2 Years post-Roe
June 22, 2024
Two Years Without Roe
Two years ago, today, the staff of Cincinnati Right to Life gathered around a laptop, accessing WIFI from our summer intern’s personal hotspot. Somehow, as “luck would have it,” at that exact moment of the release of the Dobbs decision, the internet went out in our office. (The WIFI glitch never happened before, and has not happened since.)
The tech-savvy intern thought quickly, and in time for the announcement, we were back on-line and watching the release of the most momentous decision for life in the history of America. Crying as a team in the offices founded by Dr. Willke, a giant in the pro-life world, and an original founder in the pro-life movement, seemed surreal.
A press conference followed that afternoon in our offices filled with reporters clearly not sharing in our joy that it was no longer a Constitutional right in America for women to execute their pre-born child in the name of “healthcare.”
In the days after the fall of Roe, interviews and media requests consumed our work. The consistent questions asked by newspeople trying to understand and report our jubilation, was, “what will women do?” “what now?” “what next?”
Two years ago, we did not have a crystal ball to answer the “what’s next?” questions. And while we still rely exclusively on faith and prayer and will never consult a crystal ball, we do know a bit more about the path ahead.
Yes, the post-Roe waters are murky, but here is some of what we know for certain and some of what we plan to do as we participate in building a culture of life post-Roe and post-Dobbs:
1. While we have had losses, it is not an option to abandon our fight for life. We are clearly in a new season that calls for new work and new ideas.
We have many.
Here’s one example: Have you heard about our Sidewalk Advocacy
going on in front of Planned Parenthood?
More than 100 volunteers have trained and we are getting close
to having three full days of advocates meeting women seeking abortion.
Last week we had SEVEN confirmed turn-aways!
Moms that agree to talk are immediately provided an ultrasound and a consultation before being sent to one of our local pregnancy centers for continued care. Praise God for the lives being saved! We could use more help.
2. The battle for pre-born children’s lives is spiritual, and we must turn to the Lord as we construct an even more serious, consistent prayer effort for the end of abortion, and most especially in Ohio.
Our prayer efforts in front of our local abortion facility have increased
ten-fold with some very important spiritual acts from
priests and laymen occurring.
We have had Eucharistic processions and rosary rallies.
Stay tuned as we launch our FIRST EVER 24-hour 40 Days for Life prayer campaign this fall! We need men to help!
3. We must identify and support local politicians that are true life champions that refuse to use pre-born babies as bargaining chips. The politicians we support must be convicted in their hearts that abortion is an unspeakable act of wickedness against mother and child. Standing for the protection of the pre-born and their mothers is not extreme, it is HUMANE. Standing for the protection of mother and baby should be a priority, not a talking-point. Standing for mother and baby is good for Ohio and our nation.
Cincinnati Right to Life did not endorse politicians in the March primary.
Pro-life options were few and rather than get it wrong, we have worked on refining our endorsement process for fall 2024 and to only
endorse active champions for life.
4. Our culture is distracted and most are unaware of the rate of the abortion atrocity that occurs worldwide, in America or in our own community. The distraction allows citizens to be sold the lie that abortion is compassion and healthcare.
We began our Pro-life Gathering for HER, hosted webcasts, and are hosting a pro-life film festival this summer. We must get the word out and educate.
Our partnerships with churches and communities have increased.
We have big plans to keep reaching and teaching with an aggressive, active, and measurable boots-on-the-ground campaign in July and August.
Cincinnati Right to Life is grateful for your partnership in our life-saving work. We are growing our mission, keeping our voice heard, and advancing the cause of life as our founders Dr. and Mrs. Willke intended.
It is because of the good Lord and of course our faithful community that our work goes on!
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:17