The Declaration of Independence, our nation’s charter, declares that the national government was formed to secure certain rights — including the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Do these ancient values still constitute our shared values? Sadly, these values are contested at every turn by the Left.
Probably what the Left hates most about these values is that the Declaration makes clear that we are “endowed” with those rights by “our Creator” — not by our government. If these rights come from the Creator, they are beyond the authority of the government to take away.
- Today, the Left hates “liberty” as it moves us to a totalitarian society where, as T.H. White described it: “Everything not forbidden is compulsory.”
- The Left’s vision of the “pursuit of happiness” is reflected in World Economic Forum Chairman Klaus Schwab’s reported prediction of the Great Reset: “In 10 years, they will own nothing — and be happy with it.”
- And, the Left’s view of “life” is reflected in the Women’s Health Protection Act which would protect abortion in every state up to the moment of birth (with the sanction of a doctor) — a bill that passed the House, but failed in the Senate last year by a razor-thin margin of 51-49.
With the new Republican House majority, the death cult of abortion pins its hopes not on Congress but on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which has turned into the de facto legal arm of Planned Parenthood. The Supreme Court’s decision last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was intended to return the issue of abortion to the states, but the DOJ nonetheless continues to insist on imposing the federal government’s will on pro-life states. In case after case, DOJ’s taxpayer-funded litigators have declared war on pro-life laws being enacted in conservative states that seek to protect innocent life.
DOJ Sues Texas Over Its “Heartbeat Bill”
In 2021, DOJ lawyers sued to block Texas’ “heartbeat bill” which prohibited abortions once an unborn baby has a detectable heartbeat. Stunningly, the DOJ asked the court to recognize the right of the United States government to sue any state over any state law that the administration in power believes to be unconstitutional — even if no other party would have standing to challenge the state law. When the suit reached the Supreme Court, the Court dismissed it on an 8-1 vote. (United States v. Texas, 142 S. Ct. 522 (2021)). In filing suit (before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision), Attorney General Merrick Garland announced: “The Act is clearly unconstitutional under longstanding Supreme Court precedent … in the words of Planned Parenthood v. Casey….”
The implications of the DOJ’s suit were clear: if a state passes a law out of line with the administration’s leftwing policy preferences, the federal government will attack the law in court. If DOJ were to prevail in such lawsuits, it would “open the door wide to DOJ’s bringing all sorts of individual-rights constitutional claims against whatever state laws offend the current Administration.”
DOJ Sues Idaho Over its Pro-Life Bill
In August 2022, Merrick Garland announced that the DOJ had filed suit against Idaho over its pro-life law. The Idaho law allows abortions to save the mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest. That is not enough abortion for DOJ attorneys. “On the day Roe and Casey were overturned, we promised that the Justice Department would work tirelessly to protect and advance [abortion],” Garland announced.
Idaho’s Gov. Brad Little responded, “Our nation’s highest court returned the issue of abortion to the states to regulate — end of story. The U.S. Justice Department’s interference with Idaho’s pro-life law is another example of Biden overreaching yet again while he continues to ignore…crushing inflation and the open border with Mexico.”
The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the law’s constitutionality in January 2023, noting that “the relevant history and traditions of Idaho show abortion was viewed as an immoral act and treated as a crime.” The Justice Department now is proceeding in federal court against the state.
DOJ Threatens to Sue Other States That Pass Pro-Life Legislation
In January 2023, the Justice Department announced that it is prepared to attack other state laws that attempt to preserve unborn life. “We’ve obviously been very active in monitoring what’s happening in the states and locally, and given that most state legislatures now are coming back into session, we’ll be continuing to do so and looking at any laws that may get passed that infringe on federal protections,” said former ACLU lawyer and now Associate Attorney General, Vanita Gupta, who leads the DOJ’s “reproductive rights task force.”
The battle for the values enshrined in the Declaration of Independence is being waged everywhere, and DOJ lawyers are on the wrong side of every battle.
Where is the resistance to the Leftists in charge of the DOJ? In January 2023, House Republicans assumed total control of the purse strings of the federal government — which gives them the power to defund any component of the Executive Branch that they choose. They must use that power. They must do more than hold hearings, give floor speeches, and write letters to people like Merrick Garland who could care less what they think. How about cutting the budget of the DOJ by 50 percent? The nation would not just survive — it would prosper. And, as a bonus if that were to happen, the lawless lawyers employed at the DOJ would be required to find an honorable way to make a living — for a change.
