Earlier this month the Christian Science Monitor ran an op-ed by Marymount University undergraduate Elizabeth Jahr entitled “Pro-Life Groups Do Not Really Protect the Unborn.” As the pro-life position has gained in the court of public opinion, our opponents are spending less time arguing about the morality of abortion. Instead, they often try to make the case that pro-life efforts are either ineffective or misguided. Jahr’s op-ed was a prime example of this. She argued that the money spent on the March for Life and other political efforts would be better spent assisting women facing crisis pregnancies. This op-ed was reposted byYahoo! News and received thousands of hits online.
On Tuesday, the Christian Science Monitor ran my response. I pointed out that the pro-life movement voluntarily donates millions of dollars to pregnancy-resource centers that assist thousands of women facing crisis pregnancies. Furthermore, the money that is spent on political and educational efforts is not wasted. There is a nice body of research showing that various types of incremental pro-life laws are effective at reducing the incidence of abortion. Additionally, pro-life educational efforts are partly responsible for the substantial gains in the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as “pro-life.”