BREAKING: Supreme Court Denies Abortion Activists AGAIN

Breaking news today on Sekulow as the U.S. Supreme Court denies abortion activists again. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you.

Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. As you may have seen today, for the 49th year in a row annually, the March for Life is occurring in Washington, D.C. And I know with my time in Washington, D.C., when I'd be on this broadcast during the march, you can hear the background from our studio there. And even with COVID, I think it's a smaller march, but we are actually going to be joined later in the broadcast by U.S. Senator James Lankford, who is marching right now as we speak on a school choice resolution he's put together, which ties in again the idea that for conservatives, this idea that we always hear from the left that we only care about the unborn, we don't care about the children once they are born. The school choice resolutions, the idea of, yes we do, you need to listen to our policies.

We're going to talk about that some too. Remember, Joe Biden said that press conference. What do Republicans even stand for?

We stand for a lot. You know, and maybe if he opened up some of the windows to the White House today, he would see exactly what they stand for, protecting the life of the unborn. But this comes on an important day because the Supreme Court yesterday again blocked the abortion industry's attempt to stop the Texas law. That's different from the Mississippi case. That case will be coming out this summer, the Dobbs case, which is a direct challenge to Roe. This was the law that set up a civil action where you could report an abortionist or someone who works for the abortionist for a civil penalty up to $10,000 if they violate the six-week ban. Now the court had an opportunity to send this to a judge who was not favorable to this position, but instead they kept it with the Fifth Circuit. This was, again, it's another blow to the abortion industry because in the past, I'll go to C.C.

Howell on this. C.C., in the past, if the Supreme Court had a way to keep an abortion law blocked, that's the route they would have chosen. Yeah, and we would have expected that even in this case that, okay, you're going to allow the Texas Supreme Court to hear it, but you're going to stay the law in the meantime.

But they have not done that. This whole entire time that they have been, that this Texas law has been attacked, the Supreme Court has allowed the Texas law to remain in effect, which of course has had the effect of saving babies' lives. So that is something we would not have seen prior to this current configuration of the Supreme Court. And it's unique as well because what's happening in the Fifth Circuit is they feel like one of the questions is a state law question, and they've asked the Supreme Court of Texas to weigh in, which is another reason the Supreme Court said, no, this is the right place right now. Yeah, well, and that's not an uncommon process for the federal court of appeals to ask the state Supreme Court a state law question.

It's called a certification. We've had this happen all the time. But the case is up on the writ of mandamus, right, Andy?

Right. Mandamus is, the abortionists are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to, mandamus is a Latin word that simply means we order, we order. And they're asking the Supreme Court of the United States, they were denied, to send it back to the district judge who is unfavorable to the view of the Texas law. And the Supreme Court of the United States says, look, we send cases back to the court of appeals. The court of appeals, as Jordan just said, said there are questions of state law in Texas that need to be adjudicated. And the way you do that is you certify the question to the Texas Supreme Court, which is the highest court of the state of Texas to make a determination of what the state law is. And until they do, we keep it with the Supreme Court of Texas and the court of appeals. And it doesn't go back to the trial court.

Not an unusual procedure at all. All of this happening. This is what's so interesting. All of this is happening right now while the Supreme Court has, as you mentioned, were in the Dobbs case, which is could well overturn Roe versus Wade.

Ironically, the 49th anniversary of the right to life march could be the year in which the Supreme Court overturns Roe versus Wade. So I think you're seeing a lot of dynamics at play with these orders. That's why you've got to pay attention to this. These orders are significant because of what they're kind of reading the tea leaves here.

Yeah, that's right. Again, we're going to spend some more time on the case, spend some more time on the march for life today, on the Dobbs case too that's coming out. Again, so all of this too, all this available for you at ACLJ.org. If you care about life and support the work we do for life, this is a great time to support us financially. ACLJ.org.

We'll be right back. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases. How we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists. The ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later. Play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry. And what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Sekulow.

We take your calls to 1-800-684-3110. But again, I want to reiterate as the March for Life goes on today in Washington, D.C. and last year it had to be virtual. But they do a great job organizing. We're going to be joined by U.S. Senator James Lankford. Second half hour of the broadcast from the March. And about a school choice initiative thinking about a whole life approach when we talk about fighting for life. There's a lot of questions too that about, you know, is this going to be the last March for Life under Roe v. Wade?

And it might be, but there will be, and I've talked about this to a lot our team, so much work to do on life if the federal government gets out of the way. Yeah, because what's going to happen is you're going to have a series of state initiatives that will also be challenged immediately. So it returns it to the states, but there will be challenges to the various pro-life states.

States that have a pro-life legislature, pro-life governor. These bills will become law and then what happens is we'll see, those will be challenged. So it may well be the last March for Life under Roe v. Wade. It's not going to be the last March for Life because this issue, we're already representing, look, we represent the state of South Dakota.

So we know what's going on here. But CC, this battle is going to change significantly. Now I will say getting Roe v. Wade overturned will be a major accomplishment because you're going to have a number of pro-life states, CC. Probably a majority in the country. Right, and like we've said all along, getting rid of Roe v. Wade basically gets rid of the bad decision that created and fabricated a constitutional right to abortion, which Andy has said over and over and we all agree there is no right to abortion to be found in the Constitution. So once, if Roe v. Wade gets overturned, it will be a state issue. We will still be fighting for the right to protect a baby's life. Whether that, and we're seeing that with this case in Texas, they want to protect a baby's life at six weeks or at heartbeat. The Mississippi case, the Dobbs case is a 15 week ban on abortion. So these cases will continue on just a different way with Roe out of the way. Well, we're also being contacted by other states already, to be clear.

Yeah, they're looking at two things. They're looking at what we've talked about as trigger laws. I know Ohio, South Dakota, a number of states that have these laws that they're passing in their state legislatures right now that say basically, just to kind of explain it, if the Supreme Court rules away, we hope they do, this law will go into effect just like Mississippi's. It reads almost the exact same in our state that day. And so they're actually already getting those signed onto the desk of governors.

So that they're immediately there. And that one I think faces less legal challenge. But this case like out of Texas, as Cece said, like a six week ban with a civil action instead of a state action. It's different.

Very different. And there's also going to be states that go extreme the other way. There's going to be, California is talking about setting up a flight service for abortions. So the battle is still going to be very much on. But I think when the battle goes back to the people at the local level, how many Californians really are going to be willing to pay for a flight service for abortions?

They're not. So here's what's also going to happen. It's going to return it to the states. There's going to be litigation and legislative initiatives that will have to do with the states to get proactive in all of this. That's going to be important. At the same time, don't think for a moment there will not be, Andy, legal challenges based on state constitutions against us. In other words, this is great news. But believe me, that's going to happen.

Yes. The forum is going to move from the federal side to the state side. The abortionists, the killers, are going to be looking basically now to attack the state laws that are going to be enacted, no doubt, for abortion against abortion. You're going to have California on one side. You're going to have Mississippi and Texas type laws on the other side. But it's going to move to that forum, and we're going to have to be vigilant, and we're going to have to be supporting those states that seek the right to life that they're going to be attacking in the state supreme courts and in the state trial courts around the country. So the battle is just going to move to the state level. But, Cece, that means that being involved both in the legislative process and in the litigation process is critical here.

You've done both, but it's going to be critical. Yeah. Right. And we do get contacted all the time by state legislators wanting to draft appropriate legislation and make sure that it is all legally correct.

And so we assist with that, but we also assist when it is challenged in a court to hold up the law and protect the life of the unborn. And we will continue to do that. Yes, I've been at Washington, D.C., THAN. Last year, unfortunately, the march had to be virtual, but those organizers have stayed consistent for 49 years. They marched in the cold, they marched in the snow.

Last year, they figured out how to do it virtually. We've done a lot of work with that organization before, spoken at their events. I know we're going to be joined by Senator Lankford later, but it is, I think for these activists, there are activists who have been marching their entire lives who see a significant change potentially on the horizon. Yeah, Jordan, it always seems to be the coldest day in Washington, D.C. when this march happens, but it doesn't keep the marchers away. And I'll just tell you, in interacting with a few of them as I came into the office today, there is more optimism this year than ever before. I think there is a lot of hope among the marchers that this will be the last year where Roe is the controlling law of the land.

But Jordan, I would maybe just even point to some evidence on the other side. I think there's actually panic on the pro-abortion side because of that same fact. I think they know that their fight is going to have to shift to the state level as well, and they're going to have to fend off attacks against their agenda on the state level. And here's why they're afraid, Jordan. When you go down to the local level and it's closer to the people, life wins very consistently. Now, that doesn't mean you don't have to fight.

It means you actually have to fight even harder. And one other point I would make, the desperation has set in so much, Jordan, that they are trying sort of a last-ditch federal effort, which would actually codify Roe and would eliminate all state restrictions, both current and future. So even while much of the fight shifts to the states, Jordan, we're going to have to stay focused on the federal level on that effort as well because they will try to continue pushing that. But look how desperate the three dissenters are in this opinion. So Justice Breyer writing for Justice Kagan and Justice Sotomayor writes this, when the mandate issued, I had thought that the Court of Appeals would quickly remand the case to the district court so that it could reach the merits and enter relief consistent with our ruling. Then he says, instead, the Court of Appeals ignored our judgment.

It kept the case and certified the question about the licensing official defendants to the Texas Supreme Court. As a result, an unconstitutional six-week abortion ban remains in effect in Texas. What's interesting about that, he says it's an unconstitutional six-week ban.

Here's the problem. He's only one of three justices that are signing that opinion. The other six didn't sign it. It's a significant shift to the court. Also, our producer, Will, pointed out as well the shift also to give state courts a little bit more autonomy on these issues. To me, it is signaling that shift that these are going to be battles that the federal government is going to get out of. Let me tell you, folks, that is what we've been finding the entire time. I mean, Cece, the entire time has been a state passes something, it's immediately federal court, federal court, all the way up to the, you know, usually oftentimes the Supreme Court.

It was a very difficult road. They never had a chance to implement their laws. Now they're getting a chance to do that. Yeah, it is different.

It's a different day. And again, like we said from the very beginning, the fact that this Texas law has been able to stay in place the whole time this court battle has been going on is amazing. And like Thanh said, fighting it in a state court brings it to a totally different level.

When we get rid of the fallacy that there is a constitutional protection for abortion, that changes the game, I think, entirely. Yeah, but what's interesting here, you know the tactic though, Cece, I don't want to talk to any about this too. You know what the tactic is going to be? The tactic is going to be to return it to the states and try to argue that there is a state right to abortion under the state constitution. That is what they're going to try. We shouldn't be naive here and thinking they're just going to stop.

They're not. No, they're going to try to just transmute the forum and take it from the federal court to the state court. We're going to look at the state constitutions, but they're going to find the same thing in the state constitutions. I mean, Justice Sotomayor, again, she's so virulently in favor of this, she makes the statement in her dissent, quote, I will not stand by silently as a state continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee. Where would you, Justice Sotomayor, please show me where in the federal constitution it says that. And then we're going to be arguing, as Jay said, where in the state constitution does it say that. I know right now, sitting here today, of no state that has a constitutional right to an abortion.

But I bet there's going to be, Jay. So they're going to, Cece, you know, they're going to argue that on a state level. Absolutely. They're going to argue anything that they can. I mean, we see them fight when a law goes in place just to have a sterile operating conditions for an abortion. They fight that. So, of course, they're going to fight this tooth and nail. They're absolutely going to say, like you said, there is a right to abortion.

If it's not under the constitution, then we'll go to the states and argue that there is some state right to abortion. You know what, folks, again, as we come back from the next break, we're going to get into kind of the bigger picture, too. We're going to be joined later in the broadcast by Secretary Pompeo, by Senator Lankford. But there was a comment by President Biden, remember, in that very long press conference, and we didn't get to it yet, where he said, you know, what are Republicans? What are conservatives?

What do they stand for? Well, as I said, there's one thing he could actually see them standing for right now, if he was to open up or turn on the TV, he would see the March for Life. That's one issue of many.

There's school choice. We're going to talk about that with James, Senator Lankford, as well. So as we go into this break, let me encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ.

We believe 2022 is the year for life. We have to redouble our efforts. As we've said, if we're out of the federal courts, into the state courts, fighting for these laws, that states that want to put good pro-life laws into place, go to ACLJ.org, support our work.

We'll be right back on secular. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected, is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases. How we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.

This all ties together. There's always this idea from the left when it comes to the issue of abortion, that the pro-life advocates, all you care about is the child in the womb. You know, we talked to Senator Lakeford later in the broadcast. He is at the March for Life, but we're talking about a resolution that we support at the ACLJ on school choice in the U.S. Senate. Again, a whole-life approach for these children, that we need to give them more opportunities under our Constitution, even believing that those are guarantees that should exist under equal protection. But I want to play for you what President Biden had to say about Republicans and conservatives, and I want to respond. I want you to respond as well.

If you want to talk to us on air 1-800-684-3110, bite four. Think about this. What are Republicans for? What are they for?

Name me one thing they're for. And so the problem here is that I think what I have to do, and the change and tactic, if you will, I have to make clear to the American people what we are for. We've passed a lot. We've passed a lot of things that people don't even understand what's all that's in it, understandably.

Obviously, Than, I mean, it's a scam. Joe Biden knows he's been in the Senate for a long time, politics for a long time, that Republicans have a slew of policy positions that make up the platform of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. One of those is life and the marchers today. The second of those which ties together in the second part of life is school choice. That's an issue. Some of these issues are widely supported, others we have a lot of education to do. Abortion has been one of those issues, Than, where we've been educating people 50 years since Roe vs. Wade to get to where we are today.

School choice is another one of those issues where people have to learn about it, understand the different kinds of school choice. But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to policies that conservatives support. You know, Jordan, the President might want to step outside the West Wing into the Rose Garden for just a few minutes because I guarantee you he will be able to hear one of the things that conservatives are for from down at the March for Life. All he would have to do is step outside.

He'd be able to hear it. But look here, you can go down a whole list of issues, Jordan, everything from low taxation to free enterprise to human rights to school choice to parental rights. There's a whole list of them that conservatives are for. But here's why the President doesn't recognize it, Jordan.

I really do think you can distill it down to this. On almost every issue, the difference between the major parties in the United States of America right now is where they put the trust to make that decision on that relevant issue. And conservatives, by and large, give that trust to individuals.

That's where we think the inherent right was granted by our creator. Democrats in Washington, D.C. right now, Jordan, they don't believe that. They believe that the government is benevolent and should make those decisions for you. So, you know, I could run through literally probably 20 issues where the President knows where conservatives stand, but he disagrees that we should trust individuals on those matters.

And that's where the divide is. Some of them are individual issues, Jordan, like you've talked about, religious freedom, human rights, school choice, parental rights. But, Harry, things like constitutional framework where the people rather than the bureaucrats actually govern. I think that is a revolutionary idea today. It was not a revolutionary idea in 1776 or in 1789. In those periods of time, the people ruled as opposed to the elite bureaucrats who have been seated in office since the Progressive Era. And essentially, they have become the fourth branch of government. They're unelected, they're unaccounted for, and they're unaccountable to the people. The Biden administration, rather than endorsing and embracing a whole life approach, which includes school choice, the pro-life cause, energy independence. The Biden administration, in my view, has endorsed a whole death approach. And the other aspect of this is that we have, and of course we do that with our own government accountability project, Andy, we have focused on government accountability, not bureaucrats running the United States.

That's right. That's what we do through our FOIA request, by the way, Jay. As you know, one of the big things we do is we seek information from the government as to statements that they make, how did you get that, who was involved in it, what decisions were made by the bureaucrats. Look, it's not the bureaucrats, as Professor Hudson says, that were envisioned by the framers of the Constitution to run the country. The central government of the United States is a government of limited, delegated powers. What's in the Constitution, period. Everything else remains with the people and the states, and until we get that through our heads, we're not going to understand what the United States is about. It is about freedom of people to govern, not bureaucrats.

Very simple. You know, I know we played the remarks for our audience who watches the broadcast. They saw Senator Thune of South Dakota speak to what we've said a number of times, Than, which is, you know, we are a country that is like only China and North Korea, which allow abortion the way the United States does because it's been federalized, this Roe vs. Wade.

That may be about to change. But we also talk about that, Than, we're a party of human rights. It has been the Republican Party and conservatives that have called out the Chinese Communist Party about their ongoing genocide. While the Biden administration will recognize it, they're doing nothing about it. They're doing nothing about a potential invasion of Ukraine. In fact, Blinken has announced today that his efforts have failed so far, that they did not make any progress in those talks. He said it wasn't even negotiations.

It was discussions. So, again, I think that sometimes the left baulks at us claiming to be the true supporters of human rights, but we are because we're not bought off by these countries who terrorize their own citizens. Well, first of all, Jordan, on the first issue you mentioned, it's time for us to get off that list. I mean, the rest of the world, even the European countries, Jordan, that are lagging behind on abortion reality, they're way ahead of us on this.

It's time for us to get off that list, and hopefully we will this year across the states. But on the issue of human rights, Jordan, look, I think there's just a big difference based on who occupies the executive branch. I mean, at the end of the last administration, the administration very clearly called out what is happening to the Uighur Muslims in China, even in advance of a very important cooperation between the United States and the rest of the world and China with the Olympics.

They were not afraid to designate this as genocide, and the rest of the world has started to fall in line. But Jordan, this administration just has not done that, so I agree with you that the United States is still leaps and bounds ahead, but I do see a very, very stark difference based on who the chief executive is. You know, I think, again, you go through this list, healthcare freedom, free and fair elections, the idea of integrity of our election system, that that's not a bad thing. The constitutional framework, we talked about it, but also the low taxes, free enterprise, opening up, you know, trying to... Deregulation. Yeah, deregulation, make it easier to start a business, easier to employ people, make the tax code more simple, take the power out of the IRS, don't double the size of the IRS, make it easier to file, do what you're, you know, pay your fair share, but that's it. Harry, we only got a minute and a half here, but you said this the other day, the deregulation issue is as big as the tax reduction issue, maybe bigger. I think that's correct, and part of the value of deregulation is that it is hidden and it's embedded and it empowers the administrative bureaucracy. So it's very, very important in particular industries, including the energy industry.

And so the United States under President Biden has given up its energy independence and instead it wants to give a carve out in terms of power to unelected bureaucrats who wish to impose by force their agenda on the American people, and I think we should reject that. All right, folks, we come back. We'll be joined by Secretary Pompeo, US Senator James Lankford as well. Please join us live from the March for Life. We want you to support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org. That's ACLJ.org, support the work of the American Center for Law and Justice as we fight for life, as we fight on all those issues we just talked about. You know, when Joe Biden says, what do we stand for?

We just spent just a few minutes going through a whole host of issues, of issues we stand for, some that people need more education on, like school choice, others where we've been educating people for decades, like life. We'll be right back. Become a member today.

ACLJ.org. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. All right, welcome back to Sekulow. Somebody reset too if you are just joining us. The March for Life is ongoing right now, 49th annual March for Life.

Last year it had to be virtual this year. It's a limited size that they allow, the permitted-wise, but again, they go through all the processes. You know, when Joe Biden says, what do people stand for on the right, just open up the window. U.S. Senate office, he would have seen this for decades in Washington, D.C., that of course we stand for life, but that it's a bigger approach than just for the unborn. That's why when Senator Lankford joins us from the March for Life, he's talking about a resolution he's putting forward in the U.S. Senate on school choice. So this idea that, oh, they only care about babies in the womb, they don't care about what happens to children after the fact, is just a bold-faced lie.

And we're here to correct those lies. But there's also a major case out of the Supreme Court. Again, it's a procedural issue, but important one, and that is the abortion activists have tried to again take down the Texas law, that unique law, the six-week abortion ban, which is enforced not by the state, but by civil actions, and the court denied the abortion industry's request to move it back to a district court, which was hostile to the law, and instead keep it at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is awaiting a decision from the Texas Supreme Court. And so, Andy, this law, still in effect, no stay. This is the law of the land right now in Texas. That's exactly right, Jordan. The six Supreme Court justices said, we send the case back, we send it to the Fifth Circuit.

This is nothing – there's nothing different or weird about this procedure. This is just Civil Procedure 101. We sent it back to the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit said, there are questions of state law that need to be decided that are not decided that we need to know about. Okay, the way we do that is we refer it and certify those questions to the Texas Supreme Court, and when the Texas Supreme Court tells us what the Texas law is, we will render a decision. But here's what Justice Breyer said, joined by Sotomayor and Kagan. When the mandate issued, I had thought that the court of appeals would quickly remand the case to the district court so it could reach the merits and into relief consistent with our ruling. Instead, the court of appeals ignored our judgment, it kept the case, and certified questions about the licensing officials' defendants to the Texas State Supreme Court. As a result, an unconstitutional six-week abortion ban remains in effect in Texas.

There's only one problem with this, Harry. There's only three justices that signed that – Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer. The other six did not. Absolutely. And basically, Justice Breyer's dissent is a recognition that he doesn't understand the law, and he certainly did not understand the Supreme Court's ruling. And so I think it's very, very important for the American people to put the pressure on public opinion to basically support the Texas law and to see that similar initiatives are enacted throughout the rest of the United States. But getting back to Justice Breyer, he is simply expressing his personal opinion.

He is not expressing a full understanding, at least in my opinion, of the law. So I mean, I think one of the things, Stan, quickly here is this is going to be a pitched battle in the states. I mean, big time. No question about it. The Planned Parenthood and the other abortion forces, Jay, they're going to be out in force.

They have been mainly in Washington, D.C. over the last few decades. They're pivoting even now as we are. They're going to engage this fight just like we will.

And I'll underscore what Stan said. Pivoting as we are. We're already getting prepared for this. We've actually been preparing for it for about a year.

We brought a new staff. We haven't announced this initiative yet. But we've been working on it for a year. We've been working on all the legal things, and it's a big move by the ACLJ because we're such a large organization to start a new initiative the way we're going to be doing it.

I think we'll be able to let you all know about that, hopefully next month. And that will then allow us to really prepare for the state battles, also the legislative battles at a different level. Like you heard, our team is already doing it. You know, when a state like Ohio is thinking about it, they go to our senior councils with it. But there's going to be a lot more states and a lot more state solicitor generals and attorney generals and governors who want to put through laws. And some might want to say, let's go a little further.

You know, maybe we could go a little further in our state. We're willing to fight this out to the Supreme Court. So to say they're not going to be a march for life next year, if the court goes the way we want, it will. It will be different. There will actually be more work to do because we won't just be stuck in the federal court system.

We'll be right back with Secretary Pompeo. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We have created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift.

Welcome back to Secular. We're joined now by our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Secretary Pompeo, I wanted to go to you right on this because we talked about the show this week, but it was pretty shocking when President Biden, even the follow-up by the White House to try and make it better. Now we hear from Secretary Blinken that no progress has been made. But when he basically gave a green light for Russia to have some kind of incursion into Ukraine, what was your reaction when he started saying, well, one incursion would be maybe met with less resistance from NATO and we can't even get NATO together, and a bigger incursion, maybe we'll do something worse?

Jordan, I was really taken aback. This is the worst of diplomacy, to tell Vladimir Putin that it is okay to invade sovereign territory of another country no matter how much, whether it's an inch or 500 miles makes absolutely no sense, even if the reality was that some small something might not have the same impact. Presidents can't talk about that, and I've watched the White House press team and the National Security Council off the record try to clean this up. There's no cleaning it up when the Commander-in-Chief speaks in this way.

It also seconded, Jordan, what we've seen before. You remember when the President met with Vladimir Putin and said, well, you can't attack 16 of our industries with cyber attacks, but everything else is good to go. This is clearly a demonstrated policy of this administration to appease authoritarians. They're doing it in Vienna with the Iranians.

They've done it with the Chinese. And I think this is something that Vladimir Putin probably already knew but saw this week that the United States wasn't prepared to defend the things that matter most to the United States, Jordan. Mike, I want to play for you just a little snippet of what President Biden actually said, because I think this is worth pointing out. We're going to play.

This is bite number six. We'll just play out a little bit. I'll tell you when to edit, but let's go ahead. Russia will be held accountable if it invades, and it depends on what it does. It's one thing if it's a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.

No, I won't stop right there. So you can have a small invasion in Russia from Russia. You know, that may be okay. So I'm thinking to myself, I know a little bit about Ukraine. I've had some experience with Ukraine, if you remember, and that was called a four-week trial. Before the United States Senate, where President Trump was impeached and acquitted, but impeached over a phone call with President Zelensky. Meanwhile, your administration, when you were Secretary of State, provided more munitions, ammunition, and military defense to Ukraine than any previous administration in U.S. history, including Republican, other Republican administrations.

So I think to myself, President Trump goes through an impeachment process for a phone call. Joe Biden invites Russia into a incursion into Ukraine, and the Democrats are saying nothing. Jay, I must say, it's incomprehensible to me too, and the outrage that I hear in your voice, I share 100%.

I lived this experience. And you don't need to be an American who's involved in the political process to get a look at the response from the Ukrainians themselves. Look at Zelensky's response. He says, we're not a minor nation, and there's no minor incursion.

He heard what President Biden said too, and she went out to say, no, we're not going to let that happen for our people. We should be with democracies. We should be with Ukraine. The Europeans should take the heavy lift at defending this place.

We did it. Our administration didn't send 20,000 soldiers. It doesn't make any sense, but we did the right thing to preserve the interest that America had. And to think that the President had a phone call with Zelensky, and the United States House of Representatives spent weeks investigating this and impeaching the President. And now we have this outcome from this President, and Democrats sit silent. That's politics, not security, and it's really dangerous.

Shock and horror is what the Ukraine leadership said when they saw this, Wes. Mr. Secretary, you know Presidents, as you and I and all of us know, have to be very, very discreet with classified and sensitive information, very circumspect in what they signal to the rest of the world. How hamstrung do you think Secretary Blinken was today, your successor in Geneva, and is there any way that we can clean up the mess that President Biden made earlier in the week? You know, Wes, without knowing for sure, my guess is that Secretary Blinken had a very short leash there when he was with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Lavrov, who I know well. My guess is he didn't have much space. There wasn't much he could do.

My guess is, too, that Lavrov looked at him and said, you say you're tough. You say you're going to put these sanctions on. Your President told us we could conduct a minor incursion. So it was probably a pretty unpleasant conversation, too, and put the State Department in a tough place where their leverage, their ability to demonstrate American credibility was really, really limited. Is there any way to recover from that?

Yes. Just as one can recover from the credibility loss when we had 13 Americans killed in Afghanistan, just as you could recover from handing the Russians a pipeline, there are things that administrations can do. But, Wes, I must say I've just simply not seen President Biden show the wherewithal, the gumption, to demonstrate resolve. And I think Xi Jinping, Chairman Kim, who announced this week that he may resume his nuclear testing, I promise you, I can't prove it, but I promise you he wouldn't have done that with President Trump and I in office.

The world is watching what's taking place there and can see that America is in a very different place than it was just 366 days ago. And he made it clear to the world that NATO was not unified, that in fact that they would have to fight about, or the words President Biden used, fight about what they would have to do if it was one of those minor incursions. That they aren't even on board with whatever military action, but also the sanctions that he keeps threading. This was a President who said to the Europeans, if I'm elected, we'll be friends, we'll be great partners. You can forget Trump and Pompeo, who were simply troublemakers. We'll all work alongside each other and kumbaya. You could see from President Biden's words that he doesn't have the Germans fully on board. I think that's in spite of the fact that the Germans have a lot more to lose in this than the United States actually does. They should be the ones leading this effort to deter the Russians from an incursion of any size, major or minor, into Ukraine.

I want to, you know, Harry, I was thinking about this. And Mike, we talked about this, the economic impact of all of this too. We talked about these significant sanctions and all of this, but then Europe could be on the other end of the sanctions in a sense with their inability to do business with Russia, which can cause other problems unless this is handled right.

I think that is correct. And part of the issue is an absence of American leadership to basically provide a pathway for the Europeans to support sanctions against Russia. So what happens then, Mike, if in fact there's this discord in Europe on this?

It all depends. JF, President Biden's willing to lead. When we wanted to sanction the Iranians, the Europeans didn't want to go along. We did it anyway, and it was incredibly effective. We crushed the Iranian economy. We killed the GDP.

We had them down to $4 billion of foreign exchange reserves. It is possible for America to lead. It is better when our partners and friends and allies come alongside of us, and I hope that Secretary Blinken is able to convince them to do that.

You know, Jay, it's worth just one second thinking about what the ramifications are. You talked about economics. For the Russians to move and take Odessa and to close off Ukrainian access to the Black Sea, this has deep economic implications, not only on agriculture and energy, but even more broadly. I think this is what Vladimir Putin is positing.

He's got folks in Belarus and along his west edges. It is not too far stretched to your imagination, something very significant taking place that moves the Russians west, where they would then have Crimea and all of what is today Ukraine's southern boundary in Odessa. Final question for you today, Secretary Pompeo, just shifting gears a little bit. It's the March for Life. It's a March for Life 49th anniversary, but it's a bit different this year because people are awaiting, hopefully, a great decision from the Supreme Court out of the case in Mississippi. We got a small decision out of the Supreme Court today about the Texas case, and there was a good sign there, but a bigger case, a direct challenge to Roe. And people need to see, they keep asking, you know, is this going to be the last March? But in fact, it will be a renewed effort, a redoubled effort for life if the Supreme Court is to do the right thing. Jordan, you know, my wife always jokes that I never smile, and I'm always talking about difficult things. It's true.

The world's a pretty challenging place. This one brings me joy. We are on the cusp of a historic change which will provide deep protections for human life and for the dignity of every human being. I feel joy. I am waiting for this decision.

And Jordan, your point's right. This won't be our last March. We've been marching for years.

We used to host the kids from Kansas who would come in for hot chocolate after the cold march on the Capitol. It was such a lovely thing to see the next generation of pro-life Americans coming to Washington. We'll need to keep it up.

The left and the progressives will continue to attack no matter what the Supreme Court does. But I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will bestow a real blessing on these unborn children and that America will be a place that has more respect for human life than it had since 1973. Yeah, and you know, we're already working, and we have been for a year, on how to then represent states when those challenges become more focused on the states and the states initiate laws. We've been working on that quietly for a year.

We'll announce it at the right time, exactly what we're planning. But again, it is a historic opportunity. This could be the last March for life. It won't be the last March for life, but the last March for life under Roe vs. Wade, which I didn't think I'd see it. But it looks like we're on the cusp. Mike, we appreciate it as always. Mike Pompeo, of course, former Secretary of State, former CIA Director, and our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs. Thanks so much for being with us.

Appreciate your insight as always. Alright folks, we come back. We are going to be joined by U.S. Senator James Lankford. He's at the March right now. He's talking about two, not just the March, which he'll give us a report on in this idea, but also the Senator from Oklahoma's got a new resolution being put forward in the Senate. We talk about a whole life approach. One of those issues? School choice. That's another one of those issues you have to double down on. The Supreme Court's opened the door to it, very much so. So now you've got to fight it out in the states. It's one of those issues. It takes a lot of education for people, but once you do it, you get a lot of support.

We'll be right back. There's a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn. It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org.

Welcome back to Secular. We are joined right now by our good friend of the ACLJ, U.S. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. And Senator Lankford, right now you are, we've been talking about it on the broadcast, so you are at the March for Life. So my first question for you is just, what is the mood like? Because we know there's this major case, the Dobbs case, there's a lot of positive vibes around that that the Supreme Court may do. And so, for this 49th March for Life, was it a different kind of mood this year? Let me just tell you, it is freezing cold out here, but it is like being at a college football game. There is so much energy and enthusiasm in the crowd.

It is really remarkable. I don't know how many March for Life events, but it is a different kind of electricity this year where we have so much anticipation that we're going to finally be in a post-Roe America in the months ahead. I just said, this is Jay, Senator, I just said to Mike Pompeo, who was just on with us, our Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, I said I didn't know if I was going to see in my lifetime the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, but I think we're on the cusp.

I mean, it could be literally any week now. I mean, I think we're getting down to where, you know, in about a month you start really looking for when the opinion is going to come out. But talking about kind of a whole life approach, I know you're at the March for Life right now, but you've got legislation right now that you've put forward that deals with school choice. And that is something that when COVID hit, we've always been involved in, but we really got involved.

We helped 1,800 families during that period of time. Tell us about this legislation. Yeah, the basics of this is you have to allow parents to be able to make decisions for what's best for their child, and it's even child to child. And this is not a discriminatory issue on public schools. This would be public schools, private schools, parochial schools, charter schools, magnet schools, home schools, all of those options to be able to be out there for those individual parents to be able to make a decision on what's right for their individual child. You may have an older child and a younger child or have five children and know they're all different. And so right now how we're set up is if you live in this house, no matter what your child's like, what their educational needs are, this is what you're mandated to go to. We know that's not best for children to give them more individual options and give those parents more options. That strengthens how we do education in America, and it gives the option for especially faith-based parents.

They'll make sure they're guarding their kids to be in a place that doesn't discourage their faith but actually matches their faith. I feel like, Senator Lane, for the school choice movement, which we've been a part of in educating people, because people get nervous sometimes about it, but when COVID hit, it got so much more support. It got so much more people were open to the ideas, whether it's vouchers, whether it's straight-up school choice, these different programs, and they're just sick and tired of hearing, and we hear it every day from some school administrator, that it's not the parents. It's the state and the school board that should be setting, and the parents should stay out of it.

And people are kind of sick and tired of that. Yeah, parents need to know that they're not being cut out of their own child's education. Parents need to know that they're being supported, not discouraged in their own child's education. They don't want to send their child to a school that their school tells them their parents are not good decision-makers for their family and undercuts their families. They want to know that they're an active part of their child's education, and every teacher will tell you education is better if parents are more involved.

So the key issue about this is let's keep parents involved, and let's give those kids the options to be able to go where it's best for that child. One of the things you point… By the way, not anti-public school. Everybody says school choice is anti-public school. No, it's not. The vast majority of our kids will be in our public schools.

We want those to be strong as well. It's not anti-public school, but it is giving every parent the option, even within public schools. Senator, one of the things you talk about in the legislation, in the preamble actually, is the critical race theory issue, and that has become a big trigger. And Harry Hutchison, our senior counsel for policy but also law professor, has talked about this issue of critical race theory. And I'll go to the senator in a moment, but Harry, give a really tight definition of what that is. Well, critical race theory is essentially a disguised form of Marxism that would basically separate the parents from the educational process.

And so, in other words, students would become controlled primarily by the state, and this would be a state led and controlled by progressive elites who seek to destroy and overthrow the foundations of the United States and the rule of law. And Senator, my own grandkids, and you see this creeping into private schools even, that they've had to deal with this whole critical race theory, and when these early six and seven, eight, nine year olds, they're not even thinking about race in any negative way. And all of a sudden now they're, you know, being really put in a very awkward situation, Senator.

It is. It's incredibly painful when we see this. The fight here is they'll say, well, you're just anti-history. For those individuals of us that are passionate about our history and are passionate about our nation, we love going back and talking about our founding and our principles, and we look at our country, warts and all, and say, here's mistakes that were made and here's how we've grown. But here's the strength of our Constitution that allows us, even when we've made mistakes as a nation, to be able to continue to be able to make changes and to be able to grow as a country. We're stronger, we're better as a nation than we were 200 years ago, but we're not trying to destroy the foundation, which what critical race theory does is to say, all that's evil, everything else needs to shift. People need to be guilty for the sins of their great-grandparents and need to face condemnation for that.

Each person stands before God under that accountability for their own actions and their own life and their own decisions on that. But where we find lack of opportunity for individuals, we destroy that as a nation and say every person has equal responsibility, equal opportunity, and people are not punished for the consequences of their grandparents. Senator Langford, why is teaching, you alluded to it, and I think this critical race theory is so important that we focus on the horrible nature of what it seeks to do. But say once again, why is teaching students that they are guilty or victimized based on the color of their skin an anti-American concept? It is an anti-American concept because of the most basic principles of our nation that every person is responsible for their own action and every person has the opportunity to be able to succeed.

And where that opportunity is blocked, we take away any barriers to that so that each person can do that. But this critical race theory teaches in its core that there are oppressed and oppressors. And if you have a certain color of skin, you're an oppressor no matter who you are. If you have a certain color of skin, then you're an oppressed no matter who you are. That violates our most basic principle that every person is created equal in the image of God and every person has equal opportunity in the greatest nation on earth.

So we don't want to teach people, sorry, you can't succeed because you're in this class, you're in an oppressed class, or that you shouldn't try to succeed because you're an oppressor class. We want everyone to be able to succeed in our nation. Senator Lakeford, a final question for you. I know you're at the March.

I appreciate you joining us live from the March for Life. But the idea, too, that unfortunately right now, I mean, I see it's a partisan issue. Even in Build Back Better, we saw the provision for early childhood education, but it excluded religious schools who provide the majority of that early childhood education in our country and they wanted it cut out. So this is another one of those key distinctions between the left, which is controlled by the teachers unions, and what the state telling you, you know, everything and the parents, you know, scared to even show up at a meeting, versus a conservative approach to giving power back to the parents.

Yep, that's exactly right. And the more that we can actually say, hey, we're not discriminated against people based on their faith or lack of faith that in America, in this great nation, you can have a faith, change your faith or have no faith at all and you're respected. What the left wants to do is to say, I'm sorry for people of faith, then we want to exclude you from being connected with your own government. We have multiple Supreme Court cases, the Attorney Lutheran, multiple others that continue to affirm that we cannot have a nation based on our constitutional principles where people of faith are deliberately excluded by their own government.

But the left seems to be obsessed with finding new ways to exclude people of faith in their own government. Senator James Lankford Kopp talking to us from the March for Life in cold, cold, cold Washington, D.C. Senator, thanks as always for being with us. We really appreciate it. You bet.

Glad to be able to even talk with my lips so frozen. We appreciate it. Folks, your support of the ACLJ makes all of this possible. Go to ACLJ.org and follow us on all of the social media apps.

Very important to do. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org