John Kasich. Ohio. And so it begins.

I was fourteen years old when I first stood outside of an abortion clinic with a sign. I didn’t have a lot to say, so I mostly listened to the conversations around me. There was no yelling, no intimidation. CNN, MSNBC and Fox News would be bored out of their minds by our friends, but I found the whole thing captivating. The signs were tasteful, but legit. We spent a lot of time praying for the women walking in, and harassed no one.

I remember this rough, older man who looked a cross between Kurt Russell in a Western and a biker from the Hells Angels. He said he’d been a part of some pretty bad stuff in his life, and saving little kids now mattered most. He told me it was good for me to be out there at my age, and I remember he kept offering me words of encouragement. He stayed back from the building a little more than most, providing some encouragement and prayer. I wondered what he meant when he said “pretty bad stuff”.

His beaten up leather vest with patches and those steel blue eyes made me wonder what kind of life he led, but whatever he’d done in his past didn’t matter anymore. I kept watching him that morning, curious as to what makes a man come out here to try to save the lives of children he will never meet. My church, family and friends had told me why this was important, but it didn’t seem important to many others. Most of the Christians I knew weren’t out here. A lot of them didn’t want to talk about this subject.

And a lot of them still don’t want to talk about it. Did you ever think the devil screams loudest in our silence? Most of my friends and acquaintances who are Christians steer pretty clear of this debate. The narrative surrounding abortion hasn’t changed much since I first stood outside of that clinic in 1986 with members of the Jericho Project out of Dayton, Ohio. Today abortion had become more of a political ideology more than an actual issue to take action against.

Are you a Republican? Okay, then your party’s platform includes the following –

The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty or property” deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that “all” are “endowed by their Creator” with the inalienable right to life. Accordingly, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.

We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare. We urge all states and Congress to make it a crime to acquire, transfer, or sell fetal tissues from elective abortions for research, and we call on Congress to enact a ban on any sale of fetal body parts. In the meantime, we call on Congress to ban the practice of misleading women on so-called fetal harvesting consent forms, a fact revealed by a 2015 investigation. We will not fund or subsidize healthcare that includes abortion coverage.

We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from individuals with disabilities, newborns, the elderly, or the infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide…

If you are a Democrat, this is the specific stance of your party.

We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing. We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people.”

I don’t think it’s a secret, is it? The Democrats are Pro-Abortion and the Republicans are Pro-Life. Sure, there are several candidates that blur the lines, but for the most part, folks have chosen a side. The Democrats support Planned Parenthood, which is quite likely the most nervous organization in the country after the latest Presidential election. Many of my friends adamantly claim they are Pro-choice, while many say they are Pro-life. I have listened to women who’ve had abortions, and women who’ve been thrown in jail for peacefully picketing abortion clinics. I have read countless articles and seen testimonies given on all sides. In all of this narrative, there is one argument so compelling I don’t think anyone can stand against it.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

Two very different writers from the scriptures sharing one prevalent thought – God planned all of us long before we were born.

Did you think about that today? Did you consider that thousands of years, even millions of years ago, God knew you and thought about you? Before you close your eyes tonight and go to sleep, will you consider your place and purpose in our world?

If God establishes his plan for us, if God forms and creates, before we are born, doesn’t this mean he has also done the same for the unborn? This is the watershed moment for anyone in this debate. If we believe in God, and claim Jesus to be our King, then why would, or even how could we even consider denying anyone else this option. How could anyone say it’s okay to steal life from someone else?

God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice to our world so that we could have life. Jesus came in the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies as a baby, and began his life, as a mortal human, as a man who would one day be broken and killed. God also designed life, beginning with Adam and Eve, and through them began to populate the ends of the earth. All of this, everything surrounding life, was a unique creation by God, and something each of us is a part of.

All of will one day stand before God. We will stand before the Creator of the Universe and our lives will be judged. This is isn’t a popular thought, and one that the Governor of Ohio proved he could care less about. John Kasich has stated he is Pro-Life, but yesterday he proved more than anything, he is pro John Kasich. Just yesterday the Governor vetoed a bill making abortion illegal in the state of Ohio at the detection of the first heartbeat. A lot folks who are Pro-Life feel helpless, yet Mr. Kasich actually could have actually done something about abortion. Sure, he passed lighter measures, ones which would lead to little to no political fallout. For all of Donald Trump’s flaws, and folks there’s some serious flaws, I must say he doesn’t make all of his most important decisions based on how popular it will make him. John Kasich had a chance to save lives, but he chose to destroy them. This includes the shocking number of 42%. Yes, 42% of all aborted babies in our country are African-American. 42%. Think about this for just a moment. When we say “Black Lives Matter”, do they matter to us when it comes to abortion? Do you believe this is God’s best for our world, for our country?

Politicians like John Kasich helped create this mess in the first place. He has stated countless times he is Pro-Life, but when the time came to actually do something about abortion, he did the Potomac two-step. He is an opportunist and I hope finally we can be done with him on a national level. He used sincere Pro-life advocates to win the Governorship and now vetoes a bill which would save the lives of potentially thousands, and over time it could be millions of babies

A final thought – If we elect Republican leaders we should expect them to live up to their words written in their party’s platform. If they cannot do that, we either need a new party that we can trust or remove these specific leaders from the Republican Party. We are accountable to God for our lives, including what we have done to protect those who can’t protect themselves. The time for waiting for someone else to lead this is over. Our votes, financial support and vocal opposition are where this narrative can begin to change, but we have to be focused and deliberate. We have to make protecting life an urgent and relevant matter, because God treated your life in such ways. We need to stand together, my friends, and send politicians like John Kasich packing. God will be honored, and we can truly call ourselves followers of Jesus.

No one has ever valued life more than God. No one. Ever.