Today, some Republican leaders, including some in the Trump Administration, believe hedging on the abortion issue will help the GOP retain control of Congress. One Trump official violently criticized Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) for establishing the anti-abortion Love Life Initiative ahead of the Midterms, saying, “Picking a fight on an issue like abortion in a midterm is the height of asinine stupidity.” Many believe the data reveals the exact opposite: that the GOP’s lackluster results in the 2022 and 2024 elections suggest abandoning one’s moral convictions on foundational moral debates like abortion is campaign suicide.
Be that as it may, if Democrats once again attempt to gain the moral high ground in the midterms by twisting abortion into a moral imperative for protecting women’s rights, without a strategy, they will catch Republican candidates flatfooted.
But to break out of the Democrat moral imperative/women’s rights cycle, the GOP needs to aggressively reframe the abortion debate and reveal the depth of the Democrats’ disrespect for America’s citizenry. The answer: a “Personhood Clarification Act.”
In 1973, the Supreme Court’s majority in Roe v Wade held, “the word person does not apply to the unborn.” Why? Disqualifying a preborn boy or girl of personhood status means they no longer constitutionally qualify for equal protection under the law, resulting in over 1 million abortions per year. And while Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization did overturn Roe v Wade, it did not answer the critical personhood question. Dobbs simply stated that one “cannot construe a right to abortion from the Constitution.” What the Constitution does obviously construe are the unalienable rights of all persons.
The unstated question that America is arguing around in debates like abortion is: Who is a person? The GOP can turn the tables on the Democrats, retaking the moral high ground, if they simply force them to answer the question, “Who is a person?”
If every human being is “created equal,” and “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” and a Constitutional Rule of Law is designed to ensure those rights are not infringed upon, then the definition of personhood must be all-inclusive, unrestricted, devoid of qualifications.
The very existence of a debate over who qualifies for equality reveals an attack on the oaken hull of America’s ship of state. How could a Democrat answer the critical question without capriciously limiting that definition? And is it really the government’s job to disqualify a human or category of human from personhood status? The result of such actions includes legalized slavery or death.
This is the Democrat Achilles’ Heel. They will be unable to defend against such a moral offensive.
To win not just elections but to safeguard liberty in our time, Republicans in Congress and GOP midterm campaigns need to elevate the personhood question like a full moon rising on a clear night. The following is a 4-step plan to revitalize the GOP’s moral vision for America while exposing the true toxic character of Democratic opposition.
- Draft a Congressional “Personhood Clarification Act,” clearly defining the word person in the broadest and most liberal terms possible. For example,
“For the purposes of reinforcing the 5th Amendment, guarding against depriving any ‘person’ of ‘life, liberty, or property’ without due process of law and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, this Act clarifies the Constitutional meaning of the word ‘person’ as pertaining to and describing all people, currently extant at and between the moment of fertilization to natural death, possessing uniquely human DNA, both born and preborn.”
- Bring the Act to vote. Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson should bring the “Personhood Clarification Act” to the floor for vote as soon as they are back from August recess. This will secure the moral high ground and force the issue during midterm campaign battles.
- Identify all those who voted “No.” Let their peers and constituents be aghast and outraged for their laughable refusal to include everyone in the word “person.” Demand every candidate and representative who voted against it to explain why and with what criteria they would ascribe greater or lesser degrees of humanity to certain categories of human. The GOP is the freedom party. Voters need to understand that freedom is a farce if it does not apply to all. The evil irony of a comprehensive and unqualified definition of personhood would be an amendment.
- If the Act fails to pass, with every continuing resolution include a personhood amendment, noting that if Budgets are moral documents and if Congress is not willing to recognize all people as protected under the law, it is nigh impossible to agree on how to spend money for their protection and betterment.
The Democrat defying question of personhood must be put before Congress today and raised to the level of public debate throughout America for the Mid-term campaigns, giving the GOP the moral high ground. The question of personhood is a question of survival, not just for preborn boys and girls, but for a vision of a future nation where all people, without partiality or equivocation, are created equal.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rev. Jim Harden, M.Div.
CompassCare CEO
EMC Frontline President
08/05/2026