State Lawmakers Using a Consistent Life Approach
It’s not often legislators combine issues of direct killing over which states have control (unlike war). But now we have:
The proposal would link capital punishment repeal
with prohibitions on state funding for abortion
or physician-assisted suicide
This is primarily to abolish the death penalty since abortion is already not funded and assisted suicide is already not legal.
The Indiana legislature is also considering death penalty opposition from a pro-life perspective.
Referendums: A New Cycle
The 2025-2026 U.S. election cycle has started. This year is an off-year with just a few possibilities (so far, in Ohio and Hawaii). In 2026, there’ll be many, but it’s early:
Nevada passed a pro-abortion state constitutional amendment in 2024, but state law requires amendments to be voted on twice, so it will come up again in 2026.
An Oklahoma petition drive put a minimum wage measure on the ballot, with bureaucratic maneuvers by opponents getting it delayed to 2026.
The Virginia legislature narrowly passed putting a pro-abortion amendment on the ballot (along partisan lines), but they have to vote again on it next year before it actually goes on the ballot.
We’ve had a couple of city votes on abortion and one that may be coming up opposing Cop City and its militarization of police in Atlanta Georgia - https://peace-and-life-referendums.org/georgia/ . Ballotpedia is a good source for state referendums, but generally doesn’t cover city or other local ones, so we appreciate anyone alerting us to those: referendums@consistent-life.org
Trump’s Tempest
Some positive things are happening on preventing abortion, especially funding. How many lives may be saved due to these policies compared to how many lost due to other policies dealing with war, the death penalty, poverty and racism? We can’t know, but the net effect isn’t the point. All forms of killing must be opposed.
The situation is so volatile that specifics of what Trump says will happen, what actually happens, and what the courts allow to happen may well have changed between now and when you read this. They will certainly have changed if you read this a month from now.
But we can say this: any life-affirming policies are most effective in the context of kindness in all policy. When they’re associated with cruel policies, that sabotages the pro-life movement.
We’re hoping for more publicity making this point. Here’s a start in The New York Times:
The Latest on the Blog
Within the need to end war that’s part of the consistent life ethic, we naturally have pacifists but also people who hold the “just war” theory when used to stop aggressive wars. Thad Crouch addresses this in:
Quote of the Week
Jean Schmidt, Ohio Republican state representative
Ohio Capital Journal, January 29, 2025
Abortion, the death penalty, and assisted suicide all undermine the commitment to human dignity. To be consistent with our pro-life principles, we must oppose all three . . .
Our legislation will make sure that the state of Ohio does not fund death and preserves tax dollars for alternatives which promote life. Our commitment to protecting human life must be unwavering; prohibiting state funding for abortion, assisted suicide, and the death penalty creates a consistent, life-affirming ethic that upholds the dignity of life.
