Constitutional attorney and President of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion Bradley Pierce spoke at the College Republicans event Monday, Feb. 16. This event was the club’s first speaker event of the semester with more than 50 students and members of the community in attendance.
College Republicans Chairman Matthew Andersen shared that inviting Pierce to speak for the club has always been at the top of his to-do list.
“I admired his work very much,” Andersen said. “I’ve watched videos of him testify before state legislators in favor of the bills of abolition and the bills of equal protection for abolishing abortion.”
Andersen said his goal in planning this event was to bring an established voice to students to share the mindset he believes many Republicans overlook.
“I want students to be more passionate and … submissive towards God’s commands of loving our neighbor and caring for the unborn and also realizing that the pro-life establishment is not working on abolishing abortion,” Andersen said.
Pierce began his speech by defining abolition, which is the act of officially ending something.
Abolition of abortion, according to Pierce, is equal protection for the unborn to the same degree as for a born person. It would make it illegal for abortion providers to manufacture and sell abortion drugs, and it would also make it illegal for the mother to take them or for anyone to coerce a mother into taking them.
“On the whole, the pro-life movement does not actually want to abolish abortion,” Pierce said.
Pro-life groups, Pierce said, have even gone so far as to oppose an abortion abolition law in South Dakota, where it was guaranteed a win out of committee. This, he says, is not common pro-life behavior.
This claim is evidenced by the fact that in allegedly pro-life states, abortion numbers have climbed even higher since the Dobbs decision in 2022 to send abortion laws back to the individual states.
“What we see in Texas is that before Dobbs, we were seeing about 55,000 abortions a year, according to the department of health happening in Texas, now we’re seeing 55-60,00 abortions a year,” Pierce said.
Pierce points to existing laws to explain this. He said that chemical abortion bans, which are meant to protect life, do not apply to the mother, only to the seller. Additionally, the law prohibiting the shipping of abortion pills is not being enforced by the U.S. government.
“The minority of that by abortion travel, but over 30,000 of those a year are by abortion pills, by self-induced abortions, ordering pills online, getting them delivered, taking them on Texas soil, and that’s completely illegal in Texas,” Pierce said.
“I’ve been involved with abolition for 10 years now, … it’s gotten way more audience and way more exposure over the last few years, and it’s definitely catching on as people learn more about it,” Pierce said. “At first, they (the pro-life organizations) were kind of ignoring us. Now we can’t be ignored.”
Pierce addressed the common arguments against the abolitionist position. To those who claim that pro-lifers must get power in states before they can advocate for total bans on abortion, he said that in many states, those pro-life groups already have total power.
“What’s the point of getting power unless you use it to protect the most innocent among us? … Stop being a coward,” Pierce said.
The U.S. justice system, Pierce said, is one in which guilt must be proven, not innocence, and that those being investigated for crimes are always presumed innocent first. This principle would apply to abortion bans as well.
Pierce looked to Psalm 82 in which God stands and judges the rulers of the nations for their oppression of the powerless.
Pierce explained that those who truly want abortion abolished must fear God, not man.
“The good news is he’s a merciful God,” Pierce said. “We can come to him in repentance. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cover every sin.”
Pierce also took questions after the event, engaging with the audience’s questions about abolition and other topics adjacent to it.
“There is a … vital and important difference between an abortion abolitionist and somebody that is simply pro-life,” sophomore Jack Swanson said. “It (Pierce’s speech) made me realize that rather than saying I am pro-life, down the road, I am going to say that I am an abortion abolitionist.”
Vice President of the College Republicans at Liberty University David Heath said Pierce’s work as an abortion abolitionist combined with his biblical worldview will have a lasting impact on students.
“There is a strong argument for all Christians to be abolitionists,” Heath said. “As Christians, being that we are supposed to honor the image of God, honor what he has placed upon us, we as Christians are supposed to be all abolitionists.”
The Foundation to Abolish Abortion can be found on all social media platforms, and their website is https://faa.life/.
To watch Pierce’s entire speech and Q&A, visit, faa.life/articles/bradley-pierce-champions-equal-protection-at-liberty-university-speaking-event.
Danilson is a campus news reporter for the Liberty Champion.