For more than 50 years, pro-life advocates worked to overturn the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision in the belief that it mark the end of abortion on demand – and would save millions of lives. Well … Roe v. Wade got overturned.
Despite all the exaggerated claim of “lost rights” and millions of women being denied access to abortions as a result of the Court ruling – nothing has changed very much. All the caterwauling coming from the feminist left has been nothing but campaign propaganda … misinformation … and outright lies.
As a pro-lifer, I believe that the maturing human in the womb is essentially a person – and guaranteed a right to life – and eventually “liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” My goal is to see abortions limited to saving the life of the mother, rape and incest. There are three instances in which the health and mental well-being of the woman takes precedence.
Such instances are very rare. Most abortions are necessitated by neither the health of the woman nor of the developing human in the woman. They are a matter of desire or convenience on the part of the woman – without consideration of the male partner or the emerging new life. They may be based on economic issues, lifestyle issues, or a desire not to have a child — but they are not health issues as the proponents allege. Pregnancy is not a disease.
Opposition to abortion is not just a matter of narrow religious doctrine – as abortion proponents allege. It is a matter of civil rights. The Bible is a subtext for many. But in the broader context, it is a matter of civic morality. It is a belief in the inalienable right to life as articulated in the Constitution. It is a fundamental human right that may coincide with some religious beliefs – but not dependent on them.
Abortion advocates claim that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has denied the vast majority of women access to abortion. The facts say otherwise. As I had previously reported, the number of abortions for the first full years following the Court decision was in excess of 1,000,000 cases. In other words, the overturning of Roe v. Wade did not even put a dent in the number of abortions despite limitations imposed in several states.
As with any issue involving large numbers of people, there will be unfortunate cases. Women die of complications in pregnancies and in potential abortions. They are usually caused by some failure or misjudgment in medical treatment – or simply a sad reality. Some folks survive complicated surgery while others die during routine operations. The point is, that the anecdotal cases used by abortion advocates to legalize abortion on demand may be tragic, they do not offset the overwhelming number of successful pregnancies.
Contrary to the general impression, the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade did not end abortion-on-demand – or even reduce it. More of the unborn are being brutally terminated since the reversal by the Court than before.
As a pro-life who loves children and believes the right to life extends into the womb, I am both saddened and pessimistic that the right to life will be extended to the yet unborn for the foreseeable. Even as both sides debate the limits of abortion at the state level, it appears that abortion will continue to expand.
I recognize that I hold a minority opinion in America regarding abortion. I am in the same position as an abolitionist in Georgia prior to the Civil War with a fundamental morality confronting political popularity.
Having fought for the civil right of the unborn for most of my life, I understand that education is more powerful than legislation. Legislating against the public will – even for the most just causes – is a losing proposition.
The pro-abortion advocates are winning on a false claim that access to abortion no longer exists – or has been dramatically reduced. That is not the case. I personally believe that there should be a national ban on abortion-on-demand – just as we outlaw the arbitrary talking of human lives at other times in the life cycle.
But … I do believe that abortion-on-demand will one day go the way of slavery … human sacrifices … and Nazi genocide. It is just a matter of blind faith in even the most entrenched practices to yield to common sense and enlightenment.
We pro-lifers did not win as a result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It did not change the outcomes for the millions of developing human beings whose life was taken in the operating rooms. The so-called victories at the state levels are illusionary. The simple fact is that abortion-on-demand continues unabated – and there is insufficient political gravitas for a change in the situation in the foreseeable future.
That does not lessen my commitment to the lives of the unborn. We pro-lifers just have to work harder to convince more folks.
So, there ‘tis.