Let me give you several reasons why I’m optimistic about the ultimate end of abortion. First of all, the number of abortions in the US peaked at 1.6 million only a few years ago. It has dropped to 1.3 million. This means that, for every 6 who were killed, only 5 are now being killed.
The RU 486 abortion pill, introduced after so many years and with so much fanfare, has proven to be an almost total flop. At most, 1% or 2% of abortions in the US are done with it. It’s turned out to be too expensive, takes too many visits, has less privacy and as recent reports have shown, more dangerous.
Another reason very few hospitals now do abortions. Thirty years ago, 50% of all US hospitals did; now it’s down to 6%. In addition, there are fewer and fewer abortionists available to commit abortion nowadays. There are fewer in training who want to learn how, which is a great triumph for us because the reality of blood and gore has helped to maintain the image of a shoddy, back alley abortionist, even though it’s legal.
Today we seldom hear abortion supporters deny that this is truly human life. They still argue about the first few days, but mostly they admit that this is a child who is being killed, merely leaning on their one remaining major argument a woman’s right to choose to kill.
Public opinion has changed. In a 1995 Gallop poll, 56% were “pro-choice”, 33% pro-life. But five years later, in October of 2000, the 56% had dropped to 47% “pro-choice”. And the 33% who were pro-life had jumped to 45%. Now it’s almost a dead heat. That’s a substantial move in our direction.
Another development young people, those who have never known anything in their life except abortion as legal, are coming up out of the ashes, so to speak, and are now the age group most likely to favor limits on abortion.
The abortion industry has responded by spending the one thing they have, and that is lots of money. They have begun expensive advertising and expensive public relations campaigns. I think we can read this as a sign that they’re getting very worried, even desperate.
All of this pro-life progress, friends, has been occurring in the face of a hostile, highly committed and highly motivated secular media, which has given us no quarter at any point in this game. And yet, in spite of all of this, we clearly are slowly winning. Every one of you who has had a part to play in this bears some of the credit for this.
So, color me optimistic. I don’t think I’ll live to see it, but I’m increasingly convinced that my children will live to see the day when almost all babies are once again protected.
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