The post-Roe era has officially begun now that the United States Supreme Court has delivered its long-awaited opinion on Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization and upheld Mississippi law protecting unborn life. Now that the legal and political decisions on abortion have been returned to the American people, what will it mean for American women?
From working with Mississippi to write its pro-life law to serving on the Mississippi legal team upholding that law in the Supreme Court, my colleagues and I at the Alliance Defending Freedom have had the privilege of ensuring that women and their unborn children are protected and cherished in Mississippi. We stand ready to help other states achieve this aspiration.
And we trust that American women will thrive in a world without Roe. Nearly 50 years of abortion on demand have incalculably damaged women and their families. And now we have the opportunity to correct the mistakes that Roe caused.
A full and frank national discussion of the myths and facts surrounding abortion is long overdue. Truth was one of Roe’s first casualties. To secure and promote her radical agenda, abortion rights advocates repeatedly and blatantly misled Americans. We must advance a comprehensive, life-affirming agenda while correcting the falsehoods still being spread by abortion supporters.
Many claim that abortion does not kill a baby, but simply ends a “cluster of cells” or “potential life.” As recognized by legislative findings supporting Mississippi law protecting life after 15 weeks gestation, an unborn child’s heart begins to beat at six weeks, the child begins to move in the womb at eight weeks and all of your basic physiological functions are present by nine weeks. Anyone who has ever seen a pregnancy-related ultrasound recognizes its amazing images as a living, developing human being.
Abortion rights advocates imply that women are not strong or capable enough to manage motherhood and a job, school, or other interests. But Americans never quite believed this. in a Marist Survey 201852 percent of those surveyed acknowledged that abortion “does more harm than good” in the long run, while only 29 percent believe it improves a woman’s life.
They also argued that American women wanted unrestricted and unregulated access to abortion paid for at taxpayer expense. This bold statement deliberately ignores the fact that many vulnerable women only reluctantly “choose” abortion after the financially incentivized abortion lobby convinces them that abortion is their only option.
Proponents of abortion promote it as beneficial to a woman’s health, often concealing evidence that the procedure carries significant physical and psychological risks, and that these medical risks increase as the pregnancy progresses. This lie continues today as these advocates aggressively market dangerous chemical abortions to American women. A Finnish study from 2009 revealed that complications were almost four times more frequent after chemical abortions than after surgical abortions.
Instead of abortion, American women need laws that protect them and their families. They need more social and financial support, better access to vital care, and the perceived ability to say “yes” to life.
A 2005 study The Guttmacher Institute for abortion rights found that more than 93 percent of abortions were motivated by social and economic concerns. Other studies have placed this number at nearly 97 percent.
The Supreme Court has given state legislatures permission to protect the unborn and promote a culture of life. But this historic decision will not end the circumstances that lead women to abort. Some women still fear that abortion is their only option. These women need financial, material, and other resources, as well as the unequivocal, life-affirming support of America’s churches and social agencies.
The pro-life community must seize this opportunity to demonstrate that abortion is a bogus answer to a real hardship, that choosing life is the answer, and that future pro-life policies will set the stage for women and their babies to really thrive.
Denise Burke is a Senior Advisor to Alliance in defense of freedom (@ADFLegal), where he is a member of the Center for Legislative Advocacy.
Reference-thehill.com