Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why the pro-life movement seems to be losing
The Denison Forum ^ | 11/12/2023 | Ryan Denison

Posted on 11/12/2023 8:08:33 PM PST by SeekAndFind

With Tuesday’s election results in Ohio and Virginia seen as a referendum on the pro-life movement from pundits across the political spectrum—a point that was reiterated in Wednesday’s Republican debate—it’s understandable that many are feeling discouraged. After all, it took nearly fifty years to overturn Roe v. Wade but abortions have actually increased since that monumental decision.

Moreover, the expansion of abortion options has won in every state that has voted on the subject, a trend that is likely to continue across the coming years. Given that roughly 69 percent of Americans support at least some access to abortion during the first trimester, perhaps we should not be surprised. However, that support wanes quickly once you get beyond those first twelve weeks. As Dr. Jim Denison discussed earlier this week, a majority actually oppose abortion in the second (55 percent) and third (70 percent) stages of a pregnancy.

If that’s the case, though, why have so many of the new laws enshrined a right to abortion that far surpasses popular opinion? And, more importantly, what can we do to reverse that trend?

The answer is, at its core, quite simple. However, it does not appear to be one that many in the pro-life movement want to hear.

Why a national prohibition against abortion will never happen

When the issue of abortion was raised in Wednesday’s Republican primary debate, Nikki Haley remarked that to change federal law, “It’s going to take 60 Senate votes, the majority of the House, and a president to sign it. We haven’t had 60 Senate votes in over a hundred years. We might have 45 pro-life senators. No Republican president can ban abortions any more than a Democratic president can ban these [more restrictive] state laws.”

And she’s right.

I believe life begins at conception and would love for there to be a national prohibition against abortion. But it’s simply not going to happen, and there is no path to making it so anytime soon. But, as Haley noted, that goes for the pro-choice side as well.

This will remain an issue for individual states to decide, and that’s for the best. It may not feel like it as we watch state after state make it permissible to kill the unborn, often even when the child could survive outside the womb. But the truth is, we should want this issue to remain with the states because that’s the level of government where we can have the greater impact. After all, in a democracy your vote is worth more in elections where fewer votes are cast.

So how can we do that?

It starts by shifting our focus from politics to people.

Choose people over politics

Saying our focus should be on people rather than politics does not mean ignoring the latter. But it is much easier to change a single mind through conversation and dialogue than it is to change the politics of an entire party.

Moreover, there is good evidence that many of those who support abortion—particularly in the second and third trimesters—have either not given the details of that position a great deal of thought or do not understand all that it truly entails.

You see, during the first trimester, the methods most often utilized in an abortion are undoubtedly tragic, but they are not necessarily barbaric. However, that ceases to be the case once you get to the second trimester and beyond. (A word of warning: The rest of this section contains graphic descriptions of abortion procedures.)

As the fetus grows to the point that it is too large to simply suck out of the womb, the most common method of terminating the child’s life is called dilation and evacuation. After the mother is put under anesthesia, abortion providers go in with “suction and gynecological instruments” to empty the uterus.

Or at least that’s how it’s described by most clinics.

The truth is that those “gynecological instruments” are used to dismember the fetus in the womb, typically while the child is still alive, and then pull him or her out piece by piece. The “fragmented fetal parts” are then rearranged to make sure none were left behind.

Roughly 95 percent of second- and third-trimester abortions—which account for approximately 11 percent of all abortions—utilize this method. Moreover, “leading authorities” have concluded that it is typically not worth the added risk to the mother to kill the child prior to beginning the procedure.

Does a fetus feel pain?

Initially, this approach was justified by arguing that a fetus cannot feel pain until after twenty-four to twenty-five weeks of development, meaning that dismembering the child while it was still alive did not cause it to suffer. That is still the official position of many abortion providers.

However, more recent studies have shown that, at the very least, there is reason to doubt those conclusions. As Dr. Bridget Thill writes, “Current neuroscientific evidence indicates the possibility of fetal pain perception during the first trimester,” with indications that a child may be able to feel some form of pain after as little as seven to eight weeks in the womb. She goes on to conclude that “denial of fetal pain capacity beginning in the first trimester, potentially as early as 8–12 weeks gestation, is no longer tenable.”

And she is hardly alone in those conclusions.

Ultimately, the possibility exists that every fetus who is killed after fifteen weeks—and possibly long before that—feels the indescribable pain of his or her abortion.

I want to believe that most people who support the availability of such abortions do not fully comprehend all that their position entails. And I want to believe that, if they did, they would stand against such barbarism.

After all, if a slaughterhouse butchered cattle the way abortion clinics kill many of these babies, they would be shut down in a day. While people may have honest disagreements about the value and humanity of an unborn child, I would hope that we could agree that a fetus has at least as much inherent worth as a cow.

The pathway to true change

The good news is that every law that has been passed to protect abortion can be changed to protect children instead. But those laws aren’t going to change until we can change the minds of the people who voted to pass them.

So if we truly want to make a difference on this issue and save the lives of unborn children, we need to focus on telling people the truth about abortion in a way that doesn’t shy away from the hard realities of all that it entails, but which also shares that message with the grace and love of Christ.

And remember that, regardless of what the laws say, every expectant mother makes her own decision about whether to keep or kill her baby, and we don’t need politicians to make a positive impact in their lives.

So let’s start by actively trying to engage with people who see differently on this issue. A great deal of common ground currently lies fallow because both sides often seem more interested in demonizing the other than working together. And while I fully understand the hesitancy to give any ground when it comes to protecting unborn lives, let’s not sacrifice those we can save in the process.

Ultimately, if we really want to make a difference in the fight to save unborn lives, we have to start with people over politics and accept the reality that there is no quick fix on a national scale.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abortion; bloggers; fakenews; frauddenial; notnews; prochoice; prolife
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-68 next last

1 posted on 11/12/2023 8:08:33 PM PST by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Killing babies in the womb should never be an option!


2 posted on 11/12/2023 8:14:54 PM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

The Supreme Court in essence said “Let the states decide” last year and they have been “deciding” so I take solace in that much.

Too bad we don’t have Rush Limbaugh to put this all in perspective and call things out.

The facts certainly are on the side of the humanity of unborn child in the womb but other things take priority in this world than a caring concern for humanity made in the image of the Higher Power.


3 posted on 11/12/2023 8:15:35 PM PST by Nextrush (FREEDOM IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS-REMEMBER REV. NIEMOLLER)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Because a majority of human beings believe that they are their own god.


4 posted on 11/12/2023 8:16:25 PM PST by JJBookman (Democrats = Party of Satan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Because being a whore or a dude avoiding responsibility is fun, until it’s not.


5 posted on 11/12/2023 8:25:05 PM PST by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
why have so many of the new laws enshrined a right to abortion that far surpasses popular opinion?

Because the pro-abortion side is well-funded and smart. The anti-abortion side is not particularly well-funded, its campaigns have not made clear how extreme the new laws are, and it has not provided any less extreme alternatives - it's all or nothing for the anti-abortion side, hence the losses. Ohio's new legal guidelines for abortion are abominable, and it didn't have to be that way.
6 posted on 11/12/2023 8:36:13 PM PST by AnotherUnixGeek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
I no longer care about abortion as an issue at all.

I'm tired of handing the country over to communists in a quixotic crusade to prevent mostly single black women from aborting their children. If they want abortions, I'm not going to stand in their way.

7 posted on 11/12/2023 8:38:38 PM PST by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President. A conservative who fights and wins..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Why the pro-life movement seems to be losing

Because Eve ate another apple.


8 posted on 11/12/2023 8:39:50 PM PST by Neverlift
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68
I'm tired of handing the country over to communists in a quixotic crusade to prevent mostly single black women from aborting their children. If they want abortions, I'm not going to stand in their way.

Wow, what a kind soul you have.

9 posted on 11/12/2023 8:43:50 PM PST by Right Brother (Pray for God's intervention to stop UMCRevMom's invasion of Free Republic)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Losing?

The Number 1 reason why pro-life positions are losing is that Republicans (NOT conservatives) are willing to compromise with the Democrats for political gain.

Idiots. After all Trump did getting 3 Justices appointed which led to Roe v Wade getting overturned, Repukes are giving up ground.


10 posted on 11/12/2023 8:46:19 PM PST by Responsibility2nd (A truth that’s told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent ~ Wm. Blake)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Right Brother
Wow, what a kind soul you have.

So be it.

Read the room, bro. America likes abortions. And when we lose on abortion, we're losing on every other conservative issue as well because losing pro-life candidates are getting full-blown communists elected. And pro-life ballot initiatives are seeing democrats flood to the polls.

Roe was terrible law. But Dobbs has been the greatest GOTV bonanza imaginable for the Democrats.

11 posted on 11/12/2023 8:49:38 PM PST by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President. A conservative who fights and wins..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: AnotherUnixGeek

How about pro-life T.V. ads showing excerpts from “Silent Scream” or “Eclipse of Reason”? Most pro-choice women have never witnessed a fetus being murdered. If they did, they would likely change their mind. Of course, such ads would be banned. Funny how such a lovely “constitutional right” cannot be televised.


12 posted on 11/12/2023 8:51:16 PM PST by Right Brother (Pray for God's intervention to stop UMCRevMom's invasion of Free Republic)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind; .45 Long Colt; Apple Pan Dowdy; BDParrish; Big Red Badger; BlueDragon; boatbums; ...
As the fetus grows to the point that it is too large to simply suck out of the womb, the most common method of terminating the child’s life is called dilation and evacuation. After the mother is put under anesthesia, abortion providers go in with “suction and gynecological instruments” to empty the uterus. Or at least that’s how it’s described by most clinics. The truth is that those “gynecological instruments” are used to dismember the fetus in the womb, typically while the child is still alive, and then pull him or her out piece by piece. The “fragmented fetal parts” are then rearranged to make sure none were left behind. Roughly 95 percent of second- and third-trimester abortions—which account for approximately 11 percent of all abortions—utilize this method. Moreover, “leading authorities” have concluded that it is typically not worth the added risk to the mother to kill the child prior to beginning the procedure. Does a fetus feel pain? Initially, this approach was justified by arguing that a fetus cannot feel pain until after twenty-four to twenty-five weeks of development,

HAMAS believes that Jews cannot feel pain as they are being fragmented, blown up using genocidal instruments, with death being instantaneous, and agrees to only kill those who cannot feel pain.
Arguing for pro-choice abolition rights over Jews, they also assert that as owners of their land they have a right to unburden themselves from unwanted flesh. Planned Purgationhood, the HAMAS branch of the US Planned [de]Parenthood, welcomed the news as being largely consistent with their own pro-choice position.


https://wisconsinrighttolife.org/pictures-of-aborted-babies-view#1642394275094-9e5f5d87-37c0/b>

13 posted on 11/12/2023 8:53:39 PM PST by daniel1212 (Turn 2 the Lord Jesus who saves damned+destitute sinners on His acct, believe, b baptized+follow HIM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

It’s only narcissistic white females who are aborting in great numbers in their never ending quest for more and more sexual freedom. Most of the young children and babies I see in carriages on the streets and in the stores in Florida are those belonging to Hispanic and Muslim women who do not speak English. These people are pushing out anchor babies at an astonishing rate. They are definitely NOT aborting their babies. And they are here in the millions. This is self-imposed white genocide and even though I don’t have the stats, I would bet 90 percent of the babies being aborted are white males.


14 posted on 11/12/2023 8:55:53 PM PST by 4Runner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Drew68
Read the room, bro.

I'm reading you. You are one sick puppy. Yeah bro, just win baby! Don't let murdering babies get in the way. Darkness guides your soul. Sad.

15 posted on 11/12/2023 8:57:48 PM PST by Right Brother (Pray for God's intervention to stop UMCRevMom's invasion of Free Republic)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Because today, most people are pro-choice, thank you captain obvious.


16 posted on 11/12/2023 9:03:52 PM PST by bigbob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Because the world is getting worse and more evil. That’s why. We know it coming. We know what’s on the way. We know who wins in the end.


17 posted on 11/12/2023 9:05:07 PM PST by vpintheak (There is no Trans. There is only mentally ill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
Roe vs Wade was a bad law, that's about it. So the SCOTUS fixed it.

We are all pro-choice.

Let's move on.

18 posted on 11/12/2023 9:10:48 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 4Runner

“This is self-imposed white genocide and even though I don’t have the stats, I would bet 90 percent of the babies being aborted are white males.”

Ok, I have two comments on this, agree that the white race is failing itself, and so also failing the world. Obviously you will NEVER change that until you change HEARTS AND MINDS, so that is clearly the task at hand. Not pass laws, etc.

OK, this is a side comment - it was 100% correct to overturn Roe. The legal question of abortion is: is it legal. Those types of questions have always been left to the states. I do hope we’ll have states that ban (or very nearly ban) abortion, and I accept that we’ll have many that do not. Clearly attempting to enact some Federal/Constitutional ban on abortion would be futile and self-destructive to our side. Abortions have ALWAYS happened, just like little old ladies getting coshed in the head. People do bad things.

Second comment, clearly your stat is not at all correct. Assume it is true that Hispanic and Muslim (certainly Muslim) women don’t get a lot of abortions. But I do believe the rate of abortion in the black community is quite high. But no doubt most babies being aborted in the USA are white. However, it is almost certainly the case that half of those fetuses are female. It may be a practice in some ethnic communities to abort children of one or the other sex, but do not think that is true for most of the white women getting abortions.

All these women deserve our help and prayers.

We must work to re-build a society in which we are NOT telling women that having their children murdered in their bodies is the greatest thing that’s ever come their way.


19 posted on 11/12/2023 9:13:08 PM PST by jocon307
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Right Brother

We will win, but it will take time.

We need to keep control of SCOTUS and in a couple decades have the courts implement a national ban on abortion. That is the only path.

In a better world ithappens sooner, but you can’t change things instantly. It will take that long for the Dobbs decision to settle.


20 posted on 11/12/2023 9:13:47 PM PST by Renfrew (Muscovia delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-68 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson