By Denise M. Burke, Esq.

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, one of the Supreme Court’s most tragic and notorious decisions; however, even on such a sad occasion, there is reason for hope.

When abortion was legalized in 1973, many abortion advocates believed that they had won an enduring victory.   They argued that Roe was “settled law” and could not be eradicated.  They also believed that the American public would eventually embrace a regime of
unrestricted – and even taxpayer funded –abortion-on-demand and come to see the easy availability of abortion as the ultimate liberation of women.

Four decades after Roe, abortion advocates could not have been more wrong.  If anything, abortion is an even more controversial and polarizing issue now than it was in January 1973.  
 
Pro-life advocates continue to challenge Roe in the courts and have not accepted abortion advocates’ fallacious assertion that Roe is “settled law.”  Test cases are currently under way in courts across the nation seeking to fence in the abortion license and to lay the
groundwork for its demise.  Pro-life advocates continue to accumulate victories that we hope will lead to Roe’s ultimate reversal. 
 
The weight of medical and sociological evidence is proving that abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women, rather than the panacea for life’s challenges as abortion advocates argued.  As a result, many Americans do not view abortion as legitimate healthcare or as beneficial to women.  Instead, we are seeing increasing support for the life-affirming work of pregnancy care centers which provide much-needed help to women, their families, and their communities.  We need look no further than abortion advocates’ vitriol toward pregnancy care centers for affirmation of the tremendous impact these centers are enjoying.

 And, importantly, more and more Americans, especially younger generations, are self-identifying as “pro-life.”  Further, in a recent poll, more than 80 percent of respondents (whether they identified as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”) supported significant restrictions on abortion.

 The battle is far from over, but the pro-life movement’s victories are many and significant.  Importantly, we must continue to persevere in the face of the most pro-abortion presidential administration in American history.  

On many occasions and prior anniversaries of Roe, abortion advocates have tried to declare victory in the face of growing defeat, but we must remain steadfast in our commitment to the unborn and their
mothers. Our goal is just:  a nation in which everyone is welcomed
in life and protected in law.




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