Reimagining Pro-Life Activism
from womb to tomb in a post-Roe world
On January 22, 1973, an all-male supreme court decided through Roe vs. Wade that the Constitution of the United States protected a woman’s right to an abortion. On June 24, 2022, the supreme court overturned that ruling with Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. States are now allowed to limit abortion as they see fit, creating a country where in some states you can procure an abortion until your child’s due date and some states with a near-total ban.
I don’t think anyone was under the delusion that the Dobbs case had eliminated the need for pro-life work. Many, if not most, women across the country can secure abortions easily and cheaply. A lot choose to do so. Abortion data is notoriously hard to collect + weed through but it appears that abortion rose in 2023.
If you’ve been in the pro-life movement for a while, the lack of success can feel frustrating. Roe vs. Wade may have been overturned, but over half of the country describes themselves as pro-choice1, and nearly every time an abortion ban is brought to the polls on a state level it’s quickly shot down. Donald Trump, the republican party’s idol and king, thinks abortions should be conceded in order to win elections.2 That is, after all, the only thing on God’s green earth that matters: winning a presidential election.
This is to be expected. It’s kind of like evangelization: is the goal that 100% of people come to know and love Christ? Yes. Is that literally ever going to happen? No. We’re human beings in a fallen world and, well, sin is a real thing. There’s almost an odd comfort in knowing that you’re the underdog, and that the wind is not at your back but instead icily smacking you in the face. You know what to wear, at least: the thickest woolen hat you can find.
Read more: What the Pro-Life Movement Needs
And so instead of clinging to a defeatist attitude, or rejoicing that the work is done with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I’m far more interested in a conversation about how to shift peoples’ viewpoints from “abortion is necessary” to “abortion is harmful”. Not because I want to win political points, but because I believe it to be true, and because I have to live in this world right in front of me. I have to figure out how to love my neighbor in the middle of this mess we’ve made.
Which is why we need to reimagine the landscape of the pro-life movement.