As America 250 celebrations begin across the country, people will gather to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial. In doing so, we celebrate July 4, 1776 — the moment the great American experiment was conceived.Notice what we do not celebrate. We do not mark America’s birthday from the day its government was formed, the day the Articles of Confederation were ratified, the day George Washington took the oath of office, or even the day the Revolutionary War was won. We celebrate the Declaration of Independence — the moment the idea of America was first brought into existence. The Fourth of July is not a celebration of America’s maturity, but of its beginning. Its conception.Deep within the patriotism and pride of Independence Day is the inherent acknowledgment that beginnings matter. Americans instinctively understand that the worth of something is not conceived when it reaches maturity, power, or success. Worth is not caused by such things. Worth is present from the very moment a thing comes into existence.
This year, however, Independence Day arrives with a glaring irony. As people gather to celebrate the beginning of the American experiment, Congress is once again failing to show fundamental moral clarity, unable to determine whether taxpayer dollars should flow to Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest abortion provider. If lawmakers do not act with courage and conviction, people will celebrate a national beginning while subsidizing the destruction of countless other beginnings.We have been here before, and that is what makes this moment so maddening.In January 2017, Donald Trump became the first Republican president in history to promise to defund Planned Parenthood. In his first term, he appointed the justices who delivered the most pro-life Supreme Court in U.S. history — the court that finally returned the abortion question to the people and their elected representatives.And there, at the feet of the people’s representatives, is exactly where the movement keeps stumbling.Eight years ago, the pro-life movement was given everything it had spent decades praying for: a Republican president openly committed to defunding the abortion industry, Republican majorities in both chambers, and a clear mandate from voters. And what happened? Spineless Republicans in Congress flinched. They held the gavel, they held the votes, and they failed to act. The awaited moment passed.Demonstrators (AP Photo/Jim Mone), Planned Parenthood building (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
