It never ceases to amaze me how people misunderstand the pro-life movement.
Dana Milbank’s opinion piece in the Washington Post today, is a perfect example of that fact. Pointing out that, thanks to the weather, the March for Life saw far fewer attendees than in the recent past, Milbank questioned the entire movement’s value. Why freeze in the cold, he posits, when you’re completely ineffective?
Year after year, antiabortion faithful assemble for the march, yet their goal is elusive. Gallup found last year that 26 percent thought abortion should be legal in any circumstance, 20 percent said it should be illegal in all cases, and 52 percent thought it should be legal in certain circumstances. In 1975, those numbers were 21, 22 and 54, respectively.
The antiabortion movement has made progress in states limiting access to abortion.More than 50 such laws were enacted last year alone. But just last week, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe in rejecting an Arizona law that blocked abortions after 20 weeks. At the same time, advances in emergency contraception and chemical abortion agents have offset gains made in restricting access to traditional abortions.
Roe v. Wade is still law of the land, and polling numbers indicate that people still hold the same views on the legalization of abortion as they did in 1975. So, clearly, the pro-life movement is failing.
Milbank, much of the Democratic Party and pro-choice folks out there, are completely missing the point about what the pro-life movement is trying to accomplish. They are so hung up on defending their so-called “woman’s right to choose” that they are ignoring the progress the pro-life movement has made in influencing that choice.
The statistic that matters isn’t polling numbers, and it isn’t bills passed, or Supreme Court decisions. The only number that really matters to the pro-life community is this one: the number of abortions performed each year.
And that number is falling. And has been falling. For decades.
In fact, 2013 saw the record fewest number of abortions since Roe v. Wade, according to Focus on the Family, and that overall number is down 32% from the all-time high in 1990.
That’s the only statistic that matters. Everything else is just noise.
What Milbank doesn’t understand is that the pro-life movement’s goal isn’t to outlaw abortion. Even before Roe v. Wade, hundreds of thousands of abortions were being performed across America every year. While many pro-lifers would prefer if Roe v. Wade and its progeny were overruled, that is one step toward the larger goal – ending abortion in America. Ending it – not making it illegal.
We want the number of abortions performed to be zero – and it doesn’t matter whether abortion is legal or illegal if that number hits zero.
That’s what this is all about. Promoting a culture of life, not death. And every year that number and that rate falls is proof of the good the pro-life movement is doing in the fight against abortion.
The statistics don’t lie: we are winning that fight. Abortion rates have been declining steadily since the high of 1990. What that tells me is that better education, better contraception, better access to contraception, and changing attitudes towards abortion are reducing the numbers, which is what we all want to see. We may not be winning major court battles or legislative victories, but we are slowly but surely winning the hearts and minds of the American people.
That’s how you win these kinds of moral fights. You can’t force people to comply with your version of morality, but you can convince them that your version is the right one. And the pro-life movement is succeeding in persuading millions of men and women across the country that abortion isn’t necessary and there are better options – both to prevent unwanted pregnancies and to help women if they find themselves in one.
That’s a warm feeling, no matter how cold it gets.
