Two days after the Jan. 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade decision was handed down, the manically pro-abortion editorial page of The New York Times triumphantly announced that the 7-2 decision “could bring to an end the emotional and divisive public argument” and “will end the argument if those who are now inveighing against the decision as a threat to civilization’s survival will pause long enough to recognize the limits of what the Court has done.”
That gross misstatement—the “limits” part in particular–established the template that existed for many decades in many quarters: the pretense that Justice Harry Blackmun’s decision hadn’t gutted the abortion laws of all 50 states, some very protective, others virtually allowing abortion on demand well into the second trimester and beyond. The abortion regime established nearly 50 years ago was wildly out of sync with public opinion.
Now we are in the post-Roe era, thanks to the June 24, 2022, Dobbs decision which came down from a very different Supreme Court. The albatross of Roe was cast aside. Thanks to Dobbs, pro-lifers are experiencing a much more level playing field than ever before.
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Is it smooth sailing? Of course not. The Abortion Industry and its legion of supporters in Blue states, the media, and academia, have responded with a furious counter-attack.
They barely bother to counter our accurate charge that the legislation they passed, or the constitutional amendments they enacted, meant that no unborn child was safe. They aim their guns at Pregnancy Help Centers and parental involvement. But as Bishop Michael F. Burbidge so perceptively wrote, “Human rights can never be put to a vote. Human rights come from God, our loving creator, and no true human right derives its legitimacy from a majority vote.”
The forces that consider it a day lost when thousands of unborn babies aren’t slaughtered count on Democrat control of the Legacy Media, which while in steep decline, still wields influence, and of the legislatures of states such as California, New York, and Illinois, to name just three wholly owned subsidiaries of Planned Parenthood et al.
But yesterday’s Supreme Court Medina decision gives us great hope. As pro-life champion Rep. Chris Smith said, “This decision frees other states to invest in real health care without fear that Planned Parenthood will misuse the court system to block a state’s right to administer its own Medicaid program and choose not to subsidize organizations that pay for elective abortion.”
It is important to note, as did Justice Neil Gorsuch who wrote majority opinion, that
At the same time, the State took steps that, it said, would help ensure that a “variety of other nongovernmental entities and governmental agencies” would continue to provide “access to necessary medical care and important women’s health and family planning services.” According to the State, it has “140 [other] federally qualified health clinics and pregnancy centers, not counting the numerous private health providers who accept Medicaid.
As we look to the future, our goal, at a minimum, is to clog the financial pipeline to the Abortion Industry and more optimistically, squeeze it shut over time. The Big Beautiful Bill, which would defund Planned Parenthood, has passed the House and is working its way through the Senate. Fingers crossed.
Final thought here. Pigeon-holing the pro-life movement as “right-wing” or Christian-only—the bread and butter attacks of the pro-death side—will never end but will be revealed as the foolish canard that it always was. Our Movement’s love for unborn babies and their mothers cannot be hidden, even by the New York Times.
The late Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer Paul Greenberg, one of my favorite journalists, once wrote, “The right to life must come first or all the others can never take root, much less flourish. As in the Declaration of Independence’s order of certain unalienable rights, among them ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ Note which one is mentioned first. And for good, logical reason.”
The Dobbs decision moved us in the direction of life and away from death. Remember that the next time someone pretends it is pro-lifers who are the outliers.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. He frequently writes Today’s News and Views — an online opinion column on pro-life issues.
