At a closed-door meeting last week, Sen. Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators were briefed on a new study encouraging them to move away from “pro-life” language as potentially alienating voters in the wake of Dobbs. This report was a direct response to a string of defeats the pro-life movement has experienced at the ballot box over the past year, mainly on proposals to amend state constitutions.
Proposals to neutralize the state constitution as a source of abortion rights were rejected by voters in Kansas and Kentucky, while, in California, Michigan, and Vermont, voters approved proposals to add so-called abortion rights to their state constitutions. The outcomes in California and Vermont were not surprising and, in any event, neither state was likely to regulate, much less prohibit, abortion. But the outcomes in Kansas, Kentucky, and, particularly, Michigan were very disappointing. The vote in Michigan effectively overturned 50 years of successful pro-life advocacy in the state, wiping out not only the pre-Roe law prohibiting abortion but a broad spectrum of post-Roe laws regulating abortion.
All of these results call for reflection by the pro-life movement. Reflection, not despondency, for all great social movements take time and often experience defeats on the way to ultimate victory. After all, it took almost 60 years for the Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) to overrule Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and ban segregation in public schools, and almost 50 years to persuade the Supreme Court, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) to overrule Roe v. Wade (1973). Overruling Roe was the indispensable step — but only the first — toward restoring legal protection for unborn children. And, with respect to the issue of state ballot proposals, something else is called for in addition to reflection, and that is perspective.
What must be recognized at the outset is that it is not possible for advocates of legal abortion to “run the table,” so to speak, with citizen initiatives seeking to constitutionalize abortion “rights,” thereby bypassing conservative legislatures and nullifying pro-life legislation. More than two-thirds of the states allow their state constitutions to be amended only by a measure proposed by the state legislature, while less than one-third also allow amendments to be proposed by a citizen initiative.
Of the 25 states that have laws on the books prohibiting abortion through part or all of pregnancy, only nine allow citizen initiatives to be used to amend their state constitutions. And of those nine states, citizen initiatives to constitutionalize abortion rights have been proposed in six states — Arizona, Florida (which requires approval of 60 percent of the votes cast for an amendment), Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota (to date, only the Missouri and Ohio measures have qualified for the ballot). No such initiative has (yet) been undertaken in Arkansas, North Dakota, or Oklahoma. There is, in sum, a very limited number of states in which a citizen initiative constitutionalizing a right to abortion could be pursued, and even fewer in which such a measure would likely be proposed, qualify for the ballot, and be approved by the voters.
Some political perspective is also in order. It must be acknowledged that on the same day Michigan voters approved a citizen initiative to constitutionalize abortion rights, they also (barely) turned over control of the state legislature to Democrats. But the outcome of ballot measures is not necessarily a reliable proxy for predicting elections to public office….
From the Federalist
Look… abortion is going to be legal in America for all of our lives.
It’s not going away.
A counsel of despair
More like realism and accurate prognostication. I couldn’t imagine wasting my life on a cause that won’t succeed. God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
serenity wrote: “I couldn’t imagine wasting my life on a cause that won’t succeed.”
Please don’t give up. It’s not “wasting your life” if you do only what you can, no matter how little.
Like you, I don’t expect to see California turning pro-life any time soon, but I’ll continue praying for the cause. My modest goal is not so much to help stop legalized abortion (that’s unachievable at this time) but to be present for the babies when they die. No one likes to die alone. These babies are utterly rejected and killed without the love and care of the adults around them.
Next week, we start the 40-Days for Life fall campaign. We are a loose group of volunteers from Catholic parishes and Christian non-denominational groups who take turns praying outside the large Planned Parenthood abortuary parking lot in our area. The parking lot, we cannot cross, so we stay on the public-access sidewalk, carrying our signs and Guadalupe and Divine Mercy posters, praying the rosary and singing hymns among ourselves. We sprinkle holy water at the entrance to the parking lot, but not block it. We have leaflets to give away to those who accept them. Most times, that’s all we do and it’s not hard.
But it’s not without some heartbreaking moments, either, although very rarely. Earlier this year, during our lent campaign, I was by myself praying when a dejected young man approached me, just wanting to talk. He was staking out his girlfriend from having an abortion. I listened as he cried and poured his heart out. We prayed together. He kept calling her on his cell phone and soon realized she was at another Planned Parenthood in another city. At this point, one of our male volunteers arrived and he offered to drive the young man to where his girlfriend was. Much later, when our male volunteer came back, he gave me the sad news: The girlfriend had obtained a restraining order against the young man, and he was arrested by the police.
It broke our hearts, but at least we tried. We placed the girlfriend, the young man, and their unborn baby in God’s hands. As St. Mother Teresa used to say, “The goal is not so much to succeed as to be faithful.”
Let’s all pray that the scourge of abortion ends right across America. Our Lady of Good Success pray for this intention.
Let’s keep in mind that the Federalists is an extreme right-wing organization devoted to ultra-right conservatism. They write for their audience. The left-wing groups write for their audience as well, and the messages are not the same. Because of the losses on the abortion issue, some (not many) are suggesting that the right-wing should reduce its call for the end of abortion and pivot to support for birth control to end the need for abortion. While strong anti-abortion advocates would oppose that move, it would allow moderates and independents to return to the Republican party at the polls. So, the conundrum becomes the choice between holding fast to a no-abortion platform or supporting a different effort for the sake of votes. Interesting?
You forget– like many others– that killing babies in their mothers’ wombs– is not a “political” issue. It is a moral issue. It is murder.
The same is true of assisted suicide/euthanasia. Americans need good moral training, good manners, maturity, self-control, and good standards of morality and decency in daily living– and respect for God and for life– plus, tremendous respect for the institution of marriage, motherhood and children. Otherwise– our nation is a complete failure. What has been truly needed, for decades, now– is a strong, national campaign, nationwide, to defeat the sick, selfish, unstable, crazy 1960s extreme “me-oriented,” leftist activists and perverts, ignorantly seeking to destroy our great Nation and our democratic way of life, faith in God, morality, decency, and the institution of Traditional (man-woman) marriage, children and family. It is highly important for Americans to grow up to be mature, responsible, respectable men and women, to outgrow babyish adolescence, immaturity, and selfish “me-orientation,” and become proficient in being good, responsible, mature adults. American youngsters need to be taught how to interact successfully and maturely with the opposite sex, with good manners and good morals, mature dating, selecting a potential marriage partner, courtship, and then marriage—- and motherhood, fatherhood– and successful child-rearing, as a good family. No to promiscuity, that is ignorant and immoral. A baby is a big responsibility. Never an ignorant, immoral “choice.” Good maternity homes, with adoption services, should be available, to youngsters who have made a mistake. Not evil Planned Parenthood, and immoral abortion and irresponsible birth control. Many countries have had successful campaigns to promote marriage and family. It greatly strengthens their cultures. It is the very core of life, and the core– the heart and soul– of a nation.
Big Pro-Life is loving this situation because now they can fundraise even more. Just like homeless advocacy groups don’t want homelessness to end, just like racial justice organizations don’t want racism to end, Big Pro-Life doesn’t want abortion to end because then the gravy train of fundraising would also end.
That’s right. There are people who build. There are people who create. There are people who lead. Then there are leeches who fundraise from the success of others.