By Dave Andrusko
Today National Right to Life unveils its eagerly awaited 11th annual “The State of Abortion in the United States”. Not to coin a phase but its 76-pages are a must read for all pro-lifers as NRLC’s roster of experts looks back at 2023 (and before) and ahead to 2024.
The report is laid out in seven sections. After an inspiring introduction by NRLC President Carol Tobias, which we will talk about here first, we’ll offer a brief overview of “Fifty Years of Abortion in America: Abortion Statistics Before and After Dobbs.” On Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll examine the other six, three each day.
We’ll begin by looking at NRLC President Carol Tobias’s remarks. They are exceptionally shrewd and insightful and are best not summarized but reposted in their entirety. She writes
“In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court found, in the U.S. Constitution, an invisible ‘right’ to kill preborn children. Even before that horrendous decision, National Right to Life was organizing and mobilizing state affiliates to defend the right to life for our littlest brothers and sisters.
“It took 49½ years of determination and persistence, but Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions were finally overturned.
“Justice Alito, writing for the majority in Dobbs v. Jackson, noted:
“We do not pretend to know how our political system or society will respond to today’s decision overruling Roe and Casey. And even if we could foresee what will happen, we would have no authority to let that knowledge influence our decision. We can only do our job, which is to interpret the law, apply longstanding principles of stare decisis, and decide this case accordingly. We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
“Since that eventful decision, in which the Court righted the terrible wrong of Roe, we have seen the state of abortion in the United States shift dramatically as many states moved to enact laws that would protect unborn children and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion. At the same time, pro-abortion advocates and politicians in other states moved to enshrine into state law the most extreme abortion protections possible. Within these pages is a snapshot of where we are 1-1/2 years after the Supreme Court’s honorable decision in Dobbs.
“From recent data analyzed in these pages, we know the annual number of abortions was on the increase in the years leading up to Dobbs, largely due to a highly-intensified promotion of the abortion pill. However, more recent counts appear to show that as many as 89,000 preborn children have been saved since Dobbs thanks to new protective state laws.
“NRLC and its affiliates will continue to promote legislative efforts that provide legal protection to unborn children. We will also continue to offer hope and help to their mothers. No woman should be led to believe that ending the life of her unborn child is the “solution” to any current difficulty she may be facing. America is better than that. Pro-life education and legislative efforts are making an impact on our culture and in the lives of women facing unexpected pregnancies. But there is still much to be done.
“This eleventh annual State of Abortion in the United States is not just a snapshot of where we are in the post-Dobbs landscape, but also a blueprint for how we move forward to build a culture that values life and respects mothers and their children.”
Next comes “Fifty Years of Abortion in America: Abortion Statistics Before and After Dobbs.” Its twelve pages provides an overview second to none. It’s most important (and sobering) single fact comes under the headline “Half a century of losses.” Tragically, the U.S. has ended the lives of 65,464,760 unborn babies since 1973.
Just days after National Right to Life issued its report saying available data appeared to show abortions going down in the U.S. since Dobbs, the Guttmacher Institute, at one time a special research affiliate of the abortion giant Planned Parenthood, sent out a press release claiming new data shows abortions on the increase.
We examine the grounds on which Guttmacher makes that assertion and critique its conclusion. If it is true, the growth is accounted for by the increase in chemically-induced abortions (the abortifacient mifepristone that women can ingest outside a clinic); an aggressive campaign to make arrangements for vulnerable pregnant women from states with legal protections for unborn children to travel to clinics in neighboring or other states with abortion-supportive policies; and “panic buying” by women scared into fears that mifepristone would be pulled off the market.
The section ends with this:
The numbers show us the fight is far from over and there is still much work to be done. Expect a lot of energy, effort, and expense on both sides. Ultimately, we have to believe that the battle will be won not by the ones who have the most money or the most influence with the media, but by those who demonstrate with word and deed their love for both mother and child. They’re the ones who really count most of all.
Tomorrow Federal policy & abortion, the Hyde Amendment, and State Laws.”
By all means read the report for yourself. An educated pro-lifer is the abortion industry’s worst nightmare.
