The Patriot Post® · Successes and Setbacks in the Fight for Life
Today marks the 46th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized the killing of babies before birth as a social “right” of convenience. In the ensuing years, 60 million children have lost their lives. And every year, pro-lifers recognize Sanctity of Life Day as a wake-up call to the conscience of our nation to embrace and fight for the right to life of the most innocent among us.
Where does the country currently stand in this ongoing struggle? There is both good and bad news, success and setback, but overall there are encouraging signs that the pro-life movement is making gains in this fight against the greatest evil of our time.
First, the bad news. Planned Parenthood, the leading provider of abortions in the U.S., reportedly totaled 332,757 babies aborted in 2017, an increase of 11,373 babies from the previous year. PP also reported that it received $563.8 million in revenue from “government health services reimbursements and grants” through the year ending June 30, 2018. In other words, PP has been steadily increasing the amount of taxpayer funding it receives each year, despite a supposed prohibition on federal dollars being used for abortion.
Even so, the sad reality is that PP doesn’t depend upon taxpayer funding to survive. National Review reports, “Planned Parenthood raked in $100 million more in private contributions than it had the previous fiscal year, bringing the grand total of donations to $631 million. Given its many high-profile supporters and its billions in assets, it is ludicrous for the group to claim that it relies heavily on federal reimbursements and grants to conduct its business.”
PP has worked to gain greater taxpayer funding as a means of promoting the false image of it being a legitimate health care provider, which in turn creates cover for politicians to justify their defense of the immoral organization.
However, there is indeed real progress being made against abortion. Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Texas can strip taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood. Recall in 2015 the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released undercover videos of Planned Parenthood members discussing illegally harvesting and selling organs and tissue from aborted babies. Following the videos’ revelations, Planned Parenthood sued, alleging that CMP “deceptively edited” the film footage. A twisted excuse for a sick practice.
Meanwhile, the latest Marist poll shows that a growing majority of Americans support pro-life ideas and increased restrictions to limit abortions. Just 15% of Americans believe abortion should be unrestricted at any point during pregnancy, while 84% favor a variety of restrictions, including banning late-term abortions. Indeed, what may be one of the most encouraging signs of the ongoing progress for the pro-life movement is that 65% of Americans now believe the Supreme Court should rule to make abortions illegal, or at least make it an issue to be decided on a state-by-state basis.
The fight to preserve the right to life for pre-birth babies is far from over, but there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future. In the meantime, we in the pro-life movement continue the struggle.