(Mercator) Two years ago, Roe v Wade was overturned when the Supreme Court ruled in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health case. As a result of this decision, abortion was no longer a national “right”; each state can now make its own laws regarding abortion.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, as of May 1, 2024:
- 14 states have a total abortion ban
- 27 states have abortion bans based on gestational duration
- 7 states ban abortion at or before 18 weeks’ gestation
- 20 states ban abortion at some point after 18 weeks
- 9 states and the District of Columbia do not restrict abortion based on gestational duration
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Abortion remains a tragedy of epic proportions. In the ensuing two years, we have seen anger, resentment, fear, and outright lies. Every day, babies are dying.
The past two years have taught us a lot, but they have also given us direction for the way forward. Below are some of the things we in the pro-life movement have learned since Dobbs.
1. The pro-abortion movement will not stop
Organizations like Planned Parenthood have become creative as they encourage interstate travel so a woman can kill her child in a state with more “favourable” abortion laws. Amazon, Apple, and other companies will reimburse part of the cost for women to travel to kill their children. Slogans like “bans off our bodies” taint the minds of young people as they purposely try to anger them about laws that attempt to protect innocent babies. The list goes on and on. Those who want abortion enshrined in law will do anything in their power to keep abortion legal.
2. Many people think that abortion has ended
Those who don’t read pro-life news or understand the implications of Dobbs think that abortion ended when Roe was overturned. They think there’s no reason to fight for the rights of babies anymore or to support pro-life organizations. They falsely claim that pro-lifers “won.” But the graves of thousands of dead babies tell us the truth. Abortion is far from over.
3. Many think that a little abortion is OK
Many states have laws that protect babies after a certain point in their lives or only in certain circumstances (after rape, to save the life of the mother, etc.). But, as Judie Brown, president of American Life League (ALL), explains, “A person is a person from [creation] onwards, and abortion must be illegal in all circumstances, with no exceptions.” That is why ALL has a no exceptions, no compromise policy. Abortion is wrong in all circumstances, not just in some. Every preborn child deserves a chance to be born.
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4. The abortion pill has become a significant threat
The abortion pill regimen consists of mifepristone and misoprostol. The mother first takes the mifepristone, which starves the baby to death. And then about 48 hours later she will take the misoprostol, which expels the dead baby. The Guttmacher Institute’s latest numbers show that these pill abortions accounted for 63 percent of abortions in 2023. That equates to about 642,700 dead babies. With laws that have become increasingly lax, the mother can now take both pills at home, which poses significant dangers to the mom and of course is deadly for the baby.
5. Education is vital
The pro-abortion movement is not going to give up, so we cannot either. It is incumbent upon us all to teach the people around us the truth—not only about the humanity of the preborn baby from the first moment of existence (when the sperm fertilizes the egg), but about the lies that the pro-abortion movement tries to propagate. That means that we teach our children from the time they are small that all babies are valuable and deserve a chance to live.
Lessons from programs like the Culture of Life Studies Program allow parents and teachers to talk about pro-life topics in an age-appropriate way—at home or at school. We must also educate our friends, family, coworkers, and people within our communities. That means we give voice to the preborn baby, never denying his humanity and existence. It takes moral courage, it takes persistence, and it takes speaking in love for both the mom and the baby.
The two years since the Dobbs decision have proven that there are very vocal people who will not rest until abortion is the law of the land. While we must never allow this sad state of our society to discourage our efforts, we can think of this as an opportunity to do God’s work here on earth. We must be His hands and feet as we speak, educate, and fight to protect the most vulnerable among us. The babies deserve nothing less.
Editor's note: Susan Ciancio is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has worked as a writer and editor for over 20 years; 14 of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently, she is the editor of American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine. She is also the executive editor of ALL’s Culture of Life Studies Program—a pre-K-12 Catholic pro-life education organization. This article was originally published on Mercator under a Creative Commons Licence and is reprinted with permission.
