I celebrated last June 24 when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Dobbs v. Jackson was a magnificent ruling from the Supreme Court. The Justices did what was right and struck down the baseless legal precedent set in 1973 that resulted in the deaths of over 63 million unborn children. Thanks to the Court's decision, U.S. abortions decreased by six percent in just six months, saving the lives of approximately 32,000 children and saving their mothers from the negative physical, spiritual, and psychological effects of abortion.
Behind these numbers are real babies and real women—women like Beatrice, who lives in North Carolina, one of the states that restricted abortions after Roe was overturned.
Beatrice was in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship when she discovered she was pregnant with her sixth child, a little girl. Everyone in her life was pressuring her to get an abortion. No one offered her real help. She felt like abortion was her only choice.
Beatrice wanted to have her baby girl and was fully capable of raising her. She just needed someone to believe in her.
Thankfully, she was referred to Let Them Live, an organization that gives moms the financial, material, and emotional support they need to choose life. They helped her get a job, secure a safe place to live, and collected baby items for her to prepare for her daughter's arrival. She said they made her feel like she was not alone.
On March 28, baby Chloe was born happy and healthy. Beatrice has fallen in love with her daughter and is full of gratitude for the support she received.
Beatrice and Chloe's story reminds us why, as many veterans of the pro-life fight predicted, we still have much to do after Dobbs. Even as abortion rates plummeted significantly in states with new protections, they increased in neighboring states that enshrined abortion rights. It is imperative for pro-life groups to take the fight to the next level, or Dobbs will be a short-lived victory. We cannot underestimate the lengths to which pro-abortion groups will go to enshrine the "right" to abortion on demand, for any reason. We have already seen the pro-abortion troops rally, redouble their efforts, and work to ensure unborn babies can be legally aborted in every state of the union.
Some two dozen states have already chosen to deny unborn children the care, protection, and time they need to thrive and grow and enjoy this wonderful journey of life with the rest of us. While we thank God numerous states, including Beatrice and Chloe's home state, now offer total or partial protection for babies, several states that voted for these protections now face legal challenges from pro-abortion groups and their allies. My own state, Ohio, is one of them.
We are blessed in Ohio with a legislature of men and women with the courage to vote to protect our state's most vulnerable citizens. We also have a governor who took a stand and signed the bill that will protect them.
But the battle for Ohio's babies is far from over. A coalition of eight pro-abortion groups in Ohio refuse to accept a world where babies have the same right to life as moms. They are feverishly working to add an amendment to the state constitution enshrining a "right" to abortion and to thwart the will of the state's elected officials and pro-life citizens.
Ohio citizens who love life, babies, moms, dads, and families are uniting to fight back. A referendum on August 8 would require the pro-abortion groups to get 60 percent of the votes for a constitutional amendment to pass. This would make it more difficult for them to remove hard-won protections for our unborn sisters and brothers.
Ohio is not alone in this effort. Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and others are trying to prevent pro-abortion activists from launching well-funded propaganda campaigns that seek to undermine the decisions of each state's elected representatives.
As expected, pro-abortion groups and their friends are reacting in horror. Headlines describing Ohio's August referendum use terms like "extremist," "illegal," "out-of-touch," and "hypocritical." The Ohio Capital Journal declares the referendum an attempt to "fool voters" that will "weaken direct democracy."
These smears are ridiculous.
For decades, pro-abortion groups have taken advantage of every opportunity the democratic system provides, and even some it doesn't, to advance an inhumane agenda. But as soon as pro-life groups fight back, they cry foul.
There is one lesson I hope the 50-year struggle to end Roe has taught pro-lifers: sitting back and doing nothing is not an option. We need to capitalize on every advantage the law provides. At this decisive point, it is not enough to hope someone else does something. Each of us must get involved. Everyone who believes babies need big people—us—to stand up to the bullies must get involved. Finally, and most importantly, we must pray and, I would suggest, fast.
Stand up for the most vulnerable among us. Take action and make your voice heard. And join with other faith and pro-life groups to encourage people to get out and vote on these life and death issues. The stakes have never been higher.
Father Dave Pivonka, TOR '89, is an author and speaker and has served as president of Franciscan University of Steubenville since 2019.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
