All eyes will be on the Supreme Court today as the nine justices hear arguments in the highly anticipated six-week “heartbeat bill” case, Whole Women’s Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas.
Given the magnitude of the moment and the fact that the state of Texas has been in the middle of not only this case but other pressing national issues, we decided to invite the Lone Star state governor, Greg Abbott, onto the program today.
Governor Abbott has been married to his wife, Cecilia, for 40 years and the chief executive of Texas since 2014. We spoke from his mansion in Austin, an historic home which has served as the official residence of the governor and their families since 1856.
I hope you’ll take some time to listen to the program. I especially appreciate Governor Abbott’s commitment to life. An adoptive father, he has a tender heart for the pre-born. But we also discuss the unique perspective he brings to the sanctity of life issue given his own disability. Wheelchair bound, Mr. Abbott said to me, “Even a person whose life and body has been broken in half can rise up and be governor of one of the largest states in the world.”
During our discussion, Governor Abbott stated, “We should all be able to agree, that every child with a heartbeat should be spared from the ravages of abortion. It’s just that simple. So, from a policy perspective about saving life, we wanted to make sure that a child’s life would be protected.”
Amen, Governor.
In addition to discussing Monday’s Supreme Court case, I asked Mr. Abbott about his support of the state’s ban on Critical Race Theory.
“Critical Race Theory is the antithesis of what God teaches,” he stated emphatically. “[It’s] the antithesis of what the United States was founded upon. Critical Race Theory divides people on the basis of race and then uses strategies to have them attack each other, using race as the reason to attack each other.”
He continued:
“As opposed to uniting people it’s dividing people. And it teaches the contrary of what Martin Luther King Jr. taught us. And that is, we’re to be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin.”
We also discussed the crisis at the southern border.
“We need to understand – this is more than just people who are seeking food and hard work and a better way of life,” he noted. “There are cartel members. There are gangs. There are very dangerous traffickers of the deadly drug fentanyl. There’s all kinds of dangerous elements, including people who are coming from terrorist-based countries. There’s people coming from more than 150 countries across the entire globe across our border. Somebody has to stand up and say, ‘We are going to protect the sovereignty of the United States of America.’”
I’m grateful for the leadership Governor Abbott is exhibiting. As I noted on the program, I’m not coming at this from a partisan perspective. Party affiliation is of little interest to me. We care about issues pertinent to the family – marriage, children and the protection of innocent life. These aren’t “political” matters, they’re moral issues. Abortion is an evil in this country and we need to do what we can to protect every life under law.
Please join me in praying for today’s Supreme Court hearing. And let’s lift up Governor Greg Abbott and all the people in Texas who are currently engaged in one of the great challenges of our time.
Susan M Matthews says
-It is so up lifting to have a Governor who is not afraid of standing up for the unborn. May God continue to Bless Mr. Abbott.