The Work Is Just Beginning for the Pro-Life Movement

Conservatives should advance policies that make life easier for all families

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In the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, pro-lifers have had to come to grips with the fact that much more work lies ahead. A pro-life amendment suffered a decisive defeat in Kansas, and public-opinion polling has shown continued skepticism towards the pro-life position in the months following Dobbs.

If winning in Dobbs simply meant a smaller GOP margin in the House, it would be a tradeoff worth taking. But beyond the political realm, the pro-life cause is losing the public relations battle as well. Clumsy legislative texts, viral distortions and misinformation, and well-meaning but misinformed advocates have raised questions about pro-lifers’ seriousness in protecting children and their mothers. 

Much focus and time has been spent on ectopic pregnancies, cases of rape and incest, and other thankfully rare cases. But most women who have an abortions tend to cite concerns that are economic in nature—concerns over being able to afford a child, or worries that a baby would make it harder to provide for their family or harm their job prospects. Conservatives have struggled to put together a compelling slate of policies aimed at reducing the factors that make many women feel like abortion is the only choice for them. 

Over the long term, conservatives should advance policies that make life easier for all families. Policies like a reformed child tax credit (CTC), paid leave, or better child care options would be broadly pro-family and lessen the economic demands on parents, particularly those facing unexpected pregnancies. 

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  1. liz perez

    In Hungary women with 4 or more children are exempt from paying income taxes. Women under 40 are given preferential loans upon marrying, helping them buy homes, and there are subsidies for mom’s of 2 or more to buy larger cars. Grandparents are paid to baby-sit their own grandkids, and there is subsidized child care.
    Measly proposals being bandied about in the U.S. will not really move the needle. Go large or stop wasting time with tiny proposed here and there…

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    Stephanie

    This is so much wishful thinking (sadly). The author is hoping that conservatives will magically turn into liberals.

    Most of the suggestions are policies that liberals usually propose and conservatives despise. What--help people?? Spend money on poor people? Oh, the horror!

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  3. Dave Rogers

    Here's a novel idea: how about conservatives stick to their idea of getting the government out of your life. This way they can drop the abortion issue, which is clearly an electoral liability, and instead focus on gradual abolition of government assistance. This sounds much better than expanding government assistance to try and be consistent with their toxic anti-abortion stance.

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      Mudskipper

      If people on government assistance want to get the government out of their lives, they can simply opt to not take assistance, no?

      I suspect that people who are on assistance are happy that the government is in their lives.

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  4. Mary Stine

    This is a thoughtful and compassionate take. However, as a senior woman with many younger female friends I feel you've overlooked some obvious (to women at least) stuff.
    First and foremost would be the taxable, costly feminine hygiene items that keep many poor women not only from going to work, but also from affording contraceptives, let alone affording another pregnancy. Medicaid does not cover basic feminine hygiene items, and in some states there is a limit on how many dollars can be used for this by the medicaid recipient, even those these items are overpriced and taxable.
    There is no 100% fail safe, fool proof contraceptive, aside from abstinence. So the blaming and shaming of women has to end. And the better education of men has to start. Real men are responsible.
    We also need to work harder on better contraceptives that are less dangerous for women's long term health.
    The current medical system is not designed to support any woman of any age for any condition.
    Our current system is almost entirely profit driven and the female anatomy messes with profit.
    If a woman wants an appointment with an OB-GYN, there is a months long wait, even for current patients, banning a medical emergency. If you are a "new " patient, you may need months just to find an OBGYN practice willing to take new patients. If you are a senior woman, phones will be slammed the moment you mention your age or that you are on Medicare. If you are on Medicaid, you'll not be seen by most specialists, including OB GYNs, as these will not be in the system. You'll wait patiently in a very crowded lobby for days to see an OB GYN, unless you have a family member who can quietly and secretly pay for a private physician. In the meantime, you'll be missing work.
    If you are a lucky younger woman (under 45) who has a good paying job with excellent insurance, you will qualify for much better pregnancy management by a major hospital. Still, that care will be less if you are a minority woman of color or overweight. If you have unusual pain or symptoms during pregnancy as a minority woman, those will be ignored or dismissed.
    As a woman I know that few prescription drugs were actually tested primarily on women. So nearly
    every drug is essentially a crap shoot for women. This fact notwithstanding, most "minimum" care for women involves writing a prescription before ordering tests or doing a more in-depth consultation.
    If the drug doesn't work, causes an allergic reaction or worse, a lifelong condition like osteoporosis, well that's just the breaks! And the adult woman who resists taking a drug she knows to be damaging to her body long term will be labelled in the system as "uncooperative", giving permission to the following doctors to refuse treatment.
    We are now at a point in history where we can tell much more about the fetus in earlier stages, and spare the fetus once life-threatening conditions. However, the latter depends entirely on the mother having good prenatal care throughout her pregnancy, getting a more than adequate diet, and avoiding alchohol, drugs and environmental toxins.
    We are a country that has been in near absolute denial of the need for mental health care for decades. We are only now beginning to confront the spectre of opiod dependency. Alcoholism is still an acceptable social ill. Most of us are looking the other way when poor ethnic communities point out the obvious industrial toxins in their communities. Until we actually confront these we will be faced with "problem" pregnancies involving damaged fetuses. I am not arguing we should not try to save these babies, I am arguing for their right to a better, pain free life! But I do not see the highly profitable medical industry leaping forward to provide the intensive care these tiny lives will need.
    There are also life threatening conditions like diabetes that impact both the mother and baby.
    We now have a large percentage of Americans with diabetes, both Type 1 and Type 2, that must be managed medically. For the unaware, most insurance policies, including Medicare and to some extent Medicaid, only cover diabetic expenses AFTER the patient has spent $5,000.00 of their own funds on medicine and equipment. I lost my grandfather, an uncle and a cousin to diabetes. My cousin was only 35, but he was between jobs and could not afford to take a full dose of insulin every day. I sure he was not alone in this problem.
    However, diabetes highlights a larger national problem: poor diet choices. Until we go back to actually teaching nutrition and healthy eating in schools, while serving healthier lunches, diabetes will be on the increase. Funding community gardens and nutrition programs and setting up healthy grocers in "food deserts" would go a long way to improving everyone's nutrition, while reducing diabetes, which would certainly aid healthier pregnancies in struggling communities.

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    1. SLaff

      Thank you for this. I'm afraid it will fall on many deaf ears

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      1. Mary Stine

        Appreciate that. I felt guided by my conscience to say this. Even if no one responds here, some may read it and act on it later. Hopefully we can all have more compassion for our
        fellow humans and do whatever we can to alleviate suffering.

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    rlritt

    It's not just now. My 1st husband was French and it was almost impossible to get him a residency visa even though we were married. It was frustrating because when we went to immigration, there were lines of 100's of South East Asian people getting stamped visa. People who worked said it was like that every day. But for French prople, no visa. France and England have problems too since all people from former colonies can move to England and France and work, but not Americans.

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  6. Chanterelle

    As someone who has been more or less on the fence about specific abortion policy, I have always voted for people who would likely (& have definitely) supported these policies & those like them. I will continue to favor policies that make abortion a less likely choice, & seem less necessary.

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    Dustin Anglin

    I wholeheartedly support these kinds of policies, but until I see some proof that there is *any* kind of willingness in conservative circles or GOP candidates to enact this kind of government funded healthcare and child support, I will continue to give my support and money to programs and candidates who not only have supported and advocated for these kinds of programs for decades, but also want to enable women to make their own healthcare decisions.

    It’s not that I don’t believe pro-lifers when they say the want to support mothers and children, I just have no faith in their ability to do anything about it from inside the confines of the groups they chosen to yoke themselves to.

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    1. Pohl

      Do not underestimate the willingness of both parties to increase spending for almost any reason, at any moment. Since Dems are inhospitable to pro-lifers, it’s no surprise they’ve gravitated to the GOP, but I think the aftermath of Dobbs will soon cause enough pro-lifers to bring pressure to bear to effect some changes as described in this article. The timeline on this has really just begun in earnest—one hopes.

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  8. Mark from Indy

    The dilemma and difficulty is in how to be kind to young mothers without promoting single-motherhood and furthering the breakdown of the family. I like the emphasis in the article on helping ALL families. We still need to encourage a nuclear family.

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    1. Pohl

      With the caveat that I dislike any aid not means-tested. The government is not a PEZ dispenser. I mean, ours often is because we have entitle-itis with a greedy middle class that always wants to glom onto a good thing. This is partly why the bottom quintile can’t have nice things.

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    2. SLaff

      The key is to keep them from becoming young mothers. Early, effective sex education with an emphasis on long acting birth control

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        Kmregan7

        Except some religions WANT young mothers for various reasons, including having many children - as many as god wants them to have. Perhaps not because they're young, but because women are supposed to be mothers...You can't square that circle.

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        1. SLaff

          I completely agree.

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    Kmregan7

    Gee....it's weird these are coming up now. Was there something preventing any of these things from being fought for and passed in the the last five decades?

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  10. Daniel

    Frankly I have a hard time thinking of a more pro life policy than a child tax credit

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