In the “Peanuts” cartoons, Lucy consistently invites Charlie Brown to kick a football she holds out from him, only to pull the ball away at the last moment and watch him fall on his back.
“Charlie Brown, oh Charlie Brown!” she called in the Thanksgiving special while asking Charlie Brown to kick the football. “I can’t believe it! She must think I’m the most stupid person alive,” Charlie Brown murmered. “You’ll pull it away, and I’ll land flat on my back and kill myself!”
In this particular instance, Lucy manages to convince Charlie Brown that she would never pull away the football on Thanksgiving. The invitation provoked some serious consideration from Charlie Brown. “She wouldn’t try to trick me on a traditional holiday,” he reasoned to himself.
But as expected, Charlie Brown charges to kick the football, only for Lucy to pull the ball away.
As with this refrain in the “Peanuts” comic strip, brazen deception and broken promises are common in the world of politics. There are some political actors who have learned not to blindly trust politicians, and there are others who, like Charlie Brown, may never absorb this lesson.
The mainstream pro-life movement, in most cases, functions as a political Charlie Brown.
In the most recent example of this phenomenon, the pro-life movement broadly celebrated when the recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill” defunded Planned Parenthood for only one year.
Republicans telling Republican voters that they will permanently defund Planned Parenthood pic.twitter.com/sqghj0H4ob
— Ben Zeisloft (@BenZeisloft) July 3, 2025
President Donald Trump and other Republicans had vowed that federal taxpayer funds would stop flowing toward the abortion conglomerate as the administration asks states to make their own abortion policies. But the version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by the House would have defunded Planned Parenthood for ten years, a measure reduced to one year in the Senate.
This is not the first time a Republican governing trifecta with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress has flaked on a promise to defund Planned Parenthood. During the first Trump administration, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul attempted to defund the abortion organization, only to be met with opposition from Senate Republican leadership.
Ignoring this context, pro-life establishment leaders and conservative pundits marketed the defunding of Planned Parenthood to anti-abortion Republican voters as an unqualified victory.
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, rejoiced on social media amid a flurry of other posts about the legislation. “Planned Parenthood is officially defunded,” he said. “Praise the Lord.”
Planned Parenthood is officially defunded
Praise the Lord
🙏
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 3, 2025
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life and Students for Life Action, thanked both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, for the provision. “This is why we voted pro-life first in 2024!” she declared. “The pro-life movement isn’t sick of winning yet.”
Thank you @realDonaldTrump and @SpeakerJohnson for your leadership.
This is why we voted pro-life first in 2024!
And, the pro-life movement isn’t sick of winning yet.
— Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) July 3, 2025
Brent Leatherwood, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, described the Planned Parenthood provision as historic. “Congress has passed the reconciliation bill and, with the president’s signature, Planned Parenthood and big abortion will be defunded,” he said. “A much-needed step to establish a true culture of life.”
A truly historic moment. Congress has passed the reconciliation bill and, with the President’s signature, Planned Parenthood and big abortion will be defunded. A much-needed step to establish a true culture of life.
Happy #independenceday2025, America.
— Brent Leatherwood (@LeatherwoodERLC) July 3, 2025
None of these posts grappled with the reality that the defunding of Planned Parenthood for one year was a serious downgrade from permanent defunding or even defunding for ten years. They merely celebrated the move as an unconditional win. Returning our friends in “Peanuts,” this would be no different from Charlie Brown dusting himself off from yet again landing on his back, then turning around to thank Lucy for letting him at least lightly graze the football this time.
The pro-life establishment has a consistent track record of such political engagement.
They readily tolerate Republican politicians at the state and national level compromising on even the mere regulations on abortion that they champion. Rather than expecting elected Republicans to actually end abortion, in obedience to God and in accordance with the desire of their base, some run cover for politicians who fail to deliver on any meaningful objectives.
Many pro-life establishment lobbyists engage in access politics, where a seat at the proverbial table is coveted above all else, rather than the difficult work of expecting Republicans to accomplish certain objectives and holding accountable those who betray or break promises.
The political capital of many pro-life organizations has therefore diminished significantly. Republicans know they can betray the priorities of these groups, and therefore the sincere anti-abortion conservatives and Christians they represent, while facing no political costs.
If we ever want to end abortion in this country, we cannot allow this pattern to continue.
Christians and conservatives must expect our elected Republicans to pursue the immediate and complete abolition of abortion through equal protection of the laws for preborn babies.
The current version of the Big Beautiful Bill only defunds Planned Parenthood for a single year, a substantial downgrade from an earlier version defunding Planned Parenthood for ten years.
This is apparently the best a Republican Party with control of the White House and… pic.twitter.com/SpgwAJ0C6i
— Foundation to Abolish Abortion (@AbolitionistFAA) July 2, 2025
Rather than overlooking treachery from Republicans who claim to be pro-life and yet fail to deliver anti-abortion victories, or acting satisfied with the table scraps they toss us, we must be willing to politically mobilize against the Republicans standing in the way of ending abortion, replacing them with other Republicans who sincerely want to criminalize baby murder.
After the overturn of Roe, abortions are rising across the country, easily surpassing one million murdered babies nationwide every year and eclipsing rates seen during the last years of Dobbs. The states led by Republicans are no exception, because many pro-life laws championed by the pro-life establishment have loopholes keeping self-induced abortion fully protected.
There is tremendous urgency toward ending this shedding of innocent blood in our country. Christians especially have the duty before God to serve as salt and light in the public square, admonishing our elected officials to establish equal protection of the laws for preborn babies.
But until we stop tolerating Republican compromise and cowardice, we will find ourselves flat on our backs, with Lucy grinning ear to ear and the football still firmly planted in the ground.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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