OPINION:
You can be forgiven if you’re politically exhausted. Once upon a time, election season began after Labor Day. Lately, though, it seems that just as one campaign season ends, the other one begins. It’s a trend that risks having many tune-out candidates and critical issues the closer we get to November.
I hope you’ll resist the urge to turn away. Apathy is dangerous and destructive. Every single election matters and voting is a privilege and an important responsibility.
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Americans won’t just be selecting a new president this year, of course. Every seat in the House of Representatives is up for grabs, along with one-third of the United States Senate. As a result, the fate of key issues related to life, religious freedom, parental rights, and a host of other critical issues hangs in the balance.
For example, voters in 10 states are being asked to codify a constitutional right to abortion. These radical initiatives are on the ballot in Florida, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, New York and Maryland.
Extremely well-financed organizations and entities like Planned Parenthood are pouring tens of millions of dollars into the campaigns. And they’re on a winning streak, having already won seven straight votes, including in the “red” state of Ohio.
SEE ALSO: Jim Daly: 2 years after Roe was overturned, abortion remains a battle of the heart
These extremely well-financed efforts have already outspent and overwhelmed pro-life forces in seven previous state votes.
In the previous seven states that have either passed pro-abortion referendums or defeated pro-life initiatives, the problem is clear. Yes, those who are pro-abortion are voting against life. Those who are convictional pro-life are standing firm. But the “mushy middle” voters who may have previously opposed Roe are falling for the lie of the Left that unless pro-abortion laws are in place, women will die.
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Tragically, many Christians who, though believing that a pregnancy is in fact human life, are reluctant to ban abortion because they believe pro-life laws jeopardize women’s health as well as their outright survival. It’s a fallacy.
These pro-abortion initiatives ban limits on late abortions, ban parental notice laws, and clear the way for taxpayer-funded abortion. In fact, they go far beyond what Roe v. Wade authorized.
As I’ve said, every vote will matter this year.
If you doubt that it will, you’ve probably never heard the story of Jamison Shoemaker. In 1836, he cast one single vote that set off a chain reaction of political moments that changed the course of our nation’s history.
Mr. Shoemaker, an Indiana farmer, was so busy working his fields that he forgot it was Election Day until a neighbor reminded him. Mr. Shoemaker got to the polls just before they closed. The race for State Representative was tight. In fact, it was tied. Mr. Shoemaker’s last-second vote swung the election to a man named Madison Marsh.
On Election Day a few years later, a three-way tie in the Indiana Legislature left a key U.S. Senate seat unfilled. The responsibility for casting the tie-breaking vote and deciding the entire election fell to Madison Marsh. His one vote elected James Harrigan to the U.S. Senate.
Now, fast forward a few years to 1845. The United States Senate is deadlocked on whether the territory known as the Republic of Texas should be officially recognized as the 28th state in the union. Who cast the deciding vote? Indiana Sen. James Harrigan.
Jamison Shoemaker’s one vote elected Madison Marsh, whose one vote elected James Harrigan, whose one vote elected Texas to statehood.
One vote really does have power. Your one vote really has power – but only if you get out there and cast your ballot.
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Jim Daly is president of Focus on the Family and host of its daily radio broadcast, heard by more than 6 million listeners a week on nearly 2,000 radio stations across the U.S. He also hosts the podcast ReFocus with Jim Daly.
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