Guest Writer: Renee Rizzo, former 18-year tenured CEO of Hope Clinic for Women, now working with state and national organizations. Reneerizzo.coach

On December 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case on the constitutionality of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban specifically addressing whether a state can ban abortion before viability (generally 24–26 weeks of pregnancy). The fact that the Supreme Court heard this case was a significant development, and the state of Mississippi also asked the Court to outright overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case affirming a constitutional right to abortion in every state.

While Roe v. Wade gave women the right to abortion nationwide, abortion already existed across the country in some states. This decision merely superseded the individual laws at the state level.

Unfortunately, what many today do not realize is that even if Roe v. Wade is overturned (decision coming June 2022), abortion will still exist.

Around 73 million induced abortions take place worldwide each year. Six out of 10 (61%) of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion. The WHO (World Healthcare Organization) ‘ensures’ abortion can be safely managed at home (with the abortion pill) up to twelve weeks. This should disturb us.

Primary nationwide abortion statistics for the United States are available from two sources—privately from the Guttmacher Institute (AGI) and publicly from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Guttmacher’s numbers, published every three years, come from direct surveys of all known and suspected abortion providers in the United States. The CDC numbers, published annually, are derived from actual counts of every abortion reported to state health departments. Unfortunately, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not publicly report abortion totals. As such, Guttmacher’s abortion numbers are more complete, but they are approximations.

• Approximately 862,320 abortions were performed in 2017, down 7% from 926,190 in 2014.
  • This is about 3,000/day
  • 90% occur in the first trimester, 9% in the second trimester and 1% in the third.
  • 1.5% of abortions are from the result of rape/incest.

While the Dobbs case was being heard in December the FDA approved telehealth services (without a live doctor’s visit) for the abortion pill. An Abortion Pill is used in about 50% of all abortions in this country. Medication based abortions are being heavily promoted by the media, entertainment TV, and Big Pharma as ‘safe as Tylenol’. In the last few weeks alone two TV shows had an entire episode featuring a woman using the abortion pill and it was represented as no more than a ‘strong period’.

As our country prepares for a Supreme Court decision in June 2022, each state has been busy putting together legislation in the hope of creating abortion laws should Roe be overturned. These laws fall along party lines. Some states have tightened the reigns on abortion (29 states) while others have worked to make it even more accessible (14 states). Twelve of those twenty-nine states have even put in place trigger laws, which essentially puts the state’s stance on abortion back to where it was before Roe v. Wade.

• Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have these trigger laws in place that would ban abortion in if the landmark case Roe v. Wade were overturned.

Even if Roe v Wade is overturned, we are in for our biggest fight yet. Take notice of the messaging around you. The media, abortion industry and Big Pharma have locked arms to promote the following:

• promoting the safety of the Abortion Pill. Originally designed for under 10 weeks it is now being promoted for under 12 weeks. You can get this over the internet without a confirmation pregnancy test or ultrasound. It will be hard to regulate access to this pill. If taken later than 10 weeks women can bleed to death or suffer other serious complications. No follow up medical care is offered.
• attacking the validity of 4,500 pregnancy centers around the country that have spent the last 30 years supporting women in unplanned pregnancies. All the messaging saying they are fake clinics, not regulated under OSHA/HIPPA, and forcing clients into a decision is just simply not true.
• Scaring women (and men) into believing there are not safe, affordable medical clinics providing comprehensive women’s healthcare. In fact, there are over 14,000 FQHCs (or similar) around the country vs the under 600 Planned Parenthoods.

We need to continue to educate ourselves and educate our friends on the FACTS. I always encourage people to bravely wade into the conversation, even if it feels uncomfortable. And if that is not an option, gather your friends for coffee and have me over. Seriously. I would be happy to host more conversations.

We need to support our local pregnancy centers or other nonprofits that provide services and support to single mothers and families needing financial and practical assistance. We need to show the world we do care about lives of children outside the womb. All is needed—your time, talent, and treasure partnered with the right organizations.

We need to be willing to get real with our teens. We need to encourage our church, life group, or community group to provide teenagers safe, healthy honest education programs. Most pregnancy centers offer a SRA (sexual risk avoidance) program utilized across public schools, churches, and other nonprofit agencies. They cover body image, boundaries, dating guidelines, consent, abstinence, and the foundations of marriage. They do educate about birth control from the perspective of what it does and does not protect you from and the associated risks which has shown to create an increase in choosing abstinence.

We need to be sure all the members of our church body (and our neighbors) know of the resources available to them if they are struggling with anything related issue on this topic. Scared people get desperate. Do they know you are a safe person to come to? If not, do they or you know who to send them to?

We need to pray like never before for the legislators, judges, and those on the front lines of the prolife movement, especially the young women (and men) who are confused and scared at this very moment.

The world is telling them a lie. Let’s speak the truth in love.