Does a post-Roe world signal progress?

June 24, 2022

Bethany Janzen

Pro-Life Global, President

A few hours ago, the United States had one of the most extreme abortion laws on the globe. Now there is no constitutional right to abortion.

It signals to the world that it is possible to push back the tide of abortion. It is possible to create an abortion free world.

The US now moves one step closer to joining the 66 countries which prohibit abortion altogether or have an exception to save the mother’s life. Twenty-two states have laws which will now ban or severely restrict abortion.

Abortion legalization has been viewed as “progress” by many abortion advocates. The Dobbs decision proves what true progress is – equal protection under the law for every human – regardless of their age.

For far too long, the US has long been a leader in promoting abortion. Now it’s time to lead globally, not for ending human life, but for saving it – both the life of the mother and her child.

So, will the US funding for abortion internationally end?

Most likely it won’t. In 2021 the Biden administration paid $608 million to UN Population Fund, which funds abortion. Biden made it clear in his speech following the Dobbs decision that he will do everything possible to promote abortion.

Does the Dobbs decision finally make it clear that legal abortion isn’t necessary for women’s health?

It should. President Biden’s claim that “the life and health of women” in the US are now at risk is not upheld by facts.

“Scientific research shows that making abortion illegal usually saves the large majority of babies from abortion. But it also protects women,” states British Dr. Calum Miller.

Dr. Calum continues: “Research shows that when abortion is made illegal, maternal mortality rates continue to fall - after banning abortion in 1993, Poland now has the lowest maternal mortality ratio in the world - along with Malta, which never legalized abortion. By contrast, legalizing abortion has never been shown to prevent women [from] dying, but sometimes causes more women to die by subjecting more women to the trauma of abortion.”

Under the false pretense of maternal health, global institutions such as The World Health Organization are pushing countries to “remove barriers to timely, equitable and non-judgmental abortion care” according to a graphic they posted. Nigeria faces an acute battle, with pro-life activist Yusef Ayuba organizing press conferences and nationwide rallies this month to counter the push. He has seen the international pressure ease as the Nigerians have raised their voices to defend life.

Jamaica has been similarly facing increasing international pressure to legalize abortion. But the pressure has also motivated young Jamaicans to become active to protect moms and their babies from abortion. The recent Supreme Court decision has put fire to the flame.

“It [Roe’s reversal] gives hope to the Caribbean and for sure the whole world! This shows that giants certainly do fall!“ remarked Daniel Thomas, leader of Jamaica’s Love March Movement which is mentoring students to lead for life.

In historically religious countries like Italy, the decision is more than a beacon of hope. It’s a shattering of a false ideology.

"The overturning of the US Constitutional Court's Roe vs. Wade ruling represents a historic turning point in the battle for true rights, first and foremost the right to life,” states Matteo Fraioli, Director of CitizenGo Italy.

“[Roe v. Wade] fueled the false assumptions of those who had argued for years that abortion was a fundamental right. A lie that caused the death of millions of innocent lives around the world and the suffering of as many women, including in Italy. Today we look with hopeful eyes at what is happening, confident that pro-abortion laws, like law 194 in Italy, are not insurmountable.”

This change in US prescient makes the EU’s push for an international right to abortion more difficult. Representing Serbian Alliance of Prenatal Justice organizations, Kristina Artukovic states:

"By placing the decision to balance the right to life from conception and the interests of the mother into the hands of the American people and their democratically elected representatives, the US Supreme Court outlined a completely opposite direction from the one the European Union is taking. For years, the European Parliament has been trying to impose the view of abortion as a 'fundamental human right' on the EU countries through the means various non-binding resolutions, and more recently, even on the justices of the Supreme Court in the USA - even though such right does not exist in any binding international agreement. We welcome this decision of the American Supreme Court as a sound and globally significant counterweight to such politics."

In Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific the ACP-EU Treaty Partnership has been trying to underhandedly force countries to accept Comprehensive Sex Education which carries with it promotion of birth control and opens the door to abortion.

African leaders who have been working to counter the international push for abortion see the decision as a tool their lawmakers can use when drafting their own legal frame works. Tobias Nauruki, an African youth advocate from Kenya notes:

“The deliberate killing of the unborn baby (abortion) is not rooted in the African culture and is not an aspiration by the people of East Africa and the African continent. Our justice systems and governments will borrow a leaf from [Supreme Court decision].”

The death of Roe brings light to a sad day for other parts of the world. One year ago, Gibraltar legalized abortion. Today the German parliament voted to remove their longstanding ban on advertisements for abortion.

“I don’t think anyone can imagine what this decision on the same day means for us in Germany,” states German pro-life leader Cornelia Kaminski. “We look to the US full of hope and inspiration to see what a pro-life movement that really works and that really uses the right tools can achieve and the wonders that God can work on the side of those that fight for the lives of the unborn.”

Today makes a joyous day for the world. A day that hundreds if not millions of Americans worked long and hard for. A day earnestly sought in tears. A day of God’s mercy to the world.