The shifting pro-life landscape in a post-Roe America
Abortion is the leading cause of death in America and around the world, with more than 44.6 million abortion deaths worldwide in 2023. The most tragic part about this staggering statistic is that each of these deaths was unnecessary and entirely preventable.
January is Sanctity of Human Life month, as well as the anniversary of January 22, 1973, the day the United States Supreme Court handed down the infamous Roe v. Wade opinion that led to the death of around 64 million unborn babies in America. This legal precedent that lasted nearly half a century was sanctioned by a nation founded on the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. How can a country founded on these principles deem infanticide a constitutionally protected “right”?
Nearly 50 years later, on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court made right such a grave wrong by declaring in its Dobbs decision that Roe was “egregiously wrongly decided from the start.” This was the starting line for a new phase of the pro-life movement as the fight for life shifted to the states.
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Since Roe was overturned, we celebrate the many lives saved as a result of pro-life policies enacted in life-affirming states. A study found around 32,000 babies’ lives were saved in states with abortion bans in the first six months of 2023, and births rose by 2.3% on average in states with abortion bans. Pro-life laws save lives, and data shows an increase in births in each state with an abortion ban.
The state of a Post-Roe America
In most states where abortion is still legal, however, abortion rates increased, according to research from the Guttmacher Institute. In pro-abortion states that border states with abortion bans, the increase in abortion rates was even more apparent. These increased rates reflect a trend of women in pro-life states crossing state lines to abort their children. The New York Times cited how Illinois’ estimated abortion rate rose by nearly 70% in 2023 compared with 2020. In its neighboring state of Indiana where abortion is more restricted, the estimated rate of abortion decreased.
Some women are increasingly turning to abortion pills, which are incredibly dangerous, especially when administered at home. Abortion pills are now responsible for the majority of abortions in America, and the United States Supreme Court will rule on limits to the abortion drug mifepristone this year.
It certainly doesn’t help that the Biden administration is the most pro-abortion administration in U.S. history, as it tries to force taxpayer-funded abortion, appoints pro-abortion extremists to top positions, endorses “abortion until birth” legislation, and repeals pro-life policies. The Biden White House is also finding backdoor ways to fund and facilitate abortion, such as paying for service members and their family members to travel out of state to obtain abortions.
I am not sharing these facts to discourage but rather to inform Americans of the reality of the pro-life fight in a post-Roe America. We’re navigating uncharted waters, and in order to see life win, we need to know what we’re up against and how to approach this new and shifting landscape in the fight for life.
Abortion on the ballot
In some ways, the pro-life movement has lost ground since the Dobbs decision as certain states have enshrined radicalized abortion access into law in their state. In November, Ohio was the first red state to codify abortion in its state constitution. Since the Dobbs decision in 2022, the pro-life movement is zero-for-seven in abortion referenda nationwide, with losses in California, Michigan, Vermont, Kentucky, Montana, Kansas, and Ohio.
While Ohio, California, Michigan, and Vermont are the only states that voted to codify abortion in their state constitutions, states like Kentucky, Montana, and Kansas failed to support pro-life protections in ballot initiatives. States like Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota are currently being targeted by activists for abortion to appear on the ballot in 2024.
What is most frustrating about abortion ballot measures is that they’re often vague, misleading, and deceptively worded, which is confusing and causes even moderately pro-life voters to side with abortion. That’s why we are fighting back against this strategy.
In February, I am representing Florida Voters Against Extremism (FLVAE) at the Florida Supreme Court, arguing against the deceptively worded abortion amendment that could appear on Florida’s ballot in November. This amendment would codify unrestricted abortion access in Florida’s constitution.
The amendment on the ballot is unlawful because it violates Florida law that a voter initiative must be clear and unambiguous, not deceptive, and limited to a single-subject. The Florida proposed amendment intentionally leaves undefined critical words such as “necessary,” “health,” “healthcare provider,” and “viability,” and includes pre-viability abortions and “health” in the same proposal. These two distinct issues cannot be put into a single ballot initiative.
The amendment summary language on the ballot also lies about the amendment’s actual language. While the ballot summary says the amendment would not affect parental consent laws, the actual language would end all parental consent and allow abortion for any reason, at any time, up to birth.
The bottom line is that this abortion ballot initiative is unlawful and must be rejected. I am hopeful the Florida Supreme Court will rule against the amendment. Liberty Counsel is also working with states nationwide to prevent abortion from appearing on state ballots in misleading ways like the tactics used by pro-abortion activists in Florida.
The path forward
While the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a huge win for life, it opened the door to the dark agenda of pro-abortion activists and how they will stop at nothing to allow the killing of unborn children and gaslight voters into supporting abortion. This is an issue that Christians simply cannot keep silent about if we believe the “clump of cells” in the womb is truly a human life (because it is).
Are we to stand idly by and let the genocide of the unborn continue? Or are we to advocate for life by promoting pro-life policies, voting for pro-life candidates, pursuing legal action against anti-life laws, educating others on the gruesome reality of abortion, encouraging a culture of life, pushing back on pro-abortion lies, supporting pregnancy resource centers, and caring for pregnant and new mothers and their babies?
The path forward to establishing pro-life protections and a culture of life in America starts with each and every one of us. And the fight for life in a post-Roe America has only just begun.
Mat Staver is founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, chairman of Liberty Counsel Action, Faith and Liberty, Covenant Journey and Covenant Journey Academy. He has more than 350 legal opinions, authored eight scholarly law review publications, and many articles and books.
Mat has argued in many federal and state courts, including three landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes a 9-0 precedent-setting victory in Shurtleff v. City of Boston. This case unanimously rejected the 1971 Supreme Court opinion of Lemon v. Kurtzman that did incredible damage to the First Amendment for 51-years.
Mat hosts two daily radio programs, "Freedom’s Call and Faith and Freedom," as well as a weekly television program, "Freedom Alive."
