Wednesday was Oklahoma's annual pro-life rally, Rose Day. As usual, it was a festival of lies and commemoration of wickedness.
The program featured a speech from Governor Kevin Stitt, who once again touted the lie that he has banned abortion in the state.
Stitt has done nothing of the sort. While our clinics have closed, it remains completely legal to order and take abortion pills in Oklahoma. This lie has the effect of keeping pro-life people in the dark about the need to abolish abortion. Those who think the battle is over are unlikely to join it.
Just before giving Stitt a platform to pat himself on the back while the babies he refuses to acknowledge are murdered, Rose Day organizers also honored Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, the man more responsible than any other for the legislature's failure to pass an abolition bill. Since 2019, he has proudly stood in the way of the bill's passage each and every session.
Last year's Rose Day featured Senator Julie Daniels, the author of SB834, a bill to reopen abortion clinics in Oklahoma. The bill is the brainchild of Oklahomans for Life President Tony Lauinger who argues that expanding abortion is necessary to create "more durable pro-life laws."
Rose Day is clearly an abomination; a celebration of policies which God hates and legislators who fight to keep self-managed abortion legal.
This year, Abolitionists Rising attended Rose Day to engage attendees in conversation and distribute abolitionist literature. We were joined by Senator Dusty Deevers who was also distributing lit and explaining abolitionism to every pro-lifer who came to his office to give him a rose.
The handout explained to attendees that abortion is still legal in Oklahoma, that Senator Deevers has introduced the bill to abolish it, and that a leading Rose Day organizer is the man behind efforts to expand abortion. QR codes at the bottom of the page direct readers to our video about the problem of self-managed abortion and our recent debate with the Babylon Bee's Joel Berry about whether to prosecute women for abortions.
Brady Butler, executive assistant to Senator Deevers, said he had tremendously encouraging interactions. Butler wasn't accepting the Roses that attendees were encouraged to give legislators, but instead spoke with them about the problems with the Pro-Life Movement and pro-life laws. "We had great conversations with folks," Butler said. "The first group that walked into our office was a group of three first-time Rose Day attendees. Their jaw dropped when I told them I wouldn't take the rose, but then I could see them getting it as I explained the problems with pro-life laws. At the end of the conversation, they prayed for me and said they would watch the [Abolitionists Rising versus Joel Berry] debate."
Fortunately, attendance was down at Rose Day this year and many of those who did attend had productive conversations with abolitionists. It likely won't be long until Rose Day is understood for what it is by enough Oklahomans that it either ceases to exist or reforms and supports abolition bills. Soon-to-be-published videos of our interactions with depraved, pro-abortion, pro-life legislators and others at Rose Day will certainly bring us closer to that day. Make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel so you don't miss it!
