There were 1,322 murders in Texas in 2018. Every murder is a tragedy. Under certain conditions even a single murder can throw an entire community, indeed an entire nation into turmoil. In Texas, just as in other states, we have laws on the books and law enforcement organizations in place constantly working to prevent murder, and when murders are committed those same mechanisms work to identify, apprehend, prosecute, and punish those responsible.

Murder rates have been decreasing across the state for the last several years, but the opposite is true in Dallas where 40 murders took place in May 2019, the highest number since the mid 1990’s. This horrifying increase caused public outcry, and Governor Greg Abbott announced the following month that he was deploying officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to aid the City of Dallas in its murder investigations.

Our justice system is by no means perfect, but the complete absence of any justice system provokes a scary thought.

Imagine, if you will, that murder was not illegal in the state of Texas, and law enforcement organizations did nothing to prevent it or arrest those who chose to shed innocent blood. One can imagine that the murder rate might skyrocket. Instead of 1,300+ murders in Texas per year we might find ourselves in a dystopian nightmare where that number increased to 53,000. Imagine if in Dallas alone instead of 40 murders per month there were 40 per day. Today the nation with the highest murder rate by far is El Salvador with 82 murders per 100,000 inhabitants annually. Yikes. 53,000 annual murders would give us a murder rate of about 182 per 100,000 inhabitants. No one comes close. These are the kinds of numbers you might expect in war zones.

Frankly, it’s difficult to imagine how loud, persistant, and unwaivering the call for immediate, uncompromising change would be. The people would demand it. And I am quite sure that the legislature would react swiftly to pass a bill to outlaw murder and to establish appropriate policies and procedures for law enforcement to confront the problem head-on. This new law would be passed with bipartisan support in a heartbeat, and the Governor would mobilize a task force to ensure that effective adherance to the new policies and procedures took place in law enforcement organizations across the state.

Now imagine, in the midst of this crisis of apocalyptic proportions, if someone objected to the passage of such a law. Surely we would expect that person to have a very good reason for their objection! What a surprise it would be, if that person were to say, “Well the Supreme Court ruled on a case a number of years back that guaranteed the right to murder, and Constitutionally we are just not allowed to defy the Supreme Court with our own state laws.”

Pretend, for a moment, that this person was serious in this argument. What would we do? What would the legislature do? Would they hang the towel and say, “Oh, well if outlawing murder defies the Federal Government in some way, we’ll just have to accept it as a way of life?” Is that what they would say?

I hope not. I hope that they would throw that person off of the House or Senate floor and get to the business of passing the bill. I would like to think that our state legislators would even consider the risks, consider the potential consequences (Civil War? Invasion? Secession?) and would come to this conclusion: “If the Federal Government of the United States of America is not only okay with murder, but also so strictly opposed to any of its members (states) prohibiting it that said Government would actively interfere in its prohibition, then why would we want to remain a member state of that institution?”

Who can say what the consequences in such a scenario would be? I can’t. Maybe, despite the claims of some Constitutional Lawyers, the Federal Government would do nothing. Perhaps they don’t have the will to stop a state like Texas from doing the right thing. Or maybe they would act, and we would face adversity, but adversity is never a reason to back down in the face of clear, present, extreme evil.

Now stop imagining. You don’t have to imagine this: Murder IS legal in Texas. Over 53,000 Texans are murdered in the womb annually. You know it as abortion. Abortion is just another term for killing a baby who has not yet been born. This crisis is not new. It has been going on for nearly half a century. And the legislature has not acted. Yes, it is filled with men and women who call themselves, “Pro life.” Presumably these Senators and Representatives believe that “life begins at conception,” that “all life is worth protecting,” that “abortion is wrong.” They say as much.

But these are lies. I’ll say it again: These are lies.

If life starts at conception – let me be more precise – if at the moment of fertilization a person becomes human then abortion is murder. There is no way around that truth. And I am speaking to you, pro-life politician, if you say you believe these things but you refuse to do everything in your power including defying the Federal government to end the scourge of abortion then you are lying. You would react quickly in justified outrage if the Federal Government took a stance that allowed for the legal murder of Texans outside the womb. So why is it that your stance for the legal murder of Texans inside the womb is, “Sorry, we cannot pass a bill abolishing abortion in Texas because of the Supreme Court?”

Help me here. I am pleading with you, help me understand why.

In 2019 the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas had an opportunity to take a stand. House Bill 896 to Prohibit Abortion in Texas provided that opportunity. The 87th Legislature will have that same opportunity. You may get a 100% A+ rating from Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance for Life, or any number of pro life organizations, but if you are unwilling to genuinely treat abortion like murder then the truth is you either don’t actually think that abortion is that bad, or you just don’t care.

I don’t know which it is, but you do. Please think about it.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Texan