You Can Easily Teach Pro-Life Values at Home
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It’s no major revelation that the Dobbs decision that reversed Roe v. Wade didn’t actually outlaw abortion. It simply allowed the states to create their own laws.
Many of the states that have since enacted laws restricting abortion claim to be “pro-life.” Yet, we know that setting restrictions on killing babies does not make a state “pro-life.” American Life League’s latest report illustrates this truth and found that “America has no truly ‘pro-life’ states, as many still allow for abortions early in pregnancy and exceptions in all/most cases.”
In conducting research for this report, ALL examined the number of Planned Parenthood facilities in each state and each affiliate’s income. One of its findings includes the fact that Planned Parenthood has 29 facilities in Texas—a supposedly “pro-life” state. It explained that that number “is more than any pro-abortion state except California (106), New York (47), and now Washington (30).” Further, “Out of the 16 ‘pro-life’ states, Mississippi is the only one without a Planned Parenthood facility.”
Additionally, exceptions can be made anywhere and for any woman who wants to abort her baby. As the report documented, “All 50 states and DC allow exceptions for abortion after a certain gestation period in pregnancy. The four states with heartbeat laws that have ‘banned’ abortion after six weeks gestation allow exceptions for abortion past that time in all or most cases.”
Katie Brown Xavios, national director of American Life League, stated, “Despite legislative intentions, preborn babies are being aborted at record numbers in these so-called ‘pro-life’ states. To call a state in which that happens ‘pro-life’ is both a myth and a travesty.”
The report’s findings were not surprising to those who know the truth about abortion and who understand that Planned Parenthood will do anything to continue making money from killing babies and destroying families. Just look at its income in states with abortion restrictions versus no restrictions. As the report found, “The average income of the 41 Planned Parenthood affiliates in pro-abortion states is $43,389,872. However, 11 Planned Parenthood affiliates in ‘pro-life’ states saw an average affiliate income of $41,208,358.”
There’s virtually no difference. Planned Parenthood is making millions off dead babies in all states where it exists.
And the sad truth is that this abortion organization will not go away quietly. Its influence is everywhere, and it seems that the more that pro-life advocates try to teach the world about Planned Parenthood, the deafer to reason the world becomes.
Those who are pro-abortion perpetuate the lie that pro-lifers hate women, that we are “forced birthers,” and that all we care about are the babies until they are born. But these things couldn’t be further from the truth. Every day, we fight to protect both moms and babies because we know the horror of abortion and the regret that moms experience when they allow an abortionist or a pill to take the life of their child.
We strive to teach these truths so that we can build a culture where all babies—without exception—are protected and cherished and where families are revered. We speak out, write articles, create videos, and post the truth on social media. But it’s an uphill battle; the social media algorithms are against us, and we often fail to reach the people who truly need to hear the truth—and that is young women.
Why do we need to reach this population? They are the majority of the women having abortions. Pew Research attests to this fact, reporting that “in the District of Columbia and the 46 states that reported age data to the CDC in 2021, the majority of women who had abortions (57%) were in their 20s, while about three-in-ten (31%) were in their 30s.”
This is why reaching and teaching young people is key. We must teach them to understand not only their own value but the value of every preborn baby. I venture to say that, when a woman truly respects her body and herself, she will be less likely to partake in one-night stands or to give her body to a man who wants only the pleasure of her, not actually her. And when the sexual act is saved until marriage, the number of abortions will decrease. As the Pew report found, “The vast majority of women who had abortions in 2021 were unmarried (87%).”
As parents, grandparents, godparents, and teachers, we must engage in a two-pronged approach if we want to build a society that is not dependent upon Planned Parenthood to “take care of” the baby that results from sexual dalliances. To change the culture, we must teach the beauty of chastity and the truth about the science of the preborn baby.
Only when we teach these truths and combat the lies of Planned Parenthood will we be able to defeat it, drive it from our communities, and change the laws. Only then will we actually have pro-life states.
Susan Lochner Ciancio has a BA in psychology and a BA in sociology from the University of Notre Dame and an MLS from Indiana University. She has worked as a writer and editor since 2003; nearly 17 of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently, she is the editor of American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine—the nation’s premier Catholic pro-life magazine. She is also the director and executive editor of ALL’s Culture of Life Studies Program—a pre-K-12 Catholic pro-life education organization. Susan has written hundreds of Catholic and secular articles and has edited nearly two dozen books.
