How Abortion Will End in America

I went to the March for Life yesterday; indeed, I actually walked 8 miles to the March with a friend. It was heartwarming to see so many people witnessing to life on such a bitterly cold day.

An estimated half a million people marched for a noble cause – the end of abortion. There is hope for this cause: I firmly believe abortion will end in my lifetime, at least in America. The pro-life movement is finally getting smarter about how it fights for life: by working to change laws on the state level, by using ultrasound technology, and most importantly, by emphasizing its advocacy of pregnant women in need of assistance. The supporters of abortion will slowly face the demographic reckoning of their embrace of the culture of death.

This hope, however, is tempered by a host of caveats. It was said by Christ that some demons can be driven out only by prayer and fasting. If this is the case for abortion, pro-life advocates have a long uphill climb in a hedonistic culture. For abortion will end only after a radical change in the American culture. American culture, as viewed through the lenses of its entertainment industry, is toxic, corrupting children quickly with the claim that sex is consequence-free run without responsibility. Too many Americans have succumbed to the corrosive idea that personal autonomy is the paramount virtue – and accordingly have scorned the unborn life that hinders the career of the mother.

It will end with the conversion or the humbling of the elites of society. Abortion has well-heeled and well-connected supporters in the government, the medical profession, the educational profession, and the media.  

It will end unevenly. Certain states have all but outlawed abortion; in other states abortion is deeply entrenched. The partisan divide over abortion will only deepen as some states protect abortion and other states seek to heavily regulate the practice.

And it will end only after millions more lives are lost. This is tragic to admit, but barring a miracle and the swift and total conversion of our President and Congress, abortion will only be strengthened, at least on the federal level, in the next 4 years. Barring a major change in the culture, abortion will remain a supposedly viable (and subtly encouraged) “solution” for “unwanted pregnancy.”

It is impossible to predict exactly when the tipping point for American culture will occur, that will make the abolition of abortion in America possible. My suspicion is that this tipping point will come between one to two generations of long, tireless, and seemingly fruitless work on the part of pro-life advocates. 

And when the day of reckoning comes for abortion in America, there will be wailing and grinding of teeth from the forces of death in America. But the noise machine of the culture of death will be drowned out on that day by those who live the Gospel of Life.