Latest Pro-Life News

1. Thousands March for Life in Ohio to say NO to radical pro-abortion constitutional amendment

An estimated 5-6,000 pro-life advocates peacefully made their voices heard at the Ohio March for Life last week, The Daily Signal reports.

Our own Director of State Affairs and Midwest Regional Director Sue Liebel was on the ground where she met up with several of our legislative allies:

Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senator J.D. Vance exhorted Ohioans to reject radical efforts to enshrine abortion on demand without limits in the state constitution:

Pro-life Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine are sharing a personal message with all voters who reject pro-abortion extremism, as well:

2. States with protective pro-life laws see big drops in abortions

• Ohio: Ohio’s Department of Health recently released its abortion data for 2022. From 2021-22, there were 3,300 fewer abortions reported in the state – a decline of more than 15%. Social scientist Michael New has the story at National Review: “A key factor in Ohio’s 2022 abortion decline is that, for part of 2022, the Heartbeat Act was in effect.” Read more about OH

• North Carolina: The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute is lamenting an estimated 31% drop in abortions – more than 1,300 fewer – the month the Care for Women, Children and Families Act went into effect: “The state had by far the largest decline nationwide, which saw an estimated 7% month-over-month reduction.” The law protects babies in the womb at 12 weeks; places guardrails around dangerous abortion pills; increases support for mothers and families by allocating $160 million for childcare, parental leave, community college assistance; and more.While reliable data on abortion in the U.S. is hard to find, every precious life saved is a win. Read more about NC

• Texas: The Heartbeat Act continues to save lives. In addition, our friends at Human Coalition and the Texas Pregnancy Care Network detail the work Texas and other states are doing to serve mothers, and why the law was just the first step.

Read more at The Federalist

3. Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia GOP go on offense

Virginia Republicans are not running away from the life issue ahead of the November General Assembly elections. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Republican General Assembly candidates don’t always stress their abortion stands when wooing swing voters, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s political action committee is spending big money to do just that.

In its bid to flip the Democratic-led state Senate and widen the GOP majority in the House of Delegates, Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC is launching a $1.4 million statewide ad campaign to lean into an issue that Democrats have been campaigning fiercely on.

It’s an effort to directly counter a central campaign message from Democratic candidates, the PAC says.

Governor Youngkin has made it a priority to pass legislation protecting babies in the womb at 15 weeks, a point when science shows they feel pain – with the support of over 60% of Virginians, including majorities of Democrats, Independents and women. This is exactly the type of leadership we’ve encouraged and that is necessary to win. Candidates across the nation ought to be paying attention and emulating their example.

Watch Youngkin’s ad “The Truth”:

4. Maternity homes see more clients, expand to meet moms’ needs

Stateline featured Selah’s Oasis, a privately funded, renovated, faith-based maternity home in Alabama that is affiliated with Heartbeat International, in a story about the growing demand for maternity housing and how pro-life Americans are rising to meet that demand:

In places where the social safety net is threadbare, maternity homes can offer a soft place to land. And their numbers are growing. “In the last 12 months we’ve seen a 21% increase in new maternity homes opening. As far as I can find, that is the largest concentrated jump in numbers that we’ve ever seen,” said Valerie Harkins, director of the Maternity Housing Coalition, a nonprofit that provides support to maternity home operators.

The article notes how state lawmakers are stepping up their own efforts:

In Georgia last year, lawmakers passed a law designed to make it easier to open maternity homes…Earlier this year, Alabama lawmakers attempted to pass a state tax credit that might have helped pregnancy resource centers like hers. It passed the House but stalled in the Senate; supporters expect it to be brought back in next year’s session. The credit was similar to ones recently passed in Mississippi and Louisiana, which use millions in taxpayer dollars to subsidize tax breaks for people and corporations that donate to pregnancy resource centers.

Unlike many abortion advocates who accuse the pro-life movement of abandoning women after their child is born, Stateline admits, “Maternity homes often are structured to allow a pregnant woman to live at the home during and after her pregnancy, in some cases for months or even years after the baby is born.”

The article is not without some (frankly, silly) pro-abortion fearmongering:

Andrea Swartzendruber is a public health researcher and epidemiologist at the University of Georgia who studies crisis pregnancy centers. She has noticed a rise in maternity homes aligned with pregnancy centers too. “Some of the concerns have always been around who gets housing and how they are using it,” she said. “I worry they use the opportunity of attaining housing to potentially coerce people into childbirth.”
…
Swartzendruber, the University of Georgia researcher, said she’s concerned about state reliance on programs that don’t offer clients the full scope of reproductive options. She worries that women in need of assistance might base decisions about remaining pregnant — which could impact their health, career and finances — on being able to access stable housing.

In other words, if pregnant mothers are presented with the option of staying at a maternity home, they might be more likely to choose life. Who would have thought?

Hey, professor, we have a recommendation: worry about the quarter of women who call their abortions unwanted or outright coerced, and the 60% who say they would have preferred to give birth to their child if they had only had more financial or social support.

Hidden epidemic: get the research

Ashley Liveoak, the executive director of Selah’s Oasis, put it best when describing how demand for their vital services is not going away any time soon:

The need for pregnancy services in her area, and especially for housing, has been overwhelming. Her resource center typically serves about 400 clients per year but had already reached that number by September. She expects to see 500-600 clients by the end of the year.

“Just because abortion is now illegal in the state of Alabama, people think we’ve won,” said Liveoak, whose Christian-based pregnancy resource center offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, parenting classes, Bible study, baby supplies and other services for pregnant women, while counseling against abortion. “That was a great victory that God provided, but there’s still work to be done,” she said. “And the next step for us is offering maternity housing to these women who need it.”

5. Mobile pregnancy center wins award

Confidential Care Mobile Ministry, which serves women in the Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville, TN areas, took first place in Memphis Business Journal’s 2023 Best Places to Work in the Small Companies category. CCMM provides free pregnancy testing, limited ultrasounds, abortion alternatives, education and more. Congratulations!

6. Science is saving babies earlier than ever, right in the womb

“Children in utero are being saved in ever-more dramatic fashion from an array of conditions that would have gravely harmed or killed them in the past,” write Chuck Donovan and Tara Sander Lee in Newsweek, arguing all children deserve care and protection:

Occasionally, this dazzling truth breaks into the headlines when a celebrity undergoes one of the extraordinary procedures now available to save children before they are born.

Such was recently the case with Kourtney Kardashian and her husband Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame. Multiple outlets reported last month that the couple resorted to emergency fetal surgery to save the life of their unborn baby (yes, that was the term the press used). Kardashian wrote after the harrowing experience that she had gained “a whole new understanding and respect for mamas who have had to fight for their babies while pregnant.”