The last several months have certainly presented new challenges and new reasons to both celebrate and remain hopeful for the future. However, our adversaries on the issue of respect for the life and dignity of every person are wailing vociferously and bitterly with renewed determination to undermine our movement.

Knowing what I know and what I have experienced as a medical doctor, having written a book and lectured on the topic, and being involved with other pro-life leaders every day, I still find it astonishing that people would bitterly oppose honoring motherhood while refusing to help pregnant women in distress with the resources she needs to have a healthy baby.

The laws in Texas protect incipient human life from conception. In doing so, the Texas legislature has appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars to be sure pregnant women and girls who are anxious and distressed with an unplanned pregnancy have healthcare and other resources to meet their needs. The Texas Pregnancy Network has nearly 200 locations in the state and also oversees the Alternatives to Abortion Program, which is funded with another $100 million.

At the same time, there are nearly 300 private pregnancy help centers in Texas unrelated to the state services and receiving no money from the state. There are nearly 3000 such offices nationwide. Several states are also following the example of Texas with their own pregnancy networks.

Pro-abortion advocates support abortion as a first choice when an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy occurs, often until the moment of birth, and with some radicals calling for the option to let a baby born alive die from neglect if the mother so chooses.

Having failed to gain influence in Texas, they attack Texas laws on the basis of proposed exceptions…such as for pregnancies arising from rape and incest, or when the developing baby has a chromosomal abnormality or a birth defect.

Perhaps they should hear from people who were conceived from rape who say that they did not deserve the death penalty for a crime someone else committed. One is angry that such events occur so that we even need to discuss it, and the heart is wrenched with compassion for women in that situation. Fortunately, pregnancies from forcible incest (technically also rape) are very uncommon. I elaborate on issues of rape and incest and offer comments by others in my book Building a Culture of Life (see under My Books).

One of the most common birth defects is Down Syndrome. People who know such individuals also know them to be very likable persons. Those affected who are able to discuss the matter will also attest to the value of their lives. Special Olympics organizations promote opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to associate with others and have normal life experiences. Abortion advocates say that caring for such people is too much trouble and the baby should be killed.

Other birth defects with extra genetic material or missing genetic material can be very debilitating, often incompatible with life at birth or offering only a few years of life while requiring much care. Parents who choose to give birth to such a child and provide loving care give testimonies to the unparalleled positive impact on their lives and those of their other children. I also elaborate on those issues in my book where compassion for another human being supersedes causing the premature death of that person. They deserve compassion and care, though their lives may be short.

So, what is wrong with our society in which death of the innocent is so readily embraced. It is admittedly easier to admire people who have made the choice to give life and love to individuals who will be handicapped or who will not live long than it might be to have that experience and make that choice ourselves. However, the testimonies of those who have done so exhibit no regrets.

Before leaving that subject, let us address the claim by those supporting abortion that pregnant women in Texas (as an example) are subject to being neglected by doctors when their own lives are threatened by a complication of pregnancy. They say that doctors are afraid to perform live-saving abortions to save the mother.

For thousands of years (for example in ancient Hebrew writings in societies where abortion was abhorrent), the life of the mother was always valued over the life of a developing child in tragic situations. The same is true today, and this is encoded in Texas law and the rules of the Texas Medical Association. Whereas such instances are very uncommon, there have been 132 such terminations of pregnancy in Texas since June 2022. No pregnant woman has gone without necessary medical care.

There are other political issues to abortion on which the previous federal administration made choices. These are also elaborated in my book, so I will not do so here. I will only say that the Hyde Amendment to the federal budget was vacated for 4 years so that tax money was used to pay for abortions while no money was appropriated to offer solutions for women in distress. Likewise, the Mexico City Policy (see the book) was vacated so that tax money was used to promote abortion in other countries.

With election of Donald Trump, these policies were reversed (again). Trump also pardoned many pro-life advocates that he felt were unfairly targeted and excessively punished by jail time for the actions they took to protest abortion. It must be noted that the Hyde Amendment and the Mexico City Policy will need to be encoded in law to prevent reversal back and forth in future.

Despite these happy events for pro-life people, their are those who are concerned about Trump’s views that the federal government should not regulate abortion. He actually has no choice in the matter. The Supreme Court ruled in the Dobbs decision in June 2022 (when Roe was overturned) that the 10th Amendment clearly and unequivocally gives the individual states the right to debate the issue and make laws in those states according the will of the people. In Texas, that led to current laws. In those states where there is a majority of people in the political party that supports abortion, their laws reflect that sentiment.

In another executive order issued by Trump, “…it is the policy of my Administration to ensure reliable access to IVF [in vitro fertilization] treatment, including by easing unnecessary statutory or regulatory burdens to make IVF treatment drastically more affordable.” This procedure is also discussed in my book, so I will not recapitulate here. However, the matter of creating fertilized eggs in the lab that have the potential to become people just like us, but which are discarded, thus ending the lives of people before they even get started, is very troublesome on the same moral and ethical levels grounds by which we oppose abortion for birth control.

At the same time, many couples with infertility who want to have a child have much distress over the matter, longing to be parents and raise a child with hope for grandchildren. Whereas we could talk about adoption (and many do), that process is prolonged and not easy, so many of those who can afford to do so sometimes choose IVF so that their child will be their own “flesh and blood.” I know such a couple who have a daughter by IVF, and she is a wonderful young woman. It is a difficult area in which we can only hope for a solution to the waste of human life in a manner similar to abortion, albeit without being implanted in the womb.

Much progress has been made in the minds of the public on the sanctity of human life, but the political battle continues with expenditure of much money and a vicious campaign to denigrate those who are pro-life. LifeFirst ( https://lifefirst.org/ ) does remarkable work in educating the public on the value of every human life and that such life begins at the moment of conception, and the Abortion Survivors Network ( https://abortionsurvivors.org/ ) makes an unparalleled impact when those who have survived an attempt to end their lives in the womb proclaim the value of their lives both in the womb and as a grown adult.

In January, the National March for Life in Washington, DC, attracted huge crowds to celebrate an incoming federal administration that promised to support the life and dignity of all persons from conception. President Trump addressed the crowd remotely and Vice-President Vance reinforced the values upon which they campaigned. In Austin, the Texas Rally for Life did likewise with exciting speakers before an enthusiastic crowd.

I conclude this post with an exhortation to celebrate our progress, but not to be complacent. There are powerful forces with a lot of money that want to reverse public policy and bring back abortion as a women’s “right” issue. We must continue to show up at every pro-life event that we can attend to be sure we preserve our recent gains and teach our children the value of every human life.

At the same time, we have much work to do. Our adversaries tell women that their lives will end in disaster if they do not have an abortion, that they cannot afford a baby, that they will not be able to continue their education, that they will not be able to get that job promotion, etc.

I elaborate on the reasons women seek an abortion in my book, and there are significant challenges. We must understand these issues, and I give a lecture on “the future of the pro-life movement after Dobbs.” We must petition lawmakers on social reform so that every pregnant woman retains all of the opportunities in life that non-pregnant women enjoy. By erasing such barriers, the mothers themselves will protect the lives of their babies. In the long run, this is the way we build a culture of life.