With the March for Life taking place last weekend in Washington, D.C., the state of the pro-life movement is thrust to the front of US political conversations. Every year, the March is one of the largest, if not the largest, public demonstrations in the entire country. While contemporary pop culture may portray abortion as an undeniable “right,” the pro-life movement has a sizeable base that is gaining support with youth for the first time in decades.
Even though the March for Life is a huge annual event, it hardly gathers any attention from the national media. In the humble opinion of this columnist, this happens for two reasons. First, there is nothing newsworthy about repetition. Since the March occurs every year and is known for its record-setting attendance, no one is necessarily surprised or excited, because it is not new. Secondly, the mainstream media in no way wants to prop up the pro-life movement. It would much rather cover the Women’s March, which took place the next day. Take a look, for example, at the Instagram profiles of major media sources. CNN, Huff Post, CBS News, New York Times, ABC News and PBS News all refrained from covering one of the biggest rallies of the year. Even though the national media wishes to keep the pro-life movement quiet, recent trends, such as the election of President Trump, prove that it is only growing.
Abortion opposition gained a larger governmental footing in recent Supreme Court appointees. The most prominent new conservative justice is Brett Kavanaugh, who was relentlessly scrutinized, frankly, because he was conservative and appointed by Trump. One oft-forgotten appointee, though, is Neil Gorsuch, who was confirmed by a Senate vote on April 7, 2017. The two pro-life justices aid in the crusade to eventually challenge the Court’s ruling of Roe v. Wade. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an American icon and staunchly liberal justice, is on the decline because of her advanced age, and if she were to leave the bench due to health concerns, Trump would ensure another pro-life justice (possibly Notre Dame’s very own Amy Coney Barrett) is appointed. The March for Life, a symbol of the growing discontent with the nation’s abortion laws, could finally be seeing real change. Going as far as repealing Roe v. Wade would be a lot to hope for, but with a 2020 win for Trump it is possible.
Being pro-life is the Catholic standard, but there are plenty of non-religious reasons for being pro-life. Everyone should agree that a human life should be given a chance; the most defenseless human life is that of an unborn fetus. The main points of contention are rape and incest. Even though the events that led to the pregnancy are repulsive and condemnable, it is still a human life. Adoption is a loving act, one that has allowed many people who would not have otherwise gotten a chance at life to live a happy one. Yes, there are flaws in the foster care system, and the children in them deserve to have a more caring, less distant approach to their care. I advocate for reform in this department, but life in foster care is infinitely better than never living at all. In the end, “the right to not be killed supersedes the right to not be pregnant.”
Abortion is derived from the same ideas as genocide and slavery, because it gets rid of those that a person deems unwanted. Social justice proponents continue to campaign for abortion as pro-woman, but it disproportionately targets minority babies, a huge problem for abortion advocates who inherently believe in equal rights for all.
Since Roe v. Wade, over 19 million African American babies have been aborted since 1973, more than the number of deaths by crime and AIDS combined. This has caused the minority’s growth to stagnate, thereby hindering the expansion of the community’s influence in the US. Without abortion, African Americans would make up closer to 20 percent of the US population, instead of 13 percent. A larger presence in the US would help lead to greater representation in Congress, a louder voice in the national media and better resources to solve issues like gang violence and illicit drugs that have plagued poor African American communities for decades.
Some may say that abortion itself is a solution to crime, but that is only partly true. While abortion has been proven to lower crime rates in urban areas, the number of deaths caused by abortion heavily outweigh the number of estimated prevented deaths by crime.
Thank you to all of those who participated in the march this January. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and you are an inspiration to us all as you do God’s work.
