John Adams said about the US Constitution, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
It is with that in mind that I’ve been thinking about the on the ground impact of pro-life laws.
As I have argued in many articles, pro-life laws will have only marginal impact at reducing the supply of abortion because the abortion pill can circumvent those laws.
While some in the pro-life community acknowledge that, it is still common to hear them say that it is nonetheless still critical to pass pro-life legislation because “laws teach.”
The implication in that statement is that if there are pro-life laws in place, then the citizens of our country, especially young citizens, will learn from those laws and will follow them.
In general, I agree with this statement, but I think what those who follow leaders of pro-life organizations want to know is what is the measurable impact of such pro-life legislation?
In other words, by what percent approximately will abortions be reduced in my city/state/country when pro-life laws are enacted?
How much will those laws change behavior in regards to abortion?
Well, we already have some data we can work with as an indicator to answer that question.
Only a year and a half ago, the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court led to the overturning of Roe v Wade.
By what percent, so far, have abortions been reduced by that decision?
No recent research that I am aware of puts the percentage reduction of abortions at more than 10%, and one study indicates that abortions have actually increased.
Hmmm….
Now let me say that I am strongly in favor of passing pro-life legislation, especially initiatives that seek to include the preborn under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution: “…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;…”
However, what I am strongly opposed to is leaders of pro-life organizations telling those in the pro-life community that successfully including the preborn under the 14th Amendment will “abolish” abortion.
This misleads pro-lifers into believing that the “practice” of abortion would end, which is clearly not the case.
We should be more precise with our terms.
Including the preborn within the 14th Amendment would abolish “legal abortion.”
As we have already learned from the overturn of Roe v Wade, it would not abolish abortion on the ground, at all.
Again, the abortion pill can circumvent all laws.
We have learned over the past year and a half post-Roe that the “laws teach” aspect has not had the intended effect the pro-life community had hoped for.
If anything, evidence so far shows actual abortion numbers barely decreasing, and citizens in states pushing back hard by voting to enshrine legal abortion into state constitutions.
It seems John Adam’s insight – “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” – gets to the heart of what is going on.
Many American citizens have become more immoral and less religious.
I don’t believe the hearts and minds of such citizens are open to being “taught” by laws.
As disheartening as that is, I am still very optimistic that the pro-life community can win a majority of young women who are considering abortion over to the side of choosing life instead.
As I showed in my previous article (“Here’s How to Get 6 out of 10 Women to Choose Life instead of Abortion”), 6 out of 10 women who had abortions say they would have chosen life if they had received more emotional and financial support when they experienced an unexpected pregnancy.
That is very encouraging data for the pro-life community and tells us exactly what we have to do to win!
So, we have data that indicate laws will not have a significant on the ground impact at reducing abortions, and data that indicates that making women aware that emotional and financial support is available to them if they face an unexpected pregnancy will have a significant on the ground impact at reducing abortions.
Based on that data, if you are part of the pro-life community, which pro-life organizations will you choose to put more of your support behind?
Brett
