The Hmong Case for Life Part I: Why Now?
“Rho menyuav yog kev tua neeg — abortion is murder.”
Abortion is only spoken in whispers within the Hmong community. So, I never thought I would see LiveAction — a national pro-life organization — specifically target the Hmong community. This, along with the firestorm that followed the overturning of Roe caused me to wonder, why would LiveAction focus on the Hmong community? It also stirred the question — does being Hmong mean “pro-life” or “pro-abortion”? As the title suggest, I believe being pro-life is central to being Hmong. But first, I think it’s important to explore the timing of these targeted messages.
Growing Influence
The growing influence of the Hmong community cannot be ignored. Pew Research identify Asian Americans as the fastest growing US population. Of the Asian Americans, Hmong Americans are the eighth largest Asian voting group and are the youngest US Asian electorate.
The national profile of Hmong Americans has never been bigger. This comes on the heels of Sunisa Lee’s historic gold medal performance at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Netflix’s series “Iron Chef” featured Chef Yia Vang, who introduced Hmong cuisine to a national audience. He would go on to be the first Hmong vendor at the Minnesota State Fair. During the 2020 election, young Hmong American influencers and artists were organized to great effect to “get out the vote” and endorse Joe Biden. All this was capped off by First Lady, Jill Biden’s visit to Hmong Village. This wave of influence bore fruit by the end of the 2020 election cycle.
In my home state of Minnesota nine Hmong candidates were elected to the Minnesota Legislator. All were Democrats, each endorsed by pro-abortion entities. In fact, all the Hmong men were endorsed by Planned Parenthood while all the women were endorsed by Women Winning. And as the saying goes, elections have consequences. These nine legislators would vote for on pro-abortion legislation — legalizing abortion up to the point of birth with no restrictions. This cemented Minnesota’s abortion laws as some of the most abhorrent in the Union.
Trust Our “Elders”
There’s a Hmong saying, “Lawv hais li cas, ces yuav li ntawd”. This translates to, “What they say, so be it.” I believe the community has applied this approach to the issue of abortion. This act of deferment is very Hmong as it is normal practice to lean on elders and leaders to make decisions on behalf of the clan or community. While most of the Hmong legislators wouldn’t fit the traditional idea of an “elder”, they hold prestige and positions of power as elected officials. Thus, when all nine Hmong legislators are pro-abortion Democrats, the community at large won’t question it. Furthermore, because our Hmong elected officials are monolithic in their support of abortion, it projects a message that being Hmong means pro-abortion. This dovetails into my second thought — the Hmong community has accepted a pro-choice position without serious consideration.
Unchallenged
Heading into the 2023 legislative cycle, Democrats in Minnesota set on making abortion their central issue. I sent an email to my State Representative, Jay Xiong, and my State Senator, Foung Hawj asking they withhold support for any abortion bills to be brought up, specifically bill HF1 /SF 1. Senator Foung Hawj did not bother to reply to my inquiry but to his credit, Rep. Jay Xiong did. Here was his reply in full:
“Thank you for contacting me recently to share your views about abortion. The decision whether or when to become a parent is deeply personal. Private health care matters, including whether to be on birth control, become pregnant or have an abortion, should be made by a patient and their doctor — not politicians or judges.
Despite our difference of opinion, I hope you will continue to advise me on the issues that are important to you. I believe in finding common ground with everyone, and I am sure as we continue to correspond, we will find agreement on many other issues.”
In turn, I replied:
“Thank you for taking the time to respond to my email. I believe we have common ground in that a woman should have the autonomy to decide on her health care, be it birth control, fertility services or family planning — as HF 1 states. My continued disagreement with the text of the bill and what you stated is that it ignores the third party in an abortion — the child. I hope as the bill moves through debate that you would consider adding an amendment or support an amendment that acknowledges the life of the child and limits when an abortion can be done.
With that said, will you be planning to support HF1 as it currently stands? And would you support an amendment that limits when an abortion can be done? If not, do you support abortion to the point of birth? As your constitute, I want to clearly know where you stand.”
When pressed, Representative Xiong did not reply.
Do I wish my representatives replied to my follow up questions? Do I wish they would speak plainly where they stand on the issue? Yes! Instead of hiding behind the politically crafted answers I want to know where he stands! In my opinion, Rep. Jay Xiong’s reply was simply inadequate given the real moral and ethical quandaries of the murder of millions of babies. From an inadequate reply to non-replies, I am led to believe that the Hmong community hasn’t heard a quality debate or conversation about the issue, or more accurately put, considered in depth the issue.
The Fallout
Unfortunately, HF 1 / SF 1became law in January 2023, codifying abortion in Minnesota. Each Hmong member in the House of Representatives voted in the affirmative. These include — Rep. Fue Lee, Rep. Jay Xiong, Rep. Liz Lee, Rep. Kaohly Her, Rep. Ethan Cha, Rep. Samantha Vang. On the Senate side, Sen. Foung Hawj, Sen. Susan Pha and Sen. Tou Xiong all voted in favor. The situation grows more harrowing if you take the five minutes to read the official Journal of the House (starting on pg. 227) for HF 1.
Official records show multiple amendments were introduced in an effort to place guardrails on abortion. These amendments included prohibiting partial-birth abortions (aborting a baby when any part of the baby is outside of the mother), the protection of unborn children in the third trimester, notifying a parent or guardian of a teenager who obtained an abortion, and requiring the licensing of abortion facilities. With the help of every Hmong legislator, these amendments failed. This included the last gasp effort to recognize a “born alive child”. This amendment simply stated, “Any unborn child who is born alive following an attempted abortion shall be treated as a person under the law, a birth certificate shall be issued certifying the child’s birth. If the child later dies, a death certificate shall be issued.”
Digging In & Moving Forward
I hope this gives our community pause. While it’s not always easy to keep up with politics, we need to know what’s happening. Furthermore, if nine Hmong legislator claim to also represent the near 100,000 Hmong Minnesotans (in addition to their districts), we have tremendous stake in how they reflect us. This requires us to press our Hmong legislators on where they stand precisely on issues. And we also need to answer some tough questions. Are we a people who are in favor of killing our own children? Are we a culture so callous that we choose to dehumanize the most vulnerable for convenience? Does being Hmong mean being pro-abortion? I believe with every fiber the answers to these questions are no, we are not.
“Saying that there are too many children is like saying there are too many flowers.” — Mother Teresa
