PROVIDENCE — “Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. The Court overrules those decisions and returns authority to the people and their elected representatives.”
It was with these words that Justice Samuel Alito summarized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overrule a prior Supreme Court decision upholding a supposed “right to abortion” in its landmark 2022 case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
In this case, the Court overturned two other decisions – Roe v. Wade (1973) and Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992) – which stated a constitutional basis for a “right to abortion,” thereby legalizing the procedure on a federal level. In the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court asserted that these earlier decisions were rooted in a misinterpretation of certain elements of constitutional law, as well as other broader concepts in the American legal tradition.
In removing a right to abortion from federal law, the Supreme Court returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states, allowing each state to decide for itself whether to allow or prohibit abortion, and to what extent it should be regulated.
The overturn of Roe v. Wade is seen as one of the greatest victories for the pro-life movement. Nonetheless, much of the pro-life movement has historically been defined in terms of defeating Roe v. Wade. As we enter the two-year mark of the attainment of this goal, proponents of the pro-life cause are faced with two important questions: What is the current state of the pro-life movement post-Roe?, and, “Where does the pro-life movement go from here?”
In spite of the major legal victory, broader negative cultural trends remain. One survey conducted in June of 2023, exactly one year after the Dobbs case, showed that 73% of Americans supported legalizing abortion for the first six weeks, while 51% supported legalizing abortion for the first 15 weeks. These numbers were high among supporters of both parties, with 88% of self-identified Democrats and 56% of self-identified Republicans supporting the legalization of abortion for the first six weeks.
Yet, even within this context, very few Americans had a blanket support or opposition to abortion. A 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center shows that 27% of those surveyed believed that abortion should be illegal in most cases, as opposed to only 8% who believed that abortion should be legal in all cases without exception.
Widespread support for abortion is also correlated with an increase in abortion rates during the same time period. Studies from the Guttmacher Institute show that, in the period between 2017 and 2020, the number of abortions increased by 8%, with the majority of states in the union experiencing some level of increase in abortion rates.
The biggest obstacle for the pro-life movement post-Roe therefore is of a more general cultural or moral nature.
Some leaders within the pro-life movement in Rhode Island, including those within the Church, assert that the pro-life movement is now forced to confront one of the most important, yet most difficult to tackle, issues undergirding abortion, namely the need to change the minds and hearts of people, and to provide suitable alternatives to abortion.
“The Dobbs Decision was a victory for justice, the rule of law, and self-governance,” said Father Bernard A. Healey, JCL, STL, the director of the Rhode Island Catholic Conference.
“But for those of us who have prayed for the overturning of the Roe v Wade Decision, now is the time for a renewal and rededication of our efforts to build a culture of life and civilization of love. This means renewed efforts of solidarity and action to help mothers in crisis pregnancies and those living in poverty.”
Father Healey mentioned notable examples of organizations or movements that attempt to help poor women or women who become pregnant in difficult situations, including the “Walking with Moms in Need” initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the St. Gabriel’s Call ministry overseen by the Diocese of Providence’s Office of Life and Family Ministry.
In order to bring greater solidarity with mothers and decreasing the perceived need for abortion, Father Healey continued, there needs to be greater cooperation between the different members of the pro-life movement, citing a “general lack of unity of purpose and strategy among various groups and factions” as the biggest obstacle currently facing the pro-life movement.
Barth E. Bracy, executive director of Rhode Island Right to Life, added to this, claiming that a lack of education was one of the key obstacles to creating a society that respects life. “Much of the blowback in public opinion after the overturn of Roe v Wade is due to widespread ignorance, which most often results from misinformation by mainstream media outlets and by powerful interests within the education bureaucracy,” Bracy said.
“The pro-life movement needs to persist in our educational outreach initiatives and redouble our efforts at helping mothers and families facing a pregnancy for which they may feel unprepared. As always, it is by meeting people where they are at that we are able to change hearts and minds.”
Both Bracy and Father Healey noted that part of how the pro-life movement accomplishes its goals in a post-Roe political environment is not only through reducing abortions by means of education and providing alternatives to abortion, but also through fighting against all issues that demean the dignity of life, noting, in particular, physician-assisted suicide.
“The biggest challenge remains to speak the truth in love, particularly to each new rising generation, as an antidote to the siren song played so loudly throughout what John Paul the Great described as our present culture of death. And, to accompany mothers facing an unexpected pregnancy,” Bracy said.
When asked by the Rhode Island Catholic what his advice was for the pro-life movement going forward, Father Healey responded in relatively straightforward terms, saying, “It hasn’t changed. Pray, act and advocate for a culture of life and a civilization of love.”
