When you’ve already achieved the status as one of the most radically pro-abortion states in the nation, what’s left to do?

Export your agenda, of course! That’s what Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is doing with his newly established nonprofit, Think Big America.

The seemingly benign name hides a sinister reality–according to the organization’s website, TBA

“builds on the progress that Governor JB Pritzker’s administration and its allies have made in Illinois and takes the fight to right wing extremists all across the country.”

Translation: it funds pro-abortion efforts in other states.

So far, TBA’s only donor is Pritzker, who believes so strongly in the expansion of abortion rights and other leftist policies that he is sowing his own finances into this radical effort. If others choose to support it in the future, no one has to know since it’s a 501(c)(4), sometimes called a “dark money” organization, which is not required by federal law to disclose donors.

Getting back to Pritzker, it’s amazing the amount of spin he and his staffers put on the formation of this new organization, as if his administration’s policies are a boon and not a curse to other parts of the nation. In a video promoting TBA, Pritzker laments

“The end of reproductive rights, widespread book bans, a rollback of voting rights and civil rights, the erosion of trust in our institutions.”

He continues,

“That will be our permanent reality if we don’t act now.”

Just a little fact-check for the governor:

So-called reproductive rights are not rights at all for innocent lives that are violently ended in the womb.

“Book ban” is an inflammatory term used to run cover for obscene material parents widely agree their young children should not be exposed to.

The loss of voting and civil rights to which he’s referring is actually a return to sanity and election integrity, as well as a justified reaction against the woke, critical theory mood that has so thoroughly infected our institutions.

As far as an erosion in trust goes, there are myriad reasons for this, from partisan gridlock and corruption on both sides of the aisle to a woefully flawed understanding of the role of government among a growing number of Americans.

Despite the obvious philosophical errors in TBA’s stated mission, they’re making headway. According to an AP article on the launch of the organization, the group has already funded the fight for constitutional amendments favorable to abortion in Ohio, Nevada, and Arizona. As we all know, that paid off big-time in Ohio just last week. According to the pro-life Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, pro-abortion groups outspent pro-lifers 2:1 on Issue 1, which passed, paving the way to a constitutional right to unrestricted abortion in the state.

Regardless of whether it’s ethical for out-of-state groups to wield this kind of power in state elections, it is legal. And Pritzker isn’t the only one with deep pockets who is pulling strings outside his state. In fact, the Ohio election places him among such unsavory companions as George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.

For the last several decades at least, it has seemed money is a major, if not THE deciding factor in elections and ballot measures. But perhaps what is more troubling and revealing is what this says about the electorate: that slick ads and sensational messaging increasingly have the power to trip up those who identify as conservative.

Since the Dobbs decision, many believers and moderate-to-conservative voters have been cowed or flat-out tricked into voting for abortion protections in the states. It turns out that peer pressure not to “take away women’s rights” can be pretty effective, even in the privacy of a voting booth.

Some high-profile Republicans (including some candidates for the Republican presidential nomination) have begun showing their true colors on abortion, suggesting it’s time we stop fighting. Even President Trump seems to have decided it’s no longer politically wise to stand for the most vulnerable. It’s disheartening, to be sure.

So, are they right? Should we thank God for Dobbs and the handful of states that protect babies in the womb and just abandon hope for the rest? Or do we take a page out of the pro-abortion playbook (stay with me) and redouble our efforts, acknowledging that the most persistent and committed voices are the ones that are largely winning?

It’s been said that the one who defines the terms wins the argument. If that’s true, it’s time pro-lifers take back the words that have been twisted, returning them to their true, original meaning. Words like “choice,” “rights,” “science,” and “compassion,” to name a few.

As far as messaging goes, we must reckon with the fact that these days, many people get their news from social media and do not fact-check what comes across their feeds. This can easily determine the outcome of a pro-life ballot initiative when, for instance, enough voters believe state pro-life laws aim to put post-abortive women in jail (which is false).

Additionally, far too many women (young women, especially) don’t understand reproduction or their own bodies, and with that ignorance comes a fatal naivete about abortion. When you’ve been fooled into believing a D & C (dilation and curettage) following a miscarriage or emergency care for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy are abortions, it’s easy to make the leap to justifying all abortions as lifesaving.

Put simply, we must fight lies with truth.

We are also living in a time when many American Christians would call themselves “personally pro-life,” but believe they shouldn’t have an opinion about other people’s sexual and reproductive choices. This comes from having been catechized more by the culture than by the church and believing the lie that it’s worse to seem judgmental than to let your friends die without Christ.

Too many of our pastors have chosen not to preach on issues they wrongly call “political,” despite the fact that everything is spiritual. Pastors have a duty to preach the whole counsel of Scripture, including on biblical sexuality and its attendant subtopics (LGBTQ+ issues, life, biblical family, etc.). Believers whose pastors preach a feel-good gospel need to leave and find a biblically orthodox church where they will be equipped to live out their faith at home, in their communities, and yes, in the public square.

As to the financial factors at play, we should always be clear on the fact that God doesn’t need our money to accomplish His purposes. However, there can be no doubt that we would see pro-life coffers grow with a renewal of commitment that would come through a much-needed strategic reset within the movement.

Dobbs absolutely gave many armchair pro-lifers a false sense of security. The wind that had for so long blown at the back of the pro-life movement has faltered. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. If those who are motivated by a commitment to a lie can impact policy, how much more might those who stand on the side of Truth?

Since Roe was wrongly decided in 1973, this has been a marathon, not a sprint. In this age of instant gratification, sound bites, hot takes, and no-risk virtue signaling, far too few of us are trained for the long game. But it isn’t too late to learn. We need not despair. Instead, we must remember

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

This was never going to be easy, but we are on the side of the very Author of life, who told us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). We must honestly and prayerfully evaluate our approach to the life issue in both culture and politics and even sanctify some of the effective tactics of the Left.

Even more so, we must ask God for the faith and boldness to speak truth to those held captive by the lies of the enemy, from our friends and family members to those in the halls of power. The shift may come slowly but as we confidently and joyfully speak the truth, even and especially in the face of defeat, hearts and minds will be drawn to Christ and to the truth.

Pritzker and his ilk may have money, but the God of the universe, Whom we worship, is pro-life. Others may export death, but we are called and equipped by the Spirit to extend the hope of the gospel to a lost and dying world.

Let us take courage and keep going.