I was tempted to break President Reagan’s 11th Commandment which while not in the Bible has something I have generally practiced in public statements even when I vehemently disagree with someone in my own political party. Like many of you, I voted for the elected official multiple times in 2016, 2020 and again 2024 even though he wasn’t my first choice in 2016.

I then had to remember my own growth on the underlying issue of life. When I was lost before I found God at 18, I was pro-life, but I didn’t understand how important the life issue was and even wondered why there was a fight about this at the Republican National Convention. My primary reasons for being a Republican was I knew the national Democrats were stupidly insane when it came to oil & gas drilling in Alaska and the Alaskan Democrats were generally made up of tree huggers, unions and environmentalist whackos which I wanted no part of. I also know the government did not need any more of my money in the form of taxation & I admired President Reagan even as a kid. I even wore a Republican tie to school on my 18th birthday on the day I officially became a Republican.

I even interned for a Pro “Choice” Republican US Senator Ted Stevens in Washington, DC at 18 immediately out of high school from my then home state of Alaska before I became saved later that year. Even in my Christian infancy, I went back to intern for US Senator Ted Stevens in DC during the summer of 2000 after my salvation. I learned a great deal working for US Senator Stevens but it wasn’t until a devout Catholic lady who I knew from various Republican gatherings over the years decided to keep inviting me to various pro-life breakfasts & gatherings and then being led by the Lord at a Billy Graham gathering in New Orleans in 2006 after going to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis to help a former Southern Baptist Pastor & Governor run for President along with my own spiritual growth did I truly start to understand the importance of the issue of life and why we must stand up for it.

Why do I bring all this up now? One we should pray for those that are in various ways ministering to the Republican elected official and explaining to him why our flexibility on this issue as Christians is to help him & others figure out how to get folks and the US Postal Service to stop shipping illegal drugs that are killing children prematurely here in Louisiana before birth. As a good percentage of you that read this column know via conviction, abortion is not health care. In fact, it does great harm to the mother, father and child involved. I’m not a doctor but there’s plenty of great pro-life doctors and counselors who can explain all the dangerous side effects of abortion better than I can.

Second, be thankful for those organizations you know that stand firm on this issue. I would encourage you to attend and maybe bring some friends to one of the various pro-life gatherings this month whether in Washington, DC or your home state. My friends (and for full disclosure a former employer of mine) at Louisiana Right to Life have several such gatherings all over Louisiana this month in both gala and march forms.

At these gatherings you will find other like-minded imperfect folks who share our views on this subject and many others. As a side secondary benefit, I’ve also made & strengthened many life-long friendships by attending such events. I will make at least one of the gatherings and possibly more. I could tell stories for hours of how this has probably changed my life and career trajectory. I wouldn’t be blessed to get to do some of the things I get to do now without my past involvement in this arena, and I don’t want to miss out on the blessings God may have for me in the future.

Third, I would encourage you to pray not only for the elected leaders that make decisions in this arena but to figure out a new way of supporting them. For some of you this may mean writing them a hand-written thank you note, for some it will mean praying for them, for some this may mean volunteering, for some this may mean writing a check to their re-election campaign. For some of you it will mean taking some friends to go early vote for pro-life candidates in a mid-term so you can be even more helpful to them on election day in November.

Fourth, pray for the “unnamed” elected official that is alluded to in the first paragraph. He has a lot on his plate. I recognize he got votes & financial support from people specifically in Nevada which he won and other places that don’t have the Biblical convictions on the life issue & other moral issues that I & a good number of you reading this column do. I’m guessing the casino business that he has been a part of in his business career is not one where you find a ton of pro-life Christian conviction.

I agree with him whole-heartedly in the need to grow the number of people that vote Republican in the 2026 mid-terms and pray for those endeavors to be more successful than either him or I could ever imagine. His understanding and execution on the oil & gas front has been exceptional and the day we finally get start getting barrels of oil out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a long time coming for those of us that have any Alaskan ties. His hiring of the guy I supported before him for President in 2016 to be the Ambassador to Israel was divine, inspired and genius. I could list a ton of other things I’m thankful he has done in his service to our country. He’s ten times better than any of his Democrat opponents were and at least 20 times better than they were on Sunday. If you forget this go look at who the recent news about the idiot that the Democrats put up for Vice President in 2024 and your wallet will thank you for voting Republican.

I hope he and others don’t forget the Holy Bible in these various pursuits or the Declaration of Independence that reminds us “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty & the pursuit of Happiness.” I’m not a rocket scientist but I do know you can’t have “Pursuit of Happiness” without “Life” and you sure don’t want to mess with the “Creator’s” plan for “Life” that you can find in Jeremiah 1 or Psalm 139 and in other parts of the Holy Bible. Feel free to go read those passages and the others found in the Holy Bible.