Hundreds of thousands of people participated in this year's March for Life in Washington, D.C. Each year since 1974, pro-life advocates have protested the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions that invalidated fifty state laws and made abortion legal and available on demand throughout the country. Each year they mourn the loss of the nearly 60 million unborn children, since 1973, and to bring awareness to what pro-lifers consider the greatest human rights violation of our time.

This year’s gathering was a somewhat bittersweet for the pro-life movement. There is reason for hope based on President Trump’s campaign promises and his executive order reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which bars foreign aid or federal funding for international NGOs that promote or provide abortions. Both houses of Congress are controlled by an ostensibly pro-life GOP, which adds to the movement’s optimism. However, their greatest cause for celebration is the end of the most radical pro-abortion presidency in our nation’s history. That is not just hyperbole, when you consider his voting record and deafening silence on Planned Parenthood executives being caught on tape trafficking baby parts while sipping Chardonnay.  

The underlying gloom of this year’s march was the missed opportunity and betrayal by John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio. On December 13, 2016, Gov. Kasich received two bills from the Ohio legislature for signature. The first bill was SB 127, which classifies abortions performed after 20 weeks a fourth-degree felony for doctors. The second bill, HB 493, commonly referred to as the Heartbeat Bill, which would prohibit abortions in cases where a baby’s heartbeat can be detected along with any procedures performed after six weeks of pregnancy. The governor signed SB127 into law, but line item vetoed the Heartbeat Bill.

Dr. James Dobson categorized Gov. Kasich’s veto as “a cowardice and shameful action.” I would add self-serving and foolhardy to Dr. Dobson’s criticism. As we witnessed in his stubborn unwillingness to drop out of the 2016 GOP presidential primary, despite having no mathematical path to victory, Kasich is really best at serving his own interests. In an incredible display of arrogance, he described his veto as, “what is best for the public interest,” and justified it in his own mind because the potential litigation it would invite due to its clear contrast with U.S. Supreme Court abortion rulings. Did he not believe the sixty out of ninety-nine Republican House members considered this possibility when presenting the bill? Beyond such arrogance and defiance of Ohio voters, his veto makes no sense from a strategic standpoint, unless of course he was more concerned with being perceived as moderate on this issue.

Politicians left of center create issues for the sole purpose of getting SCOTUS rulings on laws or regulations that would never pass the legislative process. Indeed, that is exactly how the Griswold v. Connecticut paved the way to the Roe v. Wade decision, which nullified laws limiting and prohibiting abortion in all fifty states. If Gov. Kasich were correct in predicting this bill would wind up before the SCOTUS, wouldn’t that be a desirable outcome? After all, we heard throughout the entire race for the presidency how essential it was for the GOP to win, because of the Supreme Court nominations hanging in the balance. That was the ultimate justification for people across all political, economic, and faith spectrums to vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton or more conservative third-party candidates. Gov. Kasich squandered an opportunity to implement a law that was legitimately passed by a strong majority of legislators that would have raised far more awareness and potentially far greater consequence than an annual one-day protest, even one as large as the March for Life.

Is life in the womb any less alive at six weeks than twenty weeks? What does the governor of Ohio consider the growth of arms and legs, brain development, formation of eyes and ears, spine and bone tissue growth, regular rhythmic heartbeats that pump blood through main vessels, all of which take place by the sixth week? Must a baby actually hear itself being murdered, as it can by the nineteenth week, for the governor to feel it is worth protecting?

People in Ohio have been marching on campaign trails and to the polls for years, which resulted in a strong majority of pro-life representatives. The state legislatures finally reached a point to pass two solid bills that would save a considerable amount of lives and marched them before a self-proclaimed pro-life Republican governor to sign into law, only for him to split the proverbial baby in half. More specifically, according to Ohio Department of Health’s Induced Abortions records as of 2015, split at least 10,066 babies in half. To put this in better perspective, out of the 20,976 induced abortions recorded in 2015, only 145 took place beyond twenty weeks of gestation. Every life saved is precious and worth fighting for under any circumstance. However, if you are given the opportunity to potentially save over 10,000 lives instead of 145 with the stroke of your pen, and you willingly opt to save only 145, you certainly can no longer call yourself pro-life. I sincerely hope this was only “a cowardice and shameful act” of one extremely flawed man and not a coordinated effort to keep campaign funds and charitable donations flowing to calculating politicians and activists.

The March for Life must continue every day in each state. Pro-life advocates must continue to pray for and elect true leaders that will pass and sign strong bills that protect the unborn. Politicians or advocacy groups that betray the unborn must be denied every form of support.

Ringo Lanzetti is a small business owner. As a strong believer in traditional American values, he focuses on defending economic and religious liberties to preserve the American Dream. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.