Mike Johnson’s ascendency to the Speakership over the House of Representatives came as an early victory for Christians and Conservatives, representing an immediate improvement over Kevin McCarthy and a victory for the “Gaetzful Eight.” Even the media ramped up the rhetoric against Johnson, deriding him as a Christian Nationalist. However, there were cracks found in Mike Johnson, most notably his wokeness following the overdose of George Floyd and his immediate prioritization of a foreign nation over America.
Included in the claims were rumors that he worked to kill HB 813 in Louisiana, an abortion abolitionist bill that would have guaranteed the unborn equal protection. The comprehensive bill also would have touched on issues of surrogacy and IVF, two abortion adjacent industries. However, the “Pro-Life” Lobby, or Big Baby, murdered this bill before it reached the floor of the House. This has exposed the National Right to Life, the ERLC, and countless others as frauds in the pro-life movement.
However, according to End Abortion Now, the abortion abolitionist movement spearheaded by Jeff Durbin and Apologia Church, Mike Johnson was part of the effort to kill HB 813, and on November 17, 2023, Apologia released an interview with Brian Gunter to expose Mike Johnsons reprehensible actions. Brian Gunter is an activist and pastor of First Baptist Church Livingston, Louisiana.
Brian Gunter, a Louisiana pastor, begins by expressing shock that Mike Johnson, whom he had worked with since 2015 on pro-life issues, would turn out not to be an ally. Gunter states that Rep Alan Seabaugh told him he received a call from Mike Johnson instructing him to kill HB 813 after vehemently supporting the bill a week earlier. Gunter claims other legislators concurred with this story, and in short order, organizations and legislators who would have supported HB 813 withdrew their support. Gunter claims Mike Johnson was the primary force behind this cowardice, stating that his influence in killing the bill was more potent than National Right to Life.
After HB 813 passed in committee, Gunter recollects how Mike Johnson gave him the call asking that the bill be withdrawn. Gunter states that Mike Johnson affirmed Equal Protection to him, but then told him that it would be electorally costly to implement. He contends Mike Johnson even twisted passages in Ecclesiastes to argue that it was not the proper time to enact legislation. Gunter claims that Johnson belittled him and claimed it would hurt his and Rep. Danny McCormick’s career.
Analysis
Many detractors, even in the comment section, claim that the interview is insufficient in evidence or that they did not produce the receipts, like text messages or phone calls. Overall, they might claim it is hearsay. Naturally, this is the innate weakness of the sit-down interview by Jeff Durbin.
However, the conversations appeared to have been over the phone, so unless the calls were recorded, it is understandable that the evidence, apart from witness testimony is scant. Perhaps timestamped phone records and emails should have been included in the videos, if possible. Nonetheless, the involvement of Mike Johnson as being the most influential political force behind killing HB 813 is entirely plausible and there are further leads who might give concurring testimony that were named in the interview. Witness testimony remains the highest standard of evidence both in our legal system and the Bible.
The claim that Mike Johnson has taken a cowardly approach of pragmatism regarding abortion certainly coincides with his brief tenure as speaker in which he has already demonstrated a desire to cave on the budget resolutions using the Democrats to pass continuing resolutions. This claim that Mike Johnson was involved in killing an abortion abolition bill in Louisiana is the ultimate display of cunning and cowardice, two qualities that have appeared evident during his brief tenure as Speaker of the House thus far.
