Reflecting on Roe: Pro-Life is Not a Trend

Forty years ago today, people were wearing their platform shoes, listening to disco in their muscle cars, and abortion lovers were celebrating Roe v. Wade. Fast-forward your eight track to today and you’ll see Roe in a different light. The pro-abortion crowd is changing their tune like they changed hairstyles. You see, for them, being pro-choice was the fad, but it’s not a trend that pro-lifers follow. Don’t get us wrong, we celebrate the transformation from Pong to Wii, but as pro-lifers, our views are not eligible for an upgrade.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s destructive decision, Roe v. Wade, granted pro-choice women a quick fix to unplanned pregnancies with unlimited access to abortions.  Meanwhile, pro-life advocates continue to uphold the Declaration of Independence’s life-affirming covenant that, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The notion that a woman’s choice is non-existent if abortion is unavailable makes a good sound bite, but it has warped the value of life, destroyed relationships, distorted morality, and redefined women’s issues in American politics.

We witnessed abortion activists place the so-called “reproductive rights” issue at the forefront of presidential platforms last year, essentially telling women that it should be their only political concern. The Left sold women a bill of goods under the guise of conservatives’ so-called “war on women,” and they won the election. Some women bought that lie, but even more are now recognizing the realities of abortion.

The real war on women’s health comes in the form of physical, emotional, and psychological scars left over from abortion. Women who undergo an abortion have an 81 percent increase in risk of mental health problems, according to a new study by leading American researcher Dr. Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State University. This is born out in the counseling world. In fact according to Safe Haven, a ministry dedicated to serving post-abortion women, Post Abortion Syndrome is the most common disorder they treat. Abortion has also been linked with increased chances of depression, doubling chances of breast cancer, ectopic pregnancies, drug and alcohol abuse, and women who have an abortion are six times more likely to commit suicide.[1]  “Legal” has certainly not meant “safe.”

As the saying goes, "once you know, you can’t unknow." You can’t unsee the ultrasound, and you can’t unfeel the loss of life.

The sanctity of life is written on our hearts, and Americans know it. That’s why pro-life activists are winning with 56 percent of Americans taking a pro-life position and 83 percent seeking harsher restrictions on abortion clinics. And today’s kids are even more pro-life than their parents. Despite intense pressure from pro-abortion lobbyists disguised as teachers and school administrators, 72 percent of teens in America believe abortion is morally wrong. Imagine that. The so-called “Me, Me, Me Generation” caring about the nearly 4,000 unborn lives lost daily. They are the ones who get the late-night text from a friend in crisis, nervous about the chance of pregnancy. This is the generation who has the easiest access to abortion-on-demand, yet they are the ones choosing life more than ever. The pendulum has swung.

Attitudes have changed in large part because the abortion debate has shifted. No longer are we disputing science in the public arena. Medical science is increasingly affirming the pro-life message. The prevalence of prenatal ultrasounds has allowed the general public a window into the womb, and we are no longer arguing about a “blob of tissue.”  Even the liberal bastion, Time Magazine, admits that the pro-life “cause has been aided by scientific advances that have complicated American attitudes about abortion.”

Critics may say that pro-life advocates only care about the unborn and that once they’re born, we neglect to provide support. But it is the pro-life ministries, charities, and non-profits who offer long-term comfort, support, and love to women in crisis. In the United States alone, there are 2,500 crisis pregnancy centers offering sonograms, pregnancy tests, parenting classes, STD testing, after-abortion recovery counseling, and simple love and support to women.

Concerned Women for America is working at both the federal and state level to change hearts and minds by simply taking care of women. Our success is reflected by the record-high 92 new pro-life state laws passed to save the lives of women and their unborn babies in 2011, as reported by Planned Parenthood’s think tank, the Guttmacher Institute.

We, as young women, are grateful to women who’ve gone before us in the pro-life movement and spoken up for the true well-being of women. Our side does not see the same infighting currently unfolding within the pro-choice realm. While young abortion activists are abandoning the “pro-choice” label and their senior leaders, we pro-lifers of all ages unite in solidarity to the truth that Pro-Life is Pro-Woman.

So as abortion activists scramble to catch up, the pro-life movement is moving forward with added strength. For us, pro-life is not just a hashtag, it’s a life-long commitment.