The historic SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade made a seismic shift in the ongoing pro-choice, pro-life debate. A debate where the ultimate recipient of this decision doesn’t have a voice: the unwanted babies.
Through no fault of their own, these babies are unwanted by one or both of their parents. We can judge and argue their reasons all we want, but it doesn’t change the emotional turmoil the mother will experience throughout the pregnancy. If the fundamental argument is that abortion causes physical pain and harm to the fetus, then naturally we can concur that the fetus is equally subject to emotional harm and trauma. They enter this world immediately surrounded by sadness, rejection and fear. Their parents have mixed emotions about their very existence before they can even take their first breath.
Do anti-abortion laws really save and protect the babies? Do they ensure that they will be welcomed into warm, inviting, loving homes? That they will be loved unconditionally? That they will be provided for financially, physically and emotionally? The chance that the answer to these questions will be YES is not impossible or unlikely, but very, very slim.
The unintended victim of the pro-life position is the very life they are trying to protect - the unwanted baby now forced to enter a cold, unwelcoming world.
The highest court in our nation made a singular change within a broader, holistic system and failed to account for the downstream ramifications this will have on our country. A change that touches so many parts of our society, but nothing more precious than the babies themselves. Allowing individual states to establish anti-abortion laws without ALSO ensuring a baseline of legislation that serves to protect the very life that these children will be given could have detrimental impacts for generations to come.
A quick Google search reports 629,898 legal abortions in 2019 (the last full year of available data according to the CDC) and some sources suggest upwards of 900,000+. According to a recent Fortune Magazine article, 22 states (45%) have already or are expected to pass anti-abortion legislation. If we apply that equivalently to the number of abortions reported in 2019, that’s roughly 280,000-405,000+ children per year that will now be blessed with life and enter our world.
But will they thrive? Will they have the same quality of life and privilege that other children enjoy today?
Families who cannot afford to feed the children they have will struggle even more to make ends meet. Many will have no choice but to turn to public assistance programs for support. Teenagers unprepared to be a parent will be faced with unfathomable options. To raise the baby will require profound support and sacrifice from their parents and grandparents. Because some parents and families will see no alternative, we can expect a dramatic increase in children being given up for adoption and placed in the foster care system.
When we decide that it is in the best interest for the unborn fetus to be blessed with life, are we considering what happens after the nine (9) months end?
Are we preparing our foster care system for this influx? The Children’s Bureau at the US Department of Health and Human Services reports over 400,000 children in the foster care system at the end of 2021. Social workers have caseloads they can’t keep up with and there is a shortage of foster families. The foster care system is already overwhelmed and broken. How do we fix what’s broken today? How will we plan for the additional funds required to support more caseworkers and more foster families? Are we as a community ready to open our homes to care for these children?
Are we reviewing and updating our adoption requirements to account for this demand? Many US agencies lean toward traditional family placements forcing non-traditional families to pursue adoptions outside of the US. Highly successful and financially stable LGTBQ+ and straight, single people who have pursued dreams of parenting have found themselves rejected by US agencies. They have had more success adopting children from other countries who are now living full and happy lives in America. How do we reevaluate what “traditional” looks like and evolve these antiquated ideals to reflect the diverse communities we live in?
Are we planning for the additional funds necessary to support the increased need for public assistance programs? Public assistance programs are funded through taxpayer money. Are we keeping taxpayers informed about the potential increase in taxes necessary to fund programs like welfare and food stamps?
Are states evaluating the need for increased housing, childcare and public schools? Throughout the US, we already have housing shortages, increased homeless communities and overcrowded schools.
Are we investing in additional sex education and awareness programs in our schools and making contraceptives easily accessible? Because let’s be honest, people are not going to stop having sex because of anti-abortion legislation. To prevent unwanted pregnancies, we need to make a significant investment in education and protection.
We cannot simply change one piece of this puzzle without fully assessing and planning for the downstream impacts that flow through the child’s entire life. This landmark decision could have detrimental impacts on the next generation if states are not held accountable to demonstrate how their foster and adoption system will support the influx, how they will provide additional funds for government support programs, how they will ensure the added financial burdens are not directly transferred to taxpayers, how they will ensure the child has access high quality early childhood and public education….and so much more.
The highest court in our land should have been wise enough to see beyond the issue at-hand and ALSO served to protect the very life these children will be granted.
We are not ready.
In the wake of the SCOTUS decision, many will choose to pursue the fight to restore the rights we just lost - the fight for a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body, the fight to have full authority for personal healthcare decisions, the fight to maintain a family’s right to reproductive decisions without government intervention and more.
This is an important fight…AND equally as important is the fight for those who just gained rights. That fight starts after the nine (9) months end.
Fighting for them means holding our legislators accountable to fix our broken systems and holistically plan for the bigger picture. It means sharing a fundamental belief that fighting to save the babies ALSO means we are fighting to give them a life worth living. It means we provide 18-years of support and protection, not just nine (9) months.
Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in the darkness for the light that is you. ~ L.R. Knost
These are such great questions, and so rarely part of this debate! thank you for posting this!