OPINION:
Excerpted from the forthcoming book “For God, Country, and Sanity: How Catholics Can Save America,” set for publication May 9 and available for presale now.
Here are several angles the pro-life movement can take going forward from Dobbs. Not every organization needs to lean into every strategy, but every candidate for office should be challenged to offer support for each of them.
Strategy #1: Incremental Federal Legislation
The first thing people think of with Congress is legislation. Many pro-lifers believe the Human Life Amendment should always be the ultimate goal of the pro-life movement — however, passing a constitutional amendment could take decades if not over a century. The culture will need to shift radically back into the pro-life sphere for an amendment to become a reality, and if recent experience shows anything it’s that we’re just not there yet.
In the meantime, we need to save as many lives as possible while working to transform the culture over the next several generations …
Do Not Destroy the Filibuster
For over the last two decades, it has been almost impossible to pass stand-alone pieces of legislation, a task that has become even more difficult as the Democratic Party has made abortion and the sexual revolution its platform. In the Senate, the legislative filibuster is a major obstacle to passing most stand-alone bills. Some argue that we should overturn the legislative filibuster to pass pro-life laws. This would, in the long-term, be deadly for the unborn as historically, even with a Republican majority, there has rarely been a pro-life majority in the U.S. Senate. This means that a pro-abortion majority can cause more permanent damage to the advances in the states on life. The boots-on-the-ground reality is that we rely on that filibuster to prevent greater evils.
Do Not Fear “Messaging Bills”
Despite the uphill battle to pass stand-alone legislation, history has shown the debate can be effective if the message is framed well.
In the 1990’s, the passage of the Born Alive and Unborn Victims of Violence acts helped spark helpful debate across the country on the humanity of the child. In the 2010’s, the fight against funding Planned Parenthood might have failed, yet it inspired pro-life Tennessee and Texas to defund the abortion giant on the state level …
Take Incremental Steps When You Can
These victories bring to question whether gestational limit bills such as the “15-week ban,” which can take over a decade to pass, are worth the limited resources of the pro-life movement. Since 2022, some pro-lifers have argued that gestational limit bills seem to be having a negative impact on overall life messaging in the court of public opinion.
In the first round of state amendments after Dobbs, the pro-life movement found that no matter if an amendment, a politician, or an organization supports banning abortions at conception, 6-weeks, 15-weeks, or even at 41-weeks (such as in Montana), the pro-abortion message is “they want to ban ALL abortions.” This has driven some Republicans, including commentator Sean Hannity, to embrace the failed Clinton position of “safe, legal, rare.” While many of us do want abortion to become illegal and unthinkable, a lofty goal shared by the entire pro-life movement, it is a goal that is not yet embraced by the electorate at the federal level.
If politics is the art of the possible, a total abortion ban is clearly impolitic at this point.
In contrast we should not bargain with ourselves into weakening our position, a popular move among our movement. Be wise, but be bold.
Strategy #2: Divest Taxpayers from Death
… For decades, federal appropriations legislation has included language protecting taxpayer money from funding the killing of unborn children. The most famous of these protections, the Hyde Amendment, which is credited with saving at least 2.4 million lives, has been renewed every year since 1976 with widespread bipartisan consensus. There are many similar provisions in appropriations each year, however many of them are becoming outdated, ignored, or even challenged. These provisions need to be updated to reflect our post-Roe landscape, while new amendments need to be created to address the havoc that Obamacare and chemical abortions have wreaked on women, the unborn, and the conscience rights of healthcare workers …
Strategy #3: Stopping the New ‘Drugs of Death’
… The rise of chemical abortions deserves a rapid response on both the state and federal level. Stand-alone bills are likely to fail, so we need to look for opportunities to put the right language in appropriations bills or within bipartisan legislation.
We have already seen one case challenging the widespread availability of chemical abortions make its way to the Supreme Court. The ruling in the case, expected in 2024, could end the FDA’s reckless approval of mifepristone and also pave the way for robust legislation from the states regarding its distribution across state lines …
Anyone who is surprised that things are so tough after the Dobbs decision should look at history — and not be discouraged …
Our differences became our strength, because we stayed united in the one thing necessary: to save as many lives as possible. As those who stand for life we will continue marching. And voting. And winning.
After all, we are on the side of the angels.
• Excerpt taken from “For God, Country, and Sanity: How Catholics Can Save America” chapter entitled “United But Not Uniform: The Future of the Pro-Life Movement After Roe,” by Tom McClusky, director of government affairs for CatholicVote.
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