Rep. Mary Belk, Rep. Susan Fisher, Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, Rep. Pricey Harrison, Rep. Graig Meyer, Sen. Van Duyn, Sen. Floyd McKissick, Sen. Valerie Foushee, Sen. Mike Woodard. What do these legislators have in common?

These nine have joined the newly formed Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council, a part of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX). This collaborative is an über left-leaning cohort, committed to “advancing progressive change in the states.” One of their top priorities is removing pro-life policies at the state level, in the name of reproductive freedom.

Each state senator or representative that has signed on to this platform, has agreed to work toward, “chang[ing] the conversation and chang[ing] course in order to protect and advance reproductive health, rights, and justice.”

Moving beyond the duplicitous language, what does it actually mean? It means signatories intend to pursue legislative initiatives that expand abortion. I recently wrote about what this sort of expansion looks like: late-term abortions for virtually any reason at all.

We are witnessing the early stages of a new multi-state campaign to support pro-abortion state lawmakers in their efforts to cloak abortion as a fundamental right by giving it the misnomer “reproductive freedom.” Although this is not a new tactic, this 200+ collective of multi-state legislators appears to be.

Isn’t it curious that pro-abortion activists and legislators throw around words like freedom, dignity, and justice, while at the same time advancing policies that deny these very essentials to an entire population of human beings? Their flowery language might make for good speeches and grandstanding, but it’s horrible for the millions of victims that suffer at the hands of their toxic policies.

When we get to the foundational argument for unrestricted abortion access, moving past the platitudes and neo-feminist rhetoric, what remains? At the root, is the belief that boys and girls, from conception to delivery at nine months, should only be protected if they are wanted.

Any legislation concerning reproductive rights should start from a healthy foundation. Recognizing the sanctity of all life ought to be at the core.

If these nine legislators really want to make a positive impact on the lives of women and children, they can start by crafting sound economic and social policy that support families. There has been a host of research (see here and here) done on this topic and many conservatives would be happy to work with them if they’re interested in advancing truly pro-family policies.

Until then, we have a responsibility to sound the alarm and #RESIST (to borrow a favorite progressive word) the deleterious effects of anti-life policies.