Can the Pro-Life Movement Stop Choice?

As a follow up to last week’s article, I want to present an idea that I imagine will be provocative for many pro-lifers, but it is one that I believe accurately represents the new reality in the battle between pro-life versus so-called “pro-choice.”

In last week’s article, I wrote:

“Once a pro-lifer sees the abortion industry through updated lenses, and acknowledges this new reality of the abortion pill as the abortion industry’s primary product, he begins to realize that pro-life efforts that seek to restrict access to abortion will likely result in very little, if any, impact at stopping abortions.

In other words, “abortion unchained” from a distribution perspective means laws or other means that seek to restrict the supply of abortion will largely be ineffective.”

To unpack that claim a little more, and think about what it means for the pro-life movement, if it is true that distribution of the abortion pill cannot be stopped in the main, no matter what laws are in place that try to stop it, then is it even realistic to continue thinking that the pro-life movement can effectively stop women from choosing to get abortions?

In other words, if supply of abortion by way of the abortion pill can’t realistically be stopped, has the “choice” side won that battle on the front lines where abortion-determined women, every day, choose between abortion and life?

In my mind, this is the key question the pro-life movement should be honestly grappling with this year.

If the answer to the question is, “No, we can’t really stop choice for the vast majority of women,” then it seems to me the pro-life movement needs to significantly change its strategies and tactics from what it has historically done.

Otherwise, there’s no reason to expect that what has worked in the past in pro-life – and I would argue even those strategies only worked marginally well – will have any significant impact at all at reducing the number of abortions in the future.

As I concluded in last week’s article, I believe significant progress in winning the war against abortion lies on the demand side of the equation, not the supply side.

That is critical because it would require a significant retooling of the pro-life movement which historically has long focused more on the supply side by way of programs that see to restrict access to abortion.