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History will remember Friday as the day our nation’s most egregious court ruling was overturned and the culture of death began to fall. Roe is gone, and that’s a reason to celebrate.
No, the Dobbs decision isn’t the end of abortion in America. It just means the question now belongs to the states. As many have rightly noted, the fight for life is only beginning. Our nation faces deeper cultural and spiritual problems, problems that begin long before a young woman shows up at the doors of her local Planned Parenthood. Defending unborn lives will continue to require hard work, patience, and love for those who oppose the efforts.
But at least those laboring to see the end of abortion will no longer be encumbered by the twisted legal framework of Roe and Casey.
Since 2016, pro-life pregnancy centers have saved more than 800,000 human lives, according to an analysis released on Thursday by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Their services often change the minds of mothers at risk for abortion, with 78% choosing life after viewing their child via ultrasound.
“Clearly, millions of children’s lives have been spared from abortion in America by virtue of their mothers visiting and receiving support from pregnancy help centers over the past 52 years,” the analysis notes.
That was under Roe, when pro-lifers faced a legal system that told women murdering their children was not just permissible but a fundamental right rooted in the Constitution. If pro-life pregnancy centers could save so many lives then, how much more is possible now?
Over 63 million abortions have taken place in the United States since 1973. In 2020 alone, there were 930,000 abortions. Now, the hundreds of thousands of defenseless unborn lives threatened each year will have a fighting chance.
Thirteen states with trigger laws, which were designed to take effect whenever the court overruled Roe, are already set to ban abortion this month. Other states have pre-Roe or previously court-blocked laws on the books, and a handful are likely to draft new ones.
With Roe overturned and at least half of the states enacting abortion restrictions or bans, the 2,700 pregnancy centers that have already helped save so many lives will play an even greater role. They’ll need community support as they continue to council abortion-minded women, provide classes and care, and meet physical needs for items such as diapers and baby clothes.
Abortion activists frame the Dobbs ruling as a horror story about the destruction of women’s rights. But, no matter how difficult the road may be, new life is always a blessing. As one teenager barred from getting an abortion in Texas said in a recent Washington Post story, the changes to her life no longer mattered. ”She had two babies she loved more than anything else in the world.”
There’s work to do, and we can’t stop until every unborn child is safe from the violence of abortion. But there’s also room to rejoice. Today, celebrate the countless lives that will be spared in the coming years and thank God for answering the prayers of multiple generations for the restoration of justice in our highest court.
Katelynn Richardson is a summer 2022 Washington Examiner fellow.
