Stalemate(?)

The National March For Life will take place tomorrow in Washington, DC. Since 1973, it has taken place on or around the anniversary of the Supreme Court decisions Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the two ruling that at the time gave unrestricted access to abortion. Up until 2022, it was a time of peaceful protest (yes, this is what the phrase really looks like) and the marshalling of forces to overturn those decisions. With the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, it has now become celebration of victories for life as well.

As I wrote in a previous post:

In the over 18 months since Dobbs took effect, the battles have increased and intensified in individual state legislatures, courts, and ballot boxes. And it is easier to keep score. Progress or regression has more measurables now--the passing of laws, rulings, or constitutional amendments at the state level. But the color representing those achievements still remains the same. Unfortunately, depending on your political persuasion, the country can still be colored red or blue regarding this. It is just becoming more clearer which hue goes where.

Since then, the coloring has continued and become more vivid. Both sides have gained ground and/or ceded territory. Both sides are in it for the long haul. No one can say who is really winning this battle in the Culture War.

It continues to be a fight for hearts first and foremost; rational arguments only go so far in a society that now values subjective emotions as the ultimate arbiter. Civil discourse was doused with a cold bucket of water with the murder of Charlie Kirk. And there are still reports of vandalism to pregnancy resource centers. (One could wonder if this is in reply to the diminished funding of Planned Parenthood, the biggest and loudest cheerleader for the pro-abortion movement.)

This is far from over.. If one wishes to draw a parallel perspective, it is akin to the enacting of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution and the 1963 Civil Rights Act. The law has been established--its implementation is still ongoing. Neither is a finished process.

So, the activities tomorrow, including another speech by Vice-President J.D. Vance, are needed. The pro-life movement will boldly proclaim it rasion d'etre. It will make its case to "choose life". It will speak the truth in love.

As it was in the beginning of this movement, is now, and ever shall be, a heroic act of witness.