Beyond Dobbs
“Family Group” by Henry Moore (1949), Tate Museum, Britain, Author Wmpearl (CC BY-SA 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication)
Pro-Life advocates contend that the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) which overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) restored America’s heritage of protecting human life at all stages [1]. But that is only partially correct.
Much of the nation believes that Dobbs is a reversion to a dark time when desperate women were forced to seek back alley abortions at the risk of their lives.
Public opinion to that effect has yet to be changed [2][3].
Why Abortion?
“The abortion industry culture hates God and God’s image bearers. It destroys human life and leads its participants to be part of a dreadful slaughter [4].”
–Jonathan Alexandre, Sr. Counsel for Governmental Affairs, Liberty Counsel https://lc.org/
Women seek abortions for a combination of reasons [5]. These include financial pressures (40%), timing (36%), partner related issues (31%), and the need to focus on other children (29%).
Socioeconomic status, age, health, and marital status all play a part. Moreover, many women view abortion as less painful than giving up a child to adoption [6].
Flawed Reasoning
Abortion rights rested on the false narrative that women need abortion to succeed [7A]. In Roe, the Supreme Court claimed that unplanned pregnancies would impose “a distressful life and future” on women and their children.
Later, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the Court asserted that “the ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.”
But this reasoning was flawed. It set women in opposition to their children.
Abortion as a Health Risk
“Planned Parenthood cut its costs to the bone by performing webcam abortions with virtually no overhead—no onsite doctors, no real medical staff, very little equipment, and no expense for travel to a remote clinic…Webcam abortion is obviously a big moneymaker for Planned Parenthood.”
–Testimony by Susan Thayer, former Planned Parenthood Manager, Storm Lake, IA at US House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, 2015 Hearing [15]
Abortion on demand is marketed as a women’s health issue. But abortion can actually place women’s health at risk.
Missouri Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, recently filed suit against Planned Parenthood citing a pattern of statutory violations including the failure by physicians to file required reports of post-abortion complications for 15 years [16].
Apart from complications associated with the procedure, itself, women who have had an abortion may have an increased risk of depression [8]; an increased risk of premature birth with later pregnancies [9]; and an increased risk of breast cancer [10][11]. (Studies differ as to their conclusions.)
None of this is mentioned by those promoting abortion.
Challenges
Without question, women face challenges in today’s society.
As of 2021, 40% of American children were born out of wedlock [12]. Working women (single or otherwise) must rely on childcare. On average, that consumes at least 10% of their income [7B]. In some states, daycare costs more than public college tuition.
Even in two parent households, workplace flexibility consistently ranks as a priority [13][14]. Women in working families have less time to accomplish more tasks than men [7C].
Restoring Strong Families
In the wake of Dobbs, we must enact corporate and governmental policies which support strong families.
Subsidized childcare, flexible work schedules, telework, and laws which do not penalize independent (“gig”) contractors would all be helpful. But child support enforcement is crucial, in this connection.
Compassionate support for pregnant women and new mothers would, also, include opportunities for education and skills training.
All this need not require new taxpayer-funded bureaucracies. Churches and non-profits are equipped to provide the needed resources. They must first, however, step up.
“Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter” (Prov. 24: 11).
—
[1] Wikipedia, “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Health_Organization.
[2] The Christian Lawyer, Vol. 19, No. 2, Fall 2023, pp. 21-23, “Dobbs and Its Implications for Protecting Human Life in the Law” by Clarke Forsythe.
[3] The Washington Stand, “Abortion: The Unintended Consequences of Shifting Mores on Sex” by David Closson, 10/28/23, https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/abortion-the-unintended-consequence-of-shifting-mores-on-sex.
[4] The Christian Lawyer, Vol. 19, No. 2, Fall 2023, pp. 6-8, “Being Right” by Jonathan Alexandre.
[5] National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine, “Understanding why women seek abortions in the US” by Antonia Biggs, Heather Gould, and Diana Foster, 7/5/13, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3729671/.
[6] The Atlantic, “Why So Many Women Choose Abortion Over Adoption” by Olga Khazan, 5/20/19, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/why-more-women-dont-choose-adoption/589759/.
[7A through 7C] The Christian Lawyer, Vol. 19, No. 2, Fall 2023, pp. 3-4, “Dobbs Ushers in New Era Dedicated to Empowering Women and Families” by Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
[8] National Institutes of Health, Library of Medicine, “The abortion and mental health controversy” by David Reardon, 2018, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6207970/.
[9] Taylor & Francis Online, Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, Vol. 36, “History of induced abortion and the risk of preterm birth: a retrospective cohort study” Jing-Yun Yu et al, 4/30/23, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14767058.2023.2207114.
[10] National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine, “Does abortion increase breast cancer risk?” by T. Parkins, 12/15/93, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8246284/.
[11] American Cancer Society, “Abortion and Breast Cancer Risk”, https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/medical-treatments/abortion-and-breast-cancer-risk.html.
[12] Statista, “Percentage of births to unmarried women in the United States from 1980 to 1921”, https://www.statista.com/statistics/276025/us-percentage-of-births-to-unmarried-women/.
[13] Corporate Wellness Magazine, “Workplace Flexibility: The Key to a Balanced Work-Life”, https://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/article/workplace-flexibility-the-key-to-a-balanced-work-life-integration.
[14] LinkedIn, “6 Benefits of Offering Workplace Flexibility” by Jacob Morgan, 11/17/22, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-benefits-offering-workplace-flexibility-jacob-morgan.
[15] US Congress, House of Representatives, “Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining Abortion Procedures and Medical Ethics at the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider”, 10/8/15, https://www.congress.gov/114/meeting/house/104048/documents/HHRG-114-JU00-Transcript-20151008.pdf.
[16] Missouri Attorney General’s Office, “Attorney General Bailey Files Suit Against Planned Parenthood for Trafficking Children Out-of-State to Obtain Abortions Without Parental Consent”, 2/29/24, https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-files-suit-against-planned-parenthood-for-trafficking-children-out-of-state-to-obtain-abortions-without-parental-consent/.
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse
https://avoicereclaimed.com
A Lawyer's Prayers 
Nice post 👍
What an informative perspective, Anna, against the backdrop of your life-long passion and experience in our ever-changing and challenging world! For me as an interested ‘lay person’ it makes things so much easier to distill. Bless you.
Thank you so much, Erroll. You are very kind.
Thoughtful and very well written Anna. I’m not sure how far-reaching the framers of Roe v. Wade were thinking their new law would be, but I doubt they envisioned that abortion would one day become an “industry” in and of itself.
I agree that corporate and government policies should support strong families, however I believe that approach is little more than a band-aid to cover a much deeper issue.
Aborting a human life “on demand” may be legal as defined by the courts (or it used to be) but it cuts to the core of what it means to be a human being. That we are all created in the image of God in our mother’s womb has been replaced with that which lives in the womb, having been decreed to be not a “life”, is therefore not yet a human being. Killing “it” for convenience sake should then be acceptable.
Lost in all of this is that had men and women, and most certainly the Church, stood up to defend the God-ordained institution of marriage and family, abortion would have never become the “industry” we now know it as. To me, that is the ultimate tragedy of abortion. It steals, it kills, and it destroys the sanctity of life.
You are so right, Ron. That is the underlying issue. The church has failed to convince the population at large of the value of life in the womb. Corporate and government policies will not cure that. We have a window of opportunity now w/ Dobbs. But I doubt we will take it.
With all the vitriol bouncing around about who is to blame for the problems in America, the church is missing a great opportunity to be the voice of assurance and reason. Sadly, however, it would seem the church would rather follow than lead in the battle to protect the unborn, and it appears to me that she has lost the will to fight against the powers of darkness.
A great advantage was lost when the battle for America’s soul shifted from the spiritual to the political.
That sums it up nicely my friend.
Such a well-documented article, Anna! Thank you for your careful research supporting pro-life.
You are very kind, Nancy. I pray that the church will reach out to women considering abortion. Unless we change attitudes, we will not save lives.
We have been a part of churches that support Christian pregnancy centers, where women can receive an ultrasound, care, guidance, and even help once the child is born. No doubt we need more of this type of ministry!