Just one week from now, the Supreme Court will review a Mississippi law that limits elective abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy, setting the stage for possibly reversing Roe v. Wade and the devastating national policy of abortion on demand.
I was a college junior when Roe v. Wade was handed down in 1973 by an imperious Supreme Court, and I’ve been involved in the pro-life movement, both personally and professionally, ever since. Having achieved what some refer to as “senior statesman” status (I’m fine with “statesman,” not so wild about “senior”), I am asked with increasing frequency for my thoughts and analysis in advance of next week’s oral arguments.
My conclusion? I have much to be thankful for as I sit down with three generations of my family on Thursday. Life is getting the defense it deserves.
Consider the barrage of pro-life legal briefs filed in this case: 80 by supporters of the Mississippi law, signed by 231 members of Congress, 12 governors, and 24 state attorneys general. In Roe, only seven pro-life briefs were filed in such a momentous case, with zero from members of Congress, zero from governors, and just five from state attorneys general.
The robust legal argument that should have occurred in 1973, when Justice Harry Blackmun did his own medical research at Mayo Clinic, will finally take place in 2021. But it is not just the weight of legal arguments that has increased.
First, take science and medicine. Diagnostic ultrasound was first used in 1972 to identify anencephaly in the womb and in 1975 to identify spina bifida. There were no images of babies in utero on home refrigerators, no images in Doritos ads and hit movies like the Pixar classic Up. The era of meeting one’s child or grandchild months before birth had not arrived. Moreover, the use of ultrasound to aid in the treatment of the unborn had not appeared. This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that perinatal medicine now prefers surgery to heal the unborn child with spina bifida instead of dismemberment abortions to destroy the child.
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has performed over 2,000 procedures on children in the womb, saving lives and correcting devastating conditions. Each year, CHOP holds what it unabashedly calls a Fetal Family Reunion in the courtyard of its Philadelphia medical center, an exhilarating display of the wonders of modern medicine and the diverse families who have benefited from these miracles.
What has the abortion industry shown as its alternative to this profoundly forward-looking science? One mile away from CHOP is another facility that could likewise be known as “chop,” where Dr. Kermit Gosnell segregated his black and white female patients and used scissors to snip the spinal cords of aborted babies, some of whom were taking breaths or crying out as he ended their lives. Which of these is the future America wants to be thankful for in 2021? Which represents love for women and families?
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for increased efforts to fight discrimination against babies with Down syndrome. In some European nations, these children are nearly extinct — not because of the advent of successful remedial measures, but because of prenatal screening followed by abortion. Couldn’t we claim to end all disease this way, by discarding those who are different from or weaker than those in power?
Whereas children with Down syndrome were once isolated in hospitals, modern medicine and educational approaches now emphasize family integration. As recently as the 1980s, the average life expectancy for a child with Down syndrome was roughly 25 years; now it is 60 and rising. Has the child changed, or have we? The Americans with Disabilities Act was adopted overwhelmingly by Congress in 1990 with the goal of opening doors to the disabled across all aspects of life. Abortion, in turn, slams every one of those doors shut. No wonder the most compelling witnesses testifying in favor of protecting babies with Down syndrome are adults with Down syndrome who speak of their own myriad accomplishments. This is true diversity, equity, and inclusion.
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that advances in prenatal science give us an unprecedented window into human development in the womb. Dr. Maureen Condic, member of the National Science Board and professor of neurobiology at the University of Utah, supplied compelling evidence in one of the pro-life briefs to the Supreme Court. She asserts, “Technological breakthroughs, especially sophisticated brain mapping and 4D ultrasonography, have enabled direct, unprecedented observation of human fetuses and behavior indicating their subjective experiences – confirming that the fetus is living, conscious, and sensitive to pain shortly after the beginning of the second trimester and months before viability.”
The evidence is strong enough that Dr. Stuart Derbyshire, a brain mapping researcher who until recently was considered “a leading voice against the likelihood of fetal pain,” concluded with coauthor John Bockmann in the Journal of Medical Ethics last year that pain at the beginning of the second trimester is a matter of moral significance.
Speaking of viability, I am thankful that the lower range of when a baby can survive outside the womb, with the aid of caring physicians and cutting-edge technology, has advanced from the 24-28 weeks pronounced in Roe to 21 or 22 weeks today. Again, has the baby — the “quiddity” of the life before us — changed, or have we? Can it not be said that Roe v. Wade was obsolete the day it was issued and is fading faster every day?
Beyond these facts, I am thankful for the extraordinary development of social services and public policy. Commentators on the Left and Right continue to debate which policies work best, which have fewer unintended side effects, and related questions. Certainly, public policies that promote male responsibility and family cohesion have proved elusive. Yet, since the 1970s, Congress has regularly taken action to support families. In 1975, Congress established federal primary care centers, giving them the name Federally Qualified Health Centers in 1989. In 1996, Congress adopted a generous adoption tax credit that many states have copied, and in 1997, it added a generous child tax credit. In 2014 Congress made maternity coverage one of 10 essential health insurance benefits nationwide. On the state level, Texas this year increased funding for the “Alternatives to Abortion” program to $100 million.
This Thanksgiving, I’m also grateful for the more than 2,700 pro-life pregnancy centers nationwide, which aid millions of people per year, generally with private support and at no cost to the client. Only a handful of these centers existed in 1973, yet they have continuously grown in both number and impact despite ongoing efforts of the abortion industry to sue, slander, and harass them. In 2019, pro-life pregnancy centers provided nearly $270 million in services and materials to women, men, youth, and families nationwide.
Much more can be written about the manifold reasons 2021 is not 1973. We will be hearing more of those reasons from the hundreds of pro-life women elected to office across the United States in the past three decades. They, too, are vigilant for life, and they are taking our nation forward, not back.
As the Donovans gather around a Thanksgiving table made full by love, with members of three generations bowing their heads in gratitude for another year full of grace and love, have I concluded that our battle to protect the dignity and humanity of the unborn has been won? Sadly, the answer is “no.” Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on Mississippi, there are many battles ahead.
But as I reflect on nearly 50 years in the pro-life movement this Thanksgiving, I am encouraged. Grateful for the tremendous progress. Hopeful. There has always been room for one more at the Donovan Thanksgiving table, and our prayer is that this year, the Supreme Court will conclude that America has room at the table for the unborn.
Charles “Chuck” Donovan is the president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
