When the year started, none of us knew for sure if we’d see the end of Roe when the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson. But we did.
And since then, we’ve seen a tremendous shift in state-level policies in favor of the unborn: 13 states have fully banned abortion, and another five have instituted limits ranging from 6 to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Eight more states have attempted to enact bans or limits but met resistance from courts.
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Some states such as Texas, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee have pursued “heartbeat bills” — bans on abortion as soon as a heartbeat is detectable in the womb. In practice, this ends up being a six-week ban. Another tack is “fetal pain” restrictions, such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act introduced in the Senate and aimed at ending abortion access once it is scientifically proven that the unborn child can suffer pain.
On the other hand, a number of states have expanded access. Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, and the state of Washington have all taken steps to broaden abortion access via policy or funding. A number of states — including Alaska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont — already have unrestricted access to abortion. There are no gestational limits on the death of unborn children in these states whatsoever.
It’s clear that the end of Roe wasn’t the end of our battle over abortion. The unborn still need our protection. At the end of a monumental year, it’s important to take stock of all we’ve done and all we have left to do.
Some states anticipated important new frontiers of abortion. Take Missouri, for instance, where Sen. Bill White introduced legislation that would protect women and children from trafficked abortion pills. West Virginia’s abortion ban does the same.
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Other states helped provide us with a model of what family and mother support can look like after Dobbs. Texas has been developing an ambitious and essential program called Alternatives to Abortion, one other states would do well to emulate.
We can and ought to rejoice in the ingenuity and diversity of the pro-life movement’s response to the fall of Roe. It will take years of innovative, committed leadership on behalf of vulnerable women and their unborn children to build a truly “post-Roe” America.
We already have excellent beginnings to celebrate and build upon. What better time than the close of the year to gather ourselves, rest, and prepare for the work to come? We aren’t free from adversity — far from it, in fact — but we can rest in hope and peace, knowing that God’s justice and mercy await every life our work saves or supports.
And with one year ending, we face the beginning of yet another. It stands before us, unknown, unseen, and unshaped. We can’t know exactly what work we will do, what we will suffer, or what we will celebrate. But we can know, without a doubt, that our cause abides. We can know that mothers and children all over America need us to rally around them now and in the year to come.
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Most importantly, we can know that our unwavering commitment to preserving the sanctity of life reflects in its small way the sublime gift and infinite wisdom of our Creator.
