Hold the Line!

What the Government Shutdown Means for the Pro-Life Movement

We are in the midst of the great counterrevolution. There are no major victories for Catholics at this point - this is trench warfare. We're fighting inch for inch. Hold the line.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Blog) - On a crisp fall afternoon, the freshman senator from Texas dug his feet firmly into the senate floor, determined to duel through the drudging hours of a filibuster.  "The American people want to stop this madness and so do I," demanded Senator Ted Cruz.

In March, Senator Rand Paul, M.D. spearheaded the constitutional crusade with his filibuster to protect the right to privacy. Just in case anyone thought that the liberty uprising was a fad, Ted Cruz served up a 21-hour "Don't Tread on Me" marathon.

Contrary to reports about the end of the movement, the twenty-first century tea party is making D.C. listen, rattling the capitol's cage with filibustering and a non-negotiable stance on American values, on protecting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With Obamacare attacking each of those founding principles, the tea party members of congress stood their ground, greasing the government towards a political gridlock. Welcome, 2013 government shutdown.

Since the proposal of Obamacare, pro-lifers have mapped out numerous ways in which the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would promote the abortion industry. Right now, the government shutdown is a major win for the pro-life movement. Right now, all eyes are on healthcare and government's role in that realm. Right now, we're witnessing a year of individual congressmen stopping history in its tracks - we're witness to the value of the individual, to the gift of life. Right now is the time to step up the pro-peace, pro-life message. America and D.C. are listening.

With less government, the principle of subsidiary returns to its fundamental role in a free and functioning society. While the shutdown is not putting an end to Obamacare, it affords Americans the opportunity to remember that we can survive without a massive federal government. Maybe we'll even remember that physicians can treat patients without government intervention.

Even though Congressional leaders were unable to fight off the HHS mandate and fully protect our First Amendment, and the religious liberty guaranteed to us therein, these men and women held firm and forced the fiscal and operational structure of the U.S. government to halt. The tangible victory for us, this time, is that the shutdown forces the Department of Health and Human Services to cut around 52% of its staff, just in time for Obamacare's debut. With fewer employees to enforce the HHS Mandate, subsidiary is now in effect, and the overall enforcement of this mandate will be much more challenging than originally planned.

No, the Republican Party is not holding America hostage. With the state and the private sector in an all too unfavorable equilibrium, the shutdown has shifted that equation to the side of liberty. We're taking a step towards the constitution and the American principles of subsidiary and limited government.

We are in the midst of the great counterrevolution. There are no major victories for us at this point - this is trench warfare. We're fighting inch for inch. Hold the line.

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