Listen to the young, female voices of the pro-life movement
Last Wednesday, on the day of the oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, thousands of advocates flocked to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to vocalize their convictions about abortion. Even though a fence was eventually erected between the pro-life and pro-abortion supporters, the chants and cries of speakers and crowds could still be heard from either side.
The pro-life side featured a diverse crowd of women and men of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. But one of the most numerous demographics in attendance at the pro-life rally was one for which the pro-abortion side claims to speak — college-aged women.
According to one female student in attendance on Wednesday, “I thought the Dobbs rally was an amazing representation of what the pro-life movement truly is. Not only was the pro-life crowd energetic, enthusiastic, and united through the goal of saving innocent lives, everyone was excited, peaceful, and encouraging!” She went on to emphasize, “I was surrounded by young women and college students who all desire to see Roe v. Wade overturned and are willing to make a collective effort to stand for what is right. My generation wants to see change in abortion laws, and the rally was evidence of that.”
Pro-lifers’ hopes that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade have only grown since the Dobbs oral arguments, due to multiple justices indicating an openness to reconsidering the legal precedent set by Roe that allows elective abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. As Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out, this precedent puts the United States’ abortion jurisprudence on par with that of notorious human rights violators North Korea and China and out of step with most of the world.
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Another young woman in attendance at the rally outside the Supreme Court commented, “A constant theme throughout the many wonderful speeches was how the pro-life movement supports and empowers women. Every baseless stereotype about pro-lifers was completely and utterly shattered. No one could walk away from this rally believing that the pro-life movement is about forcing religion on people and controlling women.”
These comments resonate with statements Justice Amy Coney Barrett made during the oral arguments, when she suggested that adoption and safe haven laws have equalized the burdens of parenthood that Planned Parenthood v. Casey had relied so heavily upon to reaffirm Roe in 1992.
Given her status as the youngest justice, only the fifth woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court, and a successful mother of seven — including two adopted children — the pro-life movement has hailed Justice Barrett as living proof that embracing motherhood does not have to preclude a woman from also pursuing a career. This is a message that young women across the country desperately need to hear.
Recent legislative initiatives from Republicans have sought to stop the abortion industry from marketing to college women through their campus health centers. Given that 42 percent of abortions are carried out on women between the ages of 18 and 24, it is clear that the pro-abortion lobby is working to coerce women in this vulnerable stage of life to believe that abortion is their only option, rather than providing resources to allow them to flourish both as mothers and in the career of their choosing.
The rally for life at the Dobbs oral arguments, however, demonstrated that many young women are not taking the bait and are fighting to protect their peers from the abuse of abortion — something that the all-male Supreme Court failed to do in 1973 when they fabricated the “right to abortion” in Roe v. Wade.
“I noticed a drastic difference between the two sides,” one female student reflected. “The pro-life movement is one full of love, laughter, respect, prayer and worship. The pro-abortion movement was overflowing with anger, hatred, and intense darkness. I don’t know how people can look at the two groups and choose to make their tent amongst such devastating darkness.”
Although the results of the Dobbs case will not be revealed for several months, its influence has galvanized the pro-life movement and elevated the voices of young women who refuse to accept the standard of Roe v. Wade any longer. As one of the abortion industry’s favorite target demographics increasingly rejects their lies, it becomes clear that the pro-abortion lobby rests on sinking sand.
Originally published at the Family Research Council.
Joy Zavalick is Research Assistant for the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council.
