Incrementalism and Abortion
Stephen P. White: Total protection of the unborn in law ought
to remain our goal. A fundamental principle – the dignity of every human
life – demands no less. But our duty as citizens is to work for the
best practicable protections we can for the vulnerable.
For the better part of two generations, the pro-life movement in the
United States was galvanized by a shared commitment to the overturning
of Roe v. Wade. Thanks to the Dobbs decision of 2022, Roe is now gone, and abortion policy in the United States has been returned to the democratic process.
If Dobbs represented a generational legal victory for
the pro-life movement, the ensuing two years have also revealed some of
the massive political and cultural obstacles facing the pro-life cause.
Just a few months after Dobbs, a pro-life amendment to the state
constitution was defeated in Kansas setting off a string of similar
defeats on various amendments and ballot measures in California,
Michigan, Vermont, Ohio, Kentucky, and Montana.
A predictable loss in, say, California is one thing. A string
of losses in heavily Republican states is something else entirely. Not
surprisingly, these trends have made many politicians skittish. If
principled commitment to defending life (or at least to overturning Roe) was
once seen as a winning position for many Republicans, some of those
same politicians (including, it seems, Donald Trump who has said he
would not sign a federal abortion ban if elected) have more recently
discerned that restricting abortion through the democratic process is
something of a political liability.
How all of this will play out in the months between now and
November’s election remains to be seen. At least three more states have
abortion-related initiatives on the ballot for November. For now the
pro-life cause seems to be on its political heels. What seems clear is
that, to recover its footing in the post-Dobbs environment, the pro-life movement has its work cut out for it.
Click here to read the rest of the column . . .
Image: Allegory of Prudence by Titian, c. 1570 [National Gallery, London]
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