The Final Outcome May be Uncertain, but the Pro-Life Generation Knows Who We are Fighting For – Women and their Children, Born and Preborn

“The Pro-Life movement has been fighting for a life-affirming culture against great odds for almost five decades,” said SFLA/SFLAction’s Kristan Hawkins. “While we wait to see how this election plays out, we will not stop advocating for an end to the human rights atrocity of our day – abortion — which has resulted in more than 62 million innocent lives lost.”

WASHINGTON D.C. (11-04-2020) – As an unprecedented election nears its end after a year few will ever forget, Students for Life of America/SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins called 2020 “a year requiring extraordinary patience, which we can now practice again as we wait for the final election results.” She continued, “The stakes could not be higher in this election, and while we stand by to learn the final outcome, I am so proud of the contribution of the Pro-Life Generation to an election effort that met people wherever they congregated – whether at their doors, in their communities, or on-line.”

Students for Life/SFL Action celebrated victory in a number of races thanks to the efforts of volunteers and staff who worked tirelessly to rally pro-life voters at both the federal and local level. The Pro-Life Generation applauded our win of U.S. Representative Debbie Lesko over Michael Muscato in Arizona; our wins in Florida of U.S. Representative John Rutherford over Donna Deegan, State Representative Paul Renner over Adam Morley, and State Senator Travis Hutson over Heather Hunter; the win of U.S. Representative Tim Walberg in Michigan over Gretchen Driskell, as well as State Representative Bradley Slagh in the state against Christopher Banks; in Minnesota, State Senator Roger Chamberlain won against Justin Stofferahn in Minnesota. We celebrated significant wins in Montana, with Governor-Elect Greg Gianforte against Mike Cooney, U.S. Senator Steve Daines who fought off a challenge from Steve Bullock, as well as Rosendale against Kathleen Williams and State Senator Dan Salomon who won re-election against Chase Porter Gay. There were similarly significant victories in Texas, as U.S. Representative Chip Roy prevailed against Wendy Davis; State Representative Andrew Murr also won against Joe P. Herrera, as did State Senator Dawn Buckingham, against Clayton Tucker. In Washington State, U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers won re-election against Dave Wilson. Another called race in our favor included State Representative Donna White who won against Linda Bennett in North Carolina.

There are still several races Students for Life/SFL Action took part in canvassing for, which have not yet been called. We are standing by and hopeful for state races in Arizona with State Representatives Anthony Kern and Shawnna Bolick against Judy Schwiebert, as well as State Senator Paul Boyer against Douglas Ervin. We are watching the U.S. Senate races of John James in Michigan against incumbent Gary Peters, as well as incumbent Senator Thom Tillis against Cal Cunningham. We are likewise waiting on Tyler Kistner and Nick Freitas’ races against U.S. Representatives Angie Craig in Minnesota and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, respectively, and on Karen Sherman’s race for State House in Montana against Tom France and Drew Murray against Brian Sims in the Pennsylvania State House.

While Students for Life/SFL Action canvassed for candidates who were not victorious, we nevertheless thank our student volunteers and staff for such efforts and will not let these losses get us down or impede our efforts in working with candidates to fight on behalf of the preborn. Such races included U.S. Senator Martha McSally in Arizona, who was defeated by Mark Kelly; Jane Dirks who lost her State House race in Kansas to Mari-Lynn Poskin; Gina Johnsen who lost in a challenge to Angela Witwer for a State House Seat in Michigan; Elliott Engen who was challenging Ami Wazlawik in Minnesota; and Dan Forest, who was challenging Governor Roy Cooper in North Carolina.

And, while we are saddened by the news that Proposition 115—which would have limited late-term abortions past 22-weeks in Colorado—was defeated, we take heart in that Louisiana’s Amendment 1, offers protections to people in a Post-Roe America by amending that state’s constitution to note that there is no right to an abortion or right to funding for one.

“What has also been game changing in this election cycle is the transformation of so many young people into passionate pro-life first voters. No matter the outcome today, there are new advocates added to our number ready to get to work,” said Hawkins.

MORE ON SFLA/SFLAction IN THIS ELECTION CYCLE: Students for Life and Students for Life Action engaged in multiple states through in-person door knocking, calls, texts, and mobilizations on campuses, calling on voters to #VotePro-LifeFirst  as well reminding people of  the importance of who gets to pick Supreme Court Justices, given the way in which the human rights issue of our day was hijacked by the high court 50 years ago.

In the final stretch, SFLA/SFLAction launched a new, 6-figure campaign buy in a 48-hour GOTV blitz this Monday and Tuesday designed to rally voters aged 18 to 35 to #VoteProLifeFirst. To accomplish this 48-hour GOTV blitz, SFLAction made more than 1.5 million personal text messages to cell phones, sent nearly 900,000 voicemail messages to land lines as well as launched a six-digit ad buy on social media. Among those contacted in this blitz were 273,000 new voters who were considered swing voters on the life issue as well as more than 1 million pro-life, yet low propensity voters who hadn’t voted early this fall in the following 9 states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Students for Life’s GOTV blitz follows up extensive fall grassroots campaign in which SFLA/SFLAction team members and volunteers …

• Made more than 523,022 phone calls
• Contacted more than 1.6 million, primarily voters
• Sent more than 2.18 million personal text messages
• Knocked on more than 150,000 doors

The #VoteProLifeFirst digital media campaign included 85 different image ads and multiple videos reaching voters whose views on abortion vary and were seen more than 8 million times. More than 2.28 million voters engaged with the efforts this fall, including the 107,000 young voters who pledged to vote pro-life first as a result.

Students for Life of America’s “Sock the Vote” campus tours also went to 46 states, calling on new voters to prioritize abortion which ends 2,362 lives each day. Students used baby socks as part of the display. This followed a very successful earlier campaign, “Sock it to Planned Parenthood,” during which SFLA held events and traveled across the country with a truck carrying 328,348 baby socks, representing the number of abortions Planned Parenthood commits each year.

In October, SFLA/SFLAction went from Alaska to Florida in a 10-state #Justice4Life tour on behalf of now Justice Amy Coney Barrett, an extension of the SFLAction Activism Weekends that included more than 731,000 voters contacted. SFLAction conducted similar student trips over the summer, knocking on more than 50,000 doors and making more than 200,000 phone calls to educate voters in Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kansas before key Republican and Democratic primaries.  Click here to read more about SFLAction’s results in this cycle. For a look at student stories from the #Justice4Life tour, including Philadelphia where police were called to stop students from peacefully chalking, click here.

For interviews, contact Kristi Hamrick at [email protected].

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Students for Life Action (SFLAction) is the 501c4 sister organization of Students for Life of America (SFLA), the nation’s largest, pro-life, student organization with more than 1,240 groups on middle, high school, and university campuses in all 50 states. Students for Life has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world. 

Students for Life of America (SFLA) is the nation’s largest, pro-life, youth organization. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, SFLA serves more than 1,240 groups on college and university, middle and high school, medical and law school campuses in all 50 states. Student pro-life organizations work to confront policies on their campuses to support pregnant and parenting students, to end Planned Parenthood’s relationships with schools and communities, and to change minds of their peers about abortion. SFLA has more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry every day, week, and year than any other pro-life outreach in the world and mobilizes the Pro-Life Generation to confront abortion at the local, state and national levels daily. Every week, Students for Life entities reach more than 2 million people across social media platforms to have nearly 200,000 digital conversations with the most engaged pro-life online audience in the world.