Abortion demeans women

According to the Planned Parenthood counselor, the low-income, Hispanic, pregnant college student sitting before her fit neatly into the abortion facility’s preset box: She was young, irresponsible, and not ready to be a mother. If she wanted to make anything of her life, her only option was to abort her baby.

Thankfully, Jessica Riojas didn’t listen to the voices telling her who she was or what she was capable of accomplishing. Instead, she earned a 4.0 GPA the same semester she gave birth to her daughter. And with her little girl in tow, Riojas went on to finish her undergraduate degree, complete a master’s degree, and now works full time fulfilling her career goal as a speech-language pathologist.

America is the land of opportunity, where disadvantaged women with big dreams for their lives should be equipped with resources and support. But to the abortion lobby, vulnerable women represent dollar signs. Indeed, the abortion industry demeans women—shoehorning them into its made-up version of “a successful woman” while withholding vital information from them.

Abortion providers don’t empower women, they think for them. The abortion industry actively blocks women from accessing a breadth of resources to make informed decisions about what’s best for their health and future.

In Montana, abortion providers are seeking to dismantle protections that guarantee pregnant women are allowed to see and hear an ultrasound of their child in their womb.

In North Carolina, Planned Parenthood is challenging the state’s requirement that abortion facilities provide patients with informed-consent information and a law ensuring that an abortion only is performed by a licensed physician.

And in North Dakota, abortion providers oppose the state’s efforts to fully inform women considering an abortion that it terminates the life of “a separate, unique, living human being,” and that the chemical abortion process may be reversible if treated quickly.

The list goes on and on. The abortion industry survives by restricting women’s access to healthy alternatives, loving support, and practical material resources, preying on vulnerable women to make a profit and demeaning women by assuming it knows what will make them happy and successful—not to mention snuffing out any potential for their unborn child.

As Jessica Riojas says, “Women are repeatedly told that they can’t have a baby and go to school—that motherhood means they won’t reach their full potential. But my story, like so many other women’s stories, proves that isn’t true.”

Women I know—including single moms and those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds—are tough, capable, and thrive on defying others’ expectations when backed into a corner. Riojas’ story is one of thousands that demonstrates how having a child is often the greatest motivator for women (and men) to step up and push themselves further than they believed possible. Planned Parenthood works hard to silence these stories because they run counter to its narrative.

The Roe v. Wade decision was originally sold as a means of empowering women 49 years ago this month. Instead, abortion harms them and kills their unborn children. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has the incredible opportunity to honor the intelligence and strength of women across the country to make their own, informed decisions. By upholding Mississippi’s law limiting abortions after 15 weeks and overturning Roe v. Wade, the court can allow states to follow Mississippi’s lead and pass legislation that protects women and children.

If Roe is overturned, state legislatures can pass more commonsense laws that protect women from the physical and psychological harms of abortion, ensure that women are fully informed about the development and humanity of their babies, and give unborn children every opportunity for their moms to choose life for them.

And, as believers, we have the incredible responsibility to help support women like Jessica Riojas. Churches, communities, and individuals across the country must put some muscle behind our stand for life by providing for single moms, opening our homes to adoptive and foster kids, supporting pregnancy care centers, and actively engaging in various community-specific pro-life efforts.

James, the brother of Jesus, states, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). Women pressured to abort their babies are among the modern-day American “orphans and widows” James referenced. The world—and especially the abortion industry—has given up on them, but God has not.