In the battle for the unborn, control of the U.S. Senate is incredibly important.
You see, the Senate confirms or rejects judicial and Supreme Court nominations as we’re seeing now with the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
But did you know there are 5 pro-life women running for Senate whose races could determine whether pro-lifers continue to control the Senate?
This year, among the 35 seats in the U.S. Senate up for grabs, five of them are being contested by pro-life women.
These five women want to give the unborn a voice in American legislation, and they want to give pro-life women a voice in the halls of Congress.
Meet them now:
#1. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming)
Cynthia Lummis, a rancher and attorney from Cheyenne, has been a public servant for nearly her entire adult life.
In her 41-year political career, Lummis has served as a state representative, state senator, and state treasurer for the state of Wyoming, in addition to representing Wyoming in the House of Representatives for eight years from 2009 to 2017.
During that time, according to the National Right to Life Committee, she held a 100% pro-life voting record.
In 2015, during the U.S. House’s hearing on Planned Parenthood, Lummis gained some national attention for aggressively challenging Planned Parenthood’s repeatedly-debunked claim that abortions comprise only 3 percent of their services, countering that abortions were the source of 86 percent of Planned Parenthood’s non-government revenue.
Being a Republican from Wyoming, one of the most deeply red states in the country, Lummis is predicted to garner more than double the votes of her Democratic opponent, Merav Ben-David and is considered a virtual guarantee to win her race.
#2. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi)
Cindy Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer from the small town of Brookhaven, became the first woman to represent Mississippi in Congress in 2018. She is a devout Baptist and ardently pro-life.
“I am so firm on protecting children in the womb,” she once told an audience in her home state. “I said, ‘What kind of pagan country do we live in that says it’s OK to kill your baby, but you’ve got to do it in the first 12 weeks?’”
Like Lummis, she has also leveled sharp criticism at Planned Parenthood, saying, “Planned Parenthood is one of the worst things that has ever happened to us.”
Hyde-Smith is expected to easily defeat Mike Espy, her Democratic opponent.
#3. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
Joni Ernst, the first female combat veteran to serve in the US Senate, has occupied one of Iowa’s two Senate seats in 2015.
She has vocally advocated against abortion for many years. In 2019, she introduced a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and redirect the funds to other providers of women’s healthcare.
She has also supported the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, as well as legislation banning abortions after about 5 months of pregnancy, when unborn babies can feel pain and survive outside the womb.
Ultimately, though, as she said at the Family Leadership Summit last year, “We want to prevent abortion.”
She states on her website, “As a mother and a grandmother, I am committed to defending life, because protecting our most vulnerable is an important measure of any society.”
Her race against Theresa Greenfield is expected to be one of the closest of the 2020 election and may well be the race that determines whether Democrats take control of the Senate or Republicans retain it.
#4. Kelly Loeffler (R-Georgia)
Kelly Loeffler is a businesswoman who was appointed to replace the retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson.
When she was first appointed to Isakson’s seat, she introduced herself to the Georgian people, saying, “I am a devoted wife, a proud patriot and a devout Christian.”
Now, she is contesting to retain the seat she currently occupies for the rest of Isakson’s term.
Because this is a special election, she faces both Republican and Democratic contenders. If no candidate gets 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff against each other.
Either Kelly Loeffler or her fellow Republican Doug Collins will likely go on to the runoff against Democrat Raphael Warnock, and either would be a pro-life vote in the Senate.
However, some have questioned Loeffler and her commitment to the pro-life cause due to her holding a minority stake in the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA which is closely associated with Planned Parenthood.
These criticisms have led some to argue that Republican Doug Collins would be the better and more pro-life candidate to take on pro-abortion Democrat Raphael Warnock in the runoff.
#5. Martha McSally (R-Arizona)
Martha McSally, the incumbent junior Senator from Arizona who served in the US Air Force for 26 years, is in a tough race to retain her seat.
She has stated that she believes abortion should be a “state issue,” but supports banning abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother’s life.
She received a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee in 2019. Carol Tobias, the president of National Right to Life, said of her, “Senator McSally has worked to see that all innocent human life is protected, and she is committed to strengthening a culture of life throughout the nation and in the U.S. Senate.”
McSally is the clear underdog in her race against Mark Kelly and trails him by about five points in the polls.
The bottom line:
All five women are endorsed by the Susan B. Anthony List which is one of the most prominent pro-life advocacy groups in the nation.
Many pro-choice advocates accuse pro-life advocates of wanting to roll back women’s rights. That accusation will ring hollow in the ears of millions of pro-life women who will be casting a vote for their pro-life representatives.
These women, and other pro-life women running for public office, have no desire to roll back women’s rights.
Rather, they want to see the humanity of all human beings acknowledged and protected, including that of human beings still in their mother’s womb.
Abortion is not the only major issue that concerns preserving the dignity and value of all human life. There are many other positions it’s important to consider when evaluating each candidate.
But these five women have made their public position on this matter clear – the unborn are human beings with human rights.
