Now is not the time to go wobbly on protecting life
Banning abortion at fifteen weeks is not a pro-life position. That position is pro-choice with some restrictions.
The Rally for Life on January 21 was encouraging, as it always is. Seeing many people gather in below-freezing temperatures to show the community we are committed to protecting life is something that strengthens my resolve. Furthermore, things are much better in the state of Indiana than they were two years ago. Roe v. Wade is finally gone, and our state legislature passed legislation to ban most surgical abortions in our state.
However, we have a long way to go. Women can still travel out of state to have abortions, and our city government abused its authority to approve $100,000 to fund these killings. The ban on surgical abortions does not even touch chemical abortions, which now compose the majority of abortions. For more, read Abortion and The Church here or here. You can also listen here.
That is why now is not the time for our leaders to be weak. Any talk of a compromise that will make both sides happy indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue and especially of the pro-life position. Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump derided a ban much earlier in pregnancy as "terrible" and suggested a ban at fifteen weeks. According to the Pew Research Center:
The vast majority of abortions occur during the first trimester of a pregnancy. In 2020, 93% of abortions occurred during the first trimester – that is, at or before 13 weeks of gestation, according to the CDC.
The pro-life movement (me included) will always be thankful to Trump for nominating three of the five justices that voted to overturn Roe, but banning abortion at fifteen weeks is not a pro-life position. That position is pro-choice with some restrictions. You cannot credibly describe yourself as "pro-life" while advocating for leaving more than nine of ten abortions untouched, to say nothing of the growing horror of chemical abortions.
The fight to protect unborn lives from fertilization to natural death did not end with the demise of Roe v. Wade. The pro-life movement has far to go, and we need a nationwide spiritual revival to establish a culture of life. That would be an easy task for Almighty God, if He indeed wills to bring this nation to repentance. We should be praying for that more than anything else.