Joe Biden Campaigns for Senate Candidate Doug Jones

Former VP Joe Biden campaigns for U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones at an event at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama Tuesday October 3, 2017. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).

(Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com)

Matthew Tyson is a marketing strategist, blogger, and co-founder of The New Pro-Life Movement.

Not too long ago, Doug Jones--the Alabama Democratic candidate for Senate--came down pretty hard in favor of abortion rights.

As a pro-life liberal, it hurt a little. I had hoped he would take a slightly more moderate stance, but at the end of the day, I can't say that I'm shocked. No one should be, actually. He fell right in line with the rest of the national Democrats. And despite my moral and ethical disagreement with Jones on the issue, I'm still going to vote for him in December.

"But, Matt!" you might say. "If you're pro-life, how can you vote for someone who supports abortion? Why not vote for Roy Moore, who is also pro-life?"

It's simple.

Actions speak louder than words.

(Also, my toddler is more qualified to hold office than Roy Moore)

Abortion isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and any candidate that tells you otherwise is lying. These days, most of the anti-abortion talk in the political realm is nothing but empty lip service to get Republicans in office.

If you don't believe me, consider the 2016 election. From Susan B. Anthony List to Priests for Life to National Right to Life, Donald Trump was endorsed by a resounding number of "pro-life" organizations.

"You must vote for Trump!" they said. "He's the only one who will save the lives of the unborn."

Yet here we are, almost a year into the Trump presidency. There's a GOP majority in both chambers of congress, a freshly appointed conservative justice on the Supreme Court, and we're no closer to outlawing abortion than we were a year ago--or 40 years ago, for that matter. And that's because Republicans were never going to do anything significant about abortion in the first place. It's settled law, and until the rest of the country gets on board with the anti-abortion movement, it's going to remain that way.

Therefore, if you're serious about addressing the issue of abortion, you have to break out of the circular, culture war jib jab and see it for what it really is: an issue of demand, not supply.

Despite what some might think, abortion doesn't happen in a moral vacuum. Women don't terminate pregnancies because they love Satan and hate babies. Many turn to abortion out of desperation. They're worried about their job, they have no support, they have no access to healthcare or childcare, they can't afford a child, or they're worried about their own health.

These are what we call "root causes", and they facilitate a demand for abortion.

On the flip side, when (from a young age) women are well educated on matters of sex and reproduction, have access to necessary family planning measures, and have the means to determine when and with whom they start a family, they're much, MUCH less likely to abort a pregnancy.

Healthcare, childcare, family planning services, support, job security, equal and living wages, and education. These are the things we need to focus on if we want to effectively fight abortion. Do any of them sound like something Roy Moore would support?

You know the answer.

Roy Moore will talk big game about the evils abortion. But when it comes time to do something that will actually have a positive impact on the abortion rate, he'll vote the opposite, and it's just going to make things worse. I promise you.

Jones, on the other hand, might support leaving abortion laws in place, but he's going to give women every reason not to take that step. And that, folks, is a much better way to reduce the abortion rate.

Like I said. Actions.

I'm pro-life. I'm voting for Doug Jones. You should too.