For 50 years, the American people have been fed a disgusting lie that the best and reasonable solution to an unplanned pregnancy is to have an abortion, to get rid of the human life inside a mother’s womb and it will be as if it never happened.
Most Americans never bought it. Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973 and made abortion legal with few exceptions in every state, around 70% of the American people have consistently supported restrictions. The overwhelming majority — 79% — believe late-term abortions should be prohibited, while 25% believe abortion past the first trimester should be prohibited, according to the latest Marist poll.
Thankfully, because of the high court’s fateful Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June, a more robust discussion has begun. What do we do to support women who find themselves in a life-altering position of having a baby and how do we make it easier to choose life?
The Left wants to make this about “taking away a woman’s right to choose and bodily autonomy,” despite the fact that it’s not her body but in fact another separate human.
In fact, Democrats made that their theme in the 2022 midterm elections, spending hundreds of millions blasting Republican candidates as evil miscreants. On the other side, GOP consultants told their candidates to avoid the issue and did not counter the attacks. Republicans spent only $11 million on pro-life messaging. Republican candidates, coached by consultants, stuck to messaging about inflation and Joe Biden’s many failures instead of truthfully countering their opponent’s extreme position of support for abortion any time, any number, for any reason, all paid for by the taxpayers.
Why the disparity of cash?
Politics and power is a religion to the Left. They put their time, money, and effort to conjure up lies about the scientific reality of when life begins or that every human person is made in the image of God.
Christians, on the other hand, are challenged by Scripture to give our time and treasure to the church and other ministries that serve the poor, the imprisoned, the lost around the world. Politics often takes a back seat to furthering the Kingdom of God and helping “the least of these,” although many of us see prayerful advocacy as an extension of our faith.
These efforts include adoption and foster care. Christians are twice as likely to adopt a child and three times as likely to consider foster parenting as opposed to average citizens according to Barna Research. In addition, according to Barna, Christians are more likely to adopt older or special needs children. Contrary to the Left’s lies, people of faith are the most likely to strive to help vulnerable women and children. This includes the pregnancy resources centers primarily founded and run by Christian volunteers and recently targeted by pro-abortion terrorists for vandalism and destruction. It also includes adoption agencies like Catholic Charities and Holt International.
While stats are not fully available, it is estimated more than one million families are waiting to adopt in the U.S. With birth rates dropping and couples waiting later in life to start a family, many more factors have led to the increase of young families longing to adopt a child.
We must make it easier and economically feasible for Americans to adopt, to foster, and take care of the little ones born in this new post-Roe world.
Even more importantly, we must provide the tools for young women to choose life. They need to know the mechanics and benefits of adoption and that they are not alone.
This is our responsibility as people who believe life is precious, but it should also be the responsibility of government to provide these resources for women. There are a myriad of services and resources for women at the federal, state, and county levels that can ease their burdens and help them through this decision.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) has taken on this deficit of information by working with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) to develop the concept of Life.gov, a one-stop-shop for information young women can use to know their options. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services will be responsible for the creating, updating, and promotion of this valuable web-based resource. One click is all it should take to learn by state and zip code all the currently available alternatives needed to choose life including resources for housing, education, healthcare, legal assistance, adoption, mentoring, and other support. It also allows organizations like CWA to see where we need to do more.
According to research data by George Barna for Arizona Christian University, only 15% of women choose adoption when faced with an unwanted pregnancy. The main reason, according to research, was a lack of understanding about adoption. Young women are confused over the adoption services and think it is too complicated. They don’t know that birth mothers’ expenses are often paid by adopting parents, that they can still work until the baby is born, that each state and county has counselors to help through the process, and that they can choose both the right family for their baby in an open or closed adoption.
This dearth of information is unacceptable. Knowledge is power, and we need to empower women with Life.gov.
Penny Nance is CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest women’s public policy organization, www.concernedwomen.org.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.