What Is the Goal of the Pro-Life Movement?

             The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns life, particularly the lives of unborn babies. This weekend was the 49^th annual March for Life. Nearly 50 years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The March for Life symbolizes the quest of the pro-life movement to undo Roe v. Wade.

            In an article written by Dr. Ben Carson, Marjorie Dannelfelser, Jim DeMint, Tony Perkins, and Kevin Roberts, the authors sought to explain the importance of decisions made by the Supreme Court in 2021. This summer, we will learn the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. According to the author’s, this case examines “the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that protects unborn children after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.” 

            The outcome of the Dobbs case can have huge consequences because it “potentially could overturn Roe v. Wade.” The authors explained as follows.

If Roe is overturned, abortion wouldn’t be automatically outlawed. Rather, states would have an opportunity to further protect life, and we would see a national debate in the halls of Congress.

If and when that happens, Americans who believe in the sanctity of human life must do everything in our power to ensure that we protect innocent life, especially the unborn.

Overturning Roe v. Wade would be a critical victory, and one that would result from decades of hard work from the conservative legal and pro-life movements.

Although overturning Roe has certainly been one of the pro-life movement’s foremost goals, it doesn’t end there. Beyond protecting the fundamental right to life in law, the pro-life movement is striving for the day that abortion is unthinkable and every person is welcomed in life.

So when Roe goes, the pro-life movement will enter a new phase of mobilization and pro-life policymaking – not just in legislatures, but in civil society more broadly….

But it is possible that the court might not overturn Roe v. Wade.

If the court leaves Roe in place while allowing the Mississippi law to stand, the contours of the new abortion regime in which Roe is undermined would provide new avenue to pursue life-affirming policies. It would still leave an unworkable framework in place, requiring continued efforts to fully correct a grave constitutional error.

If the court relies on Roe to strike down the Mississippi law, it would be an unmitigated failure by a majority-conservative bench to faithfully interpret the Constitution. Indeed, anything less than overturning Roe is a failure at some level.

            The fight for the right to life is a real war between good and evil. Every life is precious, from the moment of conception until the last breath before death. Taking innocent lives is evil, and evil must be fought against on every level. Will YOU join the pro-life movement to rid America of abortion on demand?