The news is abuzz about the leaked Supreme Court draft of a ruling that would reverse Roe v. Wade. While the repercussions from the leak may affect the ruling, if it holds, the pro-life movement will enter a new phase.
Pro-life activists have all been planning for this development for a long time. Pregnancy Resource Centers are gearing up to help more women. Organizations are shifting their focus to state legislatures, although many states have prepared for the overturn of Roe.
CNN reports that “26 states have laws indicating that they intend to ban abortions.” These states have either old abortion prohibitions that will once again be law if Roe is overturned or have “trigger bans” that will come into effect. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/03/us/state-abortion-trigger-laws-roe-v-wade-overturned/index.html
The Pro-Life Goal
Nonetheless, as the Consistent Life Network newsletter this week reminds us, overturning Roe was never the end goal. “Making abortion unthinkable (along with all other forms of killing human beings) is the end goal.
“A major part of that work is alleviating the poverty, racism, domestic violence, and sexual violence which, along with being wrong in themselves, are among the root causes of abortion.” https://www.consistentlifenetwork.org/
These issues are common-ground issues. They need to be emphasized in discourse with people who think they are pro “choice” but who really just aren’t aware of the complex causes of abortion and haven’t fully realized the damage abortion causes.
To counter the abortion mentality and create a Culture of Life, I suggest the following campaigns for the pro-life movement.
Develop a Brand: The pro-abortion faction has long had a well-known, recognizable brand. Everyone knows Planned Parenthood, but they don’t know Pregnancy Resource Centers, even though PRCs outnumber Planned Parenthood offices by over four to one.
Those who do know about PRCs have probably heard the abortion propaganda that calls them “fake clinics.” We have to proliferate the information that PRCs have multiple reliable resources and are nurturing, not judgmental, places.
To do that, we need a massive social media and advertising campaign. Pro-life organizations and PRCs may have their individual missions, but they must unite in a consistent branding language and message.
I would like to see all the major pro-life organizations come together to devise consistent advertising messages and slogans. Beyond that, pro-life organizations need to share common-use resources to save money and work.
Pro-abortion activists have always been able to depend on the pro-life movement being a poorly financed, grassroots effort that is fragmented into dozens of organizations, each doing its own thing and preaching to the choir.
In contrast, the pro-abortion side is financed by big money, touted by celebrities and has a slick propaganda campaign. Besides that, abortion itself is a billion-dollar industry. It’s a tough opponent, but there are ways to cause the walls to crumble.
File Class Action Suits: This legal action is long overdue. Yes, it is extremely expensive to get a class action suit started, but I have been assured by some pro-life leaders that advocates would be able to raise the money.
Years ago, people said that litigators would not be able to find enough women willing to admit to their abortions and go to court. Also, it was feared that allegations would be too hard to prove. I don’t think that is the case anymore.
Thousands of women have participated in Rachel’s Vineyard retreats (https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/) so they know the power of sharing their stories. The Silent No More campaign (https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/) has had nearly 7,000 men and women share their abortion testimonies.
In addition, there are over 600 women who have been helped by And Then There Were None, the organization for former abortion workers (https://abortionworker.com/). They can testify about appalling conditions in abortion facilities, and some have already won lawsuits and settlements.
It would be a long process of gathering medical records and testimonies while focusing on one provider at a time, but the end result would be a lot of bad, scary press about abortion providers and closed facilities.
Big Guns Beget Big Changes
Once America learns what really goes on in abortion “clinics,” I believe they will question everything about abortion. Follow the money and you’ll find coercion, negligent treatment, unlicensed practitioners, falsified records and fraud.
There are other ways to combat the abortion industry and convey the pro-life message, but these two efforts are among the most needed–big weapons against a big enemy.
The end of Roe is not a victory unless we follow through, keep working, and ultimately achieve the true end goal of making abortion unthinkable, finding nonviolent solutions to problems and providing love and support to all pregnant women and their babies.
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