National Review: The Pro-Life Future

Let’s start with the good news. The American people have not made their peace with abortion and may even be inching in a pro-life direction. The latest Marist Poll showed that 37 percent of Americans still identify as pro-life, which is not thrilling given that roughly half the country was pro-life only a decade ago. Yet the complete picture gives real grounds for optimism. In the years since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, campaigns and interest groups have spent hundreds of millions on pro-choice messaging. Despite years of vilification, a formidable mass of pro-lifers have refused to budge. The movement has a remarkably stable core, and raw numbers are also misleading insofar as many people who now identify as “pro-choice” continue to support a range of pro-life goals, such as restrictions on late-term abortions and on mail-order abortion pills.