initiative and that pro-life people were pushing for it. And the end goal of we in the pro-life movement is to end abortion in these states. And I think the ultimate reason that this failed is because the abortion industry knows that. They know that we are working to end abortion in the country and now with Roe versus Wade to overturned, that has been made abundantly clear. And it’s very interesting, too, the pro-life movement has always had an incremental strategy, but the overturning of Roe threw that out because they didn’t just say you can only pass 20-week limits on abortion. We’re only going to ban late-term abortion. They said every state has the power to do whatever they want on this issue.

And that means that half of the country is going to ban abortion because the majority of Americans don’t want the extremism that we have had. And so in Kansas, I think you were just seeing people on the pro-abortion side really being motivated to make sure that abortion was still going to be accessible. And I just think we weren’t totally on the mark when it came to the support that we had for that amendment. And so unfortunately, it failed. The left was really good at labeling this as a total ban on abortion and something that was totally going to constrict women and something that was going to be really dangerous for the “fundamental rights of women,” which we know is a total lie, but they really had the higher ground on the messaging here. And they were able to confuse a lot of people and convince them that they needed to vote now.

Eric Sammons:

So it seems to me that the majority… So you have your two “extremes.” One would be basically what Roe V. Wade was, which is abortion on demand, all nine months. And then you have what we want on the other side, which is complete not one abortion at any time, anywhere is legal. It seems to me that the majority of Americans are closer to what we want, but they’re not really there. And it seems like most of them would take six-week, eight-week, 12-week cutoffs, but if you present it as either complete abortion or no abortion whatsoever, I feel like they’ll say, well, if I only have those two choices, I’d rather have complete abortion then no abortion. Does that seem to be your sense or my too pessimistic about the American people?

Prudence Robertson:

No, no. I think that’s exactly right. I think a lot of people, even though Roe versus Wade is overturned now, people didn’t even realize the extremism that that allowed for. And because of what you just mentioned. The left has the ability to say, no, we still want to allow you to have some abortions. We don’t want to limit you to having no abortions at all. And so I think you’re right, that a lot of people just don’t realize how extreme it is.

And it’s really a hurdle now, the pro-life movement, a challenge we face is helping people understand that we are on the side of common sense. We are the ones fighting for the position that is actually more aligned with what these people believe. I mean, the Democrats want people who are strongly pro-life to use their taxpayer dollars to fund brutal late-term abortions, but people don’t know that and it’s frustrating. I’m starting to get somewhat pessimistic as well. It takes a lot to get people to understand just the simple realities of this issue. And I agree with you, I think there’s a huge education gap when it comes to what people really know about this.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah, don’t get beat down like me Prudence.

Prudence Robertson:

I’m doing my best over here. I’m doing my best, but it’s hard.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah. Oh yeah. I know it is. So do you think in most states is the best strategy… I know it depends on the state because what you do in Alabama, for example, is going to be different what you do in Oregon or something like that, but do you think it’s wise then in these states that are a little bit more mushy, a little bit more purple, I guess you’d say, to try for 12-week bands or something like that or do you think we should always try for, let’s go the full way and try for a full ban?

Prudence Robertson:

That’s a really good question. And you’re hitting smack on the head something that is really kind of a cause for debate within the movement right now, I would say. I think one of the biggest hurdles right now is that there are some members of Congress, some pro-life groups who think we should be fighting for all out bans on abortion. And I can see where they’re coming from because when you look at how this has played out in just the couple of months since Roe has been overturned, you have half of the states wanting to completely ban abortion. You only have really one state right now where there’s a 15-week limit enacted that’s what is standing and that’s in Florida. That 15-week limit has been enacted and babies are saved past 15 weeks in Florida, which is a great win. I think it’s important to emphasize that we’ll take what we can get.

It’s important to save every single baby. And it’s better to have a 15-week limit on abortion than no limit at all, but I think you really have to look at the way that this is playing out on a grand scale. And if the Supreme court is saying if you want to ban abortions, do it, then pro-life Congress people, people in the pro-life movement should be messaging that way. We should not be afraid to say what we really want, especially because now just like in Kansas, as we were talking about, the Democrats know that that’s what we want.

We shouldn’t hide behind incremental limits anymore if we don’t have to. And so I do think there are some states like Florida, for example, where we have to work with that 15-week ban. And we have to keep working to move that mark closer to conception, to fertilization, take that win, but also not be afraid to go on offense here. We have the higher ground and it’s got to be a full court press now to protect these babies. We have the resources. We have pro-life pregnancy centers throughout the country that are ready to come alongside these women and we’ve got to use them.

Eric Sammons:

Did you see the clips of the Babylon Bee guy on Joe Rogan’s podcast?

Prudence Robertson:

I did, yes.

Eric Sammons:

What I thought was amazing about that was it was a great educational moment. I think his name is Seth Dylan. Is that right?

Prudence Robertson:

Yes. Yeah, that sounds right. Don’t quote me on that.

Eric Sammons:

Right. Whoever knows, knows, but anyway the Babylon Bee guy and I just thought it was amazing because it was clear Joe Rogan, who has the most popular podcast on earth, he has one of the biggest audiences on earth and he is a knowledgeable guy. He researches these things. He clearly did not know what the status was of abortion before Dobbs and he didn’t really understand. And I think that’s very common of a lot of people in America, like you were saying. And I think though, making the point that if we’re going to have a line, well, if we’re all going to follow the science of where the line is that a person is protected by law, I think Dylan was saying something like is it some magical line when they go through the birth canal? Is it a magical line at some arbitrary date, 15 weeks?

The only thing where something happens is actually conception, scientifically that is. And so I think you’re right, that we should never apologize for the fact that we believe abortion should be illegal 100% of the time, but I also think realistically getting laws passed right now because of the woeful education of most Americans and we’re not going to gain any help from the media, except for EWTN of course, then we’re just going to have to pass what we can. Like here in Ohio, where I live, we have a six-week heartbeat type bill and I think that’s great because it’s shutting down all the abortion clinics here because most women, they don’t necessarily know that they’re pregnant at that point. So ultimately for them, it is a complete ban. I mean the abortion clinic we all go to, the Planned Parenthood here and Cincinnati, they’re not doing abortions anymore. So this is a great thing, even though it’s a six-week ban and technically, I would prefer an at conception ban.

Prudence Robertson:

Right, absolutely. And like you say, we have to take those wins when we can get them. And in Ohio, that is essentially almost a ban on abortion. And so praise God that abortions aren’t happening at that facility. And I agree with you on that, for sure.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah. So I think we should be realistic and I have seen some pro-lifers who will attack the incremental laws and I just don’t think that’s a good… I don’t see why to do that because saying that abortion should be illegal after 15 weeks isn’t saying that you like it before 15 weeks, so I think it’s okay. It’s just saying, yeah, all these babies should be protected. I’m protecting half of them at least, let’s try to see what we can do, but I know it is a debate. Okay. So now what should individual Catholics… Most of us, we don’t host a pro-life TV show or anything like that and lot of people aren’t even involved in pro-life groups or anything like that, but they’re pro-life and they live in a state now where it is debatable and maybe it’s not California or something like that, but where it is being debated, what do you think is the best thing that your individual pro-lifer can do to try to make the country more pro-life?

Prudence Robertson:

That’s a great question. I think it really comes down to, we’ve talked the talk for so long in the pro-life movement that we want to save these babies. And now that Roe versus Wade has been overturned, it’s time to walk the walk. We have to make sure we know where our pro-life pregnancy resource centers are. If there’s a Planned Parenthood in your neighborhood, there probably is, there are a lot of them, make sure that you’re praying, you’re prayerfully protesting outside of those clinics. One group that I really look to for inspiration on this level, when it comes to what can I do on the ground is Sidewalk Advocates for Life. This is a group that has chapters all over the country and they have been successful in shutting down dozens of abortion clinics just by their prayerful witness and their testimony to these women as they’re walking into abortion clinics.

So if you’re looking to get involved in a more tangible way in the movement, I think that finding your closest Sidewalk Advocates for Life chapter is a great way to start. Obviously, I think it’s important, too, that we’re emphasizing the humanity of these unborn children. When you have a conversation, when you have an opportunity to have a conversation with someone who might not totally agree with you, we have to talk about what you were just mentioning, which is that the only time that something happens is at conception. And after that, we see so many signs of life and groups like the Charlotte Lozier Institute have great resources for this, where they’ve really laid out what happens at each moment of gestation.

And you can point to so many facts that just emphasize the beauty and the preciousness of these little babies growing. At six weeks, they have the number of times that the baby’s heart has beat, how much blood is pulsing through their veins. They’ve explained that these babies have a preference for their left or right hand at just 12 weeks old. They respond to their mother’s voice. They hiccup, they yawn. So I think those are some really tangible things to point people to help them understand what’s really at stake here. If someone’s on the fence about, is this a life or not? Is this worth protecting? That’s going to be the most effective thing to talk to them about, that baby itself.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah. To me, I’ve always said and I said this at the beginning, that there’s two goals we have. One is to make abortion illegal. And the other is to make it unthinkable and illegal is really doing the political work necessary to change the laws, which great start with Dobbs and now we keep going. And the unthinkable is like you were saying, the education that we do with the people around us, that we make it clear to other people, the people we know that this is a human life and deserves protection. A couple things that I started doing once the Dobbs came down, I didn’t even know the day before Dobbs came down who my state reps were. I don’t think anybody knows who their state reps are. Nobody can cares who they are.

But the day of Dobbs, I contacted both of them. My state rep, the state Senator and said, okay, you need to vote for everything that bans or restricts abortion and if you don’t, I will never vote for you because nobody cares who they were because state reps don’t do hardly anything, it seems like to me, but it’s like now they’re very important. They’re quite important. And so I would encourage people to do that, definitely contact yours. And honestly, run because it’s not like… These people get how many votes and in a lot of these places, they’re getting a few thousand votes to win.

And so run and become one of the people who votes for that in the actual state house. Another thing I did was I added another crisis pregnancy center in an area to support. My wife and I went to a fundraiser for a local crisis pregnancy center. And they said after Dobbs, they had a very large increase in abortion minded women coming to the pregnancy center because they weren’t going to the Planned Parenthood anymore. They weren’t even sure what the status was of abortion and so they went there. And so I do think our crisis pregnancy centers are pricing an increase in women coming to them and so we need to do everything we can to help them as well.

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah, I totally agree. And especially because they’re these pro-choice, pro-abortion groups out there that are straight up attacking these centers. We’ve got to make sure that we’re helping them get all of the support and the resources that they need because the pro-abortion side is now just becoming so hostile to people who think like us, people who want to save unborn babies. It’s very simple, but they’re performing acts of violence now.

You’ve seen over 100 churches vandalized. You’ve seen almost the same number of pregnancy centers vandalized, windows smashed through, so we’ve got to come around these pregnancy centers. And I think you make a fantastic point about running for state rep too. And I’ll also just say one thing that I’ve learned is that that is not a full-time job at all. Even if you’ve got a lot going on in your life, running for state rep, it’s only going to take maybe one or two months out of your year when you’re in session and you go and pass laws to save babies. It’s pretty straightforward. And I think that’s a great idea. I think people like us should be running for positions like that.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah. So we’re both Catholic, obviously as a Catholic show here, what can Catholics do in particular? I mean, Catholics have been the heart of the pro-life movement from the beginning. We love our Protestant brothers and sisters and others who join us in the pro-life movement. But at the same time, we have been the heart, let’s be honest. So what can Catholics do, specifically Catholics do, in this time now that like you said, it’s a 50 front fight that we’re in?

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah. I think the most important thing is making sure people understand what the Catholic church actually teaches about abortion. I know I don’t have to tell you this, but with the president that we have in office, people are very confused about what Catholics believe. And he has betrayed Catholics when it comes to this, especially in his recent speech in Pennsylvania. He has made abundantly clear that if you are pro-life, if you are fighting for the sanctity of life, if you’re fighting for the sanctity of marriage for good strong families, he is not going to fight for you. So we really have to take this into our own hands. I’m really thankful for some strong bishops in our country, like Archbishop Naumann. During that Kansas fight, he was going to the pulpit and preaching to people you need to vote yes to value them both, protect these unborn children. So we need to be talking to people in our church about this, making sure that we are the ones who are championing our faith right now.

And I think when it comes to living out our faith is Catholics, it’s really about living by example. If we’re going to restore a culture of life, we need to be the ones doing that. I was very blessed to go to Franciscan University. I know a lot of your children were also able to, some of them are there now with my younger sister, and it’s at places like that where people that are my age and people that are a little bit younger are really going to be formed to fight to restore that culture of life.

So you’ve got to make sure you’re in circling yourself with people who are going to help you in that battle. And it is a spiritual battle and we have to be speaking the truth right now, getting married, having lots of kids and really just equipping Catholics around us to fight this fight. And again, this is our moment with Roe versus Wade overturned. People are starting to realize the extremism that once existed in our nation and we’ve got to capitalize on that. We’ve got to run with it and make sure that the America that we want to live in is the one that we actuate in the years to come.

Eric Sammons:

And I think another witness that we can call people to is the witness you mentioned with your own sister, like adoption that really to be there because it’s great that more babies will be surviving. And that’s what we’ve always wanted. And we’ve always been there. I mean, the whole lie about we don’t care about babies after they are born. We all know that’s just stupid, but the truth is also, though, it will hopefully mean more… I mean, not that we always hope babies are put for adoption. We hope they’re in the best situation for them, but there will probably be more adoptions available. And so Catholic families in particular need to step up.

I mean, adopting a child is beautiful in so many ways, but it also is and always a work of evangelization for a Catholic family to do this because you bring a child into your home who might not have been raised Catholic to be raised Catholic, to know the faith. I mean, it’s just such a great blessing and gift that you’re giving to this child. So you’re giving them more than just life, you’re giving them spiritual and eternal life in so many ways. So I just encourage people to consider adoption. Well, I’m asking for all these big things like run for state Senate, adopt a kid, all these minor things I’m asking people to do.

Prudence Robertson:

It’s easy. Come on.

Eric Sammons:

Yeah, anybody can do it. So before we finish here, we talked about the ways make illegal, what are maybe one or two other ways that we can really try to make abortion unthinkable in our land, where people just look at it like we look at slavery today? That’s really the ultimate goal is we want Americans to look at abortion like we think of slavery today, it’s just this horrible crime that nobody would ever think about doing anymore.

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah. That’s a great question. I really think it’s about having these conversations with people. I think prayer is a really important thing too. That’s something we haven’t really yet touched on, but as Catholics, I mean, that’s our ultimate weapon and I think it’s important to help other Catholics and other people of faith understand the gravity of this situation. When we’re having conversations with people, make sure they really know what’s at stake and make sure they know how they can get involved. And I think sometimes it can be daunting. This is a big mission. We’re trying to save babies from abortion. And so I think bringing it down to something that’s simple, something that’s tangible is really, really important. And so I think just having conversations with people as they come and just praying to the Lord that you can be his vessel and speaking the truth about this.

I think another great thing to do is to be supporting pro-life organizations that are in your area. On the national level, rather, I’ll just mention a few of them, things that you can share on social media and stuff like that. Live Action, Students for Life of America, they’re doing a great job of making sure people know what abortion is via their amazing videos. They’re talking to students on college campuses and things like that about the reality of abortion and what you can do to save babies. I think promoting the work that they’re doing is so important. Again, we mentioned Sidewalk Advocates for Life and just your local Right to Life group. Most cities, most counties have one or even on the state level, there’s a Right to Life group that you can get involved with. And so I do think while it’s a big task, it’s about taking it down to the local level and figuring out what you can do, what small thing you can do to save a life, I think is really important.

Eric Sammons:

I think that’s very true, the local part, I really do, to start at your city. If there’s an abortion clinic in your city do everything you can to get that shut down, work with crisis pregnancy in your city, what have you, your state level. And if your state is great, let’s say you live in a state where abortion is illegal, things are going great, you can prayerfully adopt another state like California or something like that and pray for them as well, but I really do think it’s the local level because that’s where you’re going to have the most impact, most people are going to have the most impact. So I think we really need to do that. Support your local crisis pregnancy center, like you said, and pray and prayer, obviously, we can’t do anything without starting with that.

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah. And the person that I always pray to on this the most is Mary because if it wasn’t for her, Christ wouldn’t be able to have come into the world to save us. And abortion is totally the opposite of that redeeming sacrifice that the Lord made and she’s the Mediatrix so if you’re looking for someone to pray to on this, pray to Mary.

Eric Sammons:

Yes. Ask the Blessed Mother and she’s a very powerful intercessor as we know. Okay, well I think we’ll wrap it up here. Prudence, I really appreciate now… So people can obviously EWTN and I’ll link to… I assume there’s a website for EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.

Prudence Robertson:

Yes.

Eric Sammons:

Tell us a little bit about what the show does and what you have coming up.

Prudence Robertson:

Yeah, absolutely. So we report on everything having to do with the pro-life issue. It’s the most important time to be reporting on this as we’ve been discussing all throughout this hour, but yeah, we go into the states. I was in Kansas for the Value Them Both Amendment. We’re heading into some other states soon, really just to make sure people that are living in those states have a pulse on what’s going on with the abortion issue in your area. We talk to members of Congress. We talk to people working with these pro-life groups on the national and local level. And we share stories of miracles, babies being saved, ways that people’s hearts have been converted to the pro-life cause, really anything on the pro-life issue, you can find it in our reporting at Pro-Life Weekly. And we air on Thursday nights at 10:00 PM, as you mentioned earlier, 10:00 PM Eastern. You can follow along the show on our website, EWTNprolifeweekly.com and you can also follow me on Twitter @prupulse to see more about what we’re doing on the show and things that we’re working on.

Eric Sammons:

I will put links to all that in the show notes. It is a great show. You’re doing a great job. I was so excited. I mean, I told the kids, of course, I was like, you’re not going to believe who’s hosting EWTN Pro-Life Weekly! So they were all excited. All my daughters who are friends with you, they were all excited.

Prudence Robertson:

Oh, that’s so sweet. That’s so cool.

Eric Sammons:

And you’ve been doing a great show. You have great guests on there. So I encourage everybody to watch it, Thursdays at 10. And I know you repeat it because frankly 10:00 PM, you start getting near people like my age is bedtime. You repeat it throughout the week and you have clips I know on YouTube and things like that, so I encourage people to check those out.

Prudence Robertson:

That’s right. Yes. Thank you so much for all those kind words and please continue to pray for us and for our mission.

Eric Sammons:

Absolutely. Absolutely. God bless you.

Prudence Robertson:

Thank you so much.

Eric Sammons:

Okay. Until next time everybody, God love you.

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