The hands that will never be held because some couldn’t bother to vote

Since moving to Ohio from California, I’ve observed that although all eyes are on my adopted home state during election season, there isn’t as much interest in elections in the state itself. Ohio, a state that often is assumed to be small, rural, and conservative, made a big statement on Tuesday by passing Issue 1, which enshrined the right to abortion in the state’s constitution, and Issue 2, legalizing recreational marijuana use. But how did we get here?

Let’s back up to where my story begins. When I moved to Ohio for school in 2018, it became clear to me quickly how far removed too many people were from the reality of the wolf at their doors. So many of my fellow students who leaned right were not even registered to vote. People felt safe here and seemed comfortable believing that the problems that plague California would never come their way. My instincts that this was delusional were dismissed by friends as a kind of paranoia. But many of them were sanguine to the point of not even registering to vote. This seemed strange. If they had such strong opinions, why wouldn’t they vote?

Ohio demonstrates one of the great problems with young adults who call themselves conservative. Too many of them hesitate to get involved when it matters. Estimates are that only 40% of eligible voters showed up at the polls in Ohio this week, compared to a nearly 75% turnout in the 2020 presidential election. I’m confident that if people were forced to give their opinions on the questions of abortion and marijuana legalization by having a microphone shoved in their faces, a large majority would oppose the two measures Ohio just passed. But that’s not the way elections work.

The pro-abortion crusaders are simply stronger when it comes to money and advertising, and frankly, they’re also better at nagging. The sad fact is that on these questions, nagging works. They make it part of daily life.

Everyone can name at least one young adult female they know who plasters pro-abortion memes to her Instagram stories and TikToks day and night. We pump into the world a continuous stream of these very misinformed young women who blindly vote according to the false propaganda they have been fed. And they are taught to bully everyone who doesn’t. They make it known what they think of you if you confront their ideas with opposing ones, so you stay quiet.

It’s no surprise, then, that young adult males who simply want to live their lives in peace choose silence. But it is very disappointing.

Right-leaning young women who stay quiet are just as much to blame, however. Day after day, we’re fed propaganda about how pregnancy is like a plague to be avoided and abortion is necessary to save us. This election cycle, I even received a handwritten letter posted from North Carolina with no return address encouraging me to vote “yes” on Issue 1. The pro-abortion agenda comes at us constantly from the moment we arrive at middle school. This is where they win, by pushing fear and resentment about the nature of things.

Where the pro-life side fails is in its certainty that the truth will somehow prevail. The undeniable truth is that a baby is a baby. But that isn’t enough for people to act. Someone who knows she is wrong will always talk louder than someone who knows she is right.

A better approach may be to cultivate a braver group of pro-life people. A group that owns its position proudly and without fear of giving offense. For the sake of innocent lives and our own futures, people my age need to wake up and vote. If anything, this election proves our freedom is not guaranteed and that sitting back and refraining because you want to be “agreeable” just isn’t going to work any more.

For Ohio right now, the damage is done, and thousands of unborn people won't have their tiny hands held, won’t have their tears wiped, and won’t have any of their “firsts.” For the parents of these little ones, guilt and pain will most likely follow. And to think it all could have been different with a simple check mark on a piece of paper.