With Roe v. Wade overturned and abortion policy now up to states, last week’s midterm election was the first real chance to see how Americans would vote on the issue. It wasn’t pretty. Pro-life ballot initiatives in at least four states were defeated, while voters in other states entrenched abortion through referenda or constitutional amendments. Worst of all, nearly 53% of voters in Montana voted against a referendum that would require medical care for infants born alive.  

So, what happened? As Brad Littlejohn of the Davenant Institute asked on Twitter, “What do you expect after the Right leans hard into the rhetoric of individual autonomy for years? people have been programmed to pull the lever for more ‘rights’ every time.”  

Killing inconvenient babies has long been framed as an issue of “rights,” not what is right. Until the love of neighbor is a part of the political conversation again, voters will treat some neighbors as disposable.