The pro-life movement got duped by pro-abortionists almost immediately following one of its biggest wins. Many of us bought into the lie that abortion is over after Dobbs v. Jackson.
It's not. Planned Parenthood's statistics show that 91 percent of America's abortions occur at or before 13 weeks of pregnancy. While 15 states have banned abortion either entirely or after 6 weeks, the remaining 35 states—or about two-thirds—still allow abortion to varying extents up to or long after the point at which nearly all abortions occur.
Even post-Dobbs, the United States remains among the most pro-abortion nations in the world. Only seven countries permit elective abortions at or past 20 weeks of pregnancy: Canada, China, the Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, Vietnam—and us.
That said, it's important to encourage every strategy to rescue the preborn, and there are a lot of them right now. Take the much-discussed 15-week ban, for instance. Does it protect all, or even most, preborn innocent life? No. Is it vastly better than having no restrictions at all? Yes. Both of these things can be true.
We owe gratitude to our national leaders for every single pro-life win we get, and at the same time we can still press for ever-greater protection of the preborn. Dobbs didn't end the fight. This is halftime, and it's time to get back out on the field.
After all, it is important to remember the stakes here. These are human lives on the ballot. The legislative outcome, whatever it may be, is a matter of life and death for millions. In our battle over political outcomes, we must not lose sight of the preborn child.
It's also important to note that our pro-abortion opponents are getting bolder. California Governor Gavin Newsom has started explicitly advertising the state's abortion services across the country, as if being able to kill the unborn were a tourist attraction. It even used the Bible in its ad campaign.
States that refuse to restrict abortion are no longer neutral parties. Many, such as California and New York, have become abortion evangelists. Two dozen bills have been introduced nationwide to expand abortion access.
These are not idle threats to preborn life. This isn't just preservation of "the way things were." This is a new, unique assault on innocent life in the womb—and so is the idea that "abortion is over."
We cannot be lulled into a sense of complacency because pro-abortion advocates want us to believe our work is over. Their work began again after Dobbs. Ours did too.
If you're tired, I get it. We've been fighting to defend life for half a century. But our purpose is the same now as it always was: to save preborn lives, and to make killing these children unthinkable and unnecessary. Remember them, and defend them, because they can't defend themselves.
And if you've been deceived, I ask you to pay attention. The pro-abortion movement's purpose, like ours, is the same as it always was: to defend the ability to kill innocent people in the womb. Don't let them distract or confuse you now.
Don't compromise. Don't give up. Don't become complacent. The game isn't over yet, and millions of preborn children depend on us.
Benjamin Watson is a former Super Bowl champion and current vice president of strategic relationships with Human Coalition.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
