The pro-life pulse one year post Dobbs

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: It’s Thursday, the 22nd of June, 2023. You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re glad you’re here. Good morning! I’m Paul Butler.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. First up on The World and Everything in It: taking America’s pro-life pulse.

This Saturday marks the first anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court ruling gave states the freedom to protect unborn life in their laws—or not.

BUTLER: Last Saturday, WORLD’s life beat reporter Leah Savas attended a Walk for Life event hosted by a Grand Rapids, Michigan, pregnancy center. While there, she discovered a few things about what the cultural change means for pro-life pregnancy centers.

JIM SPRAGUE: So we pray that we would represent you and represent your love well, as we unite and walk and pray today. In the strong name of our Savior Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen. Yoland?

WOMAN: Y empezamos a caminar.

SPRAGUE: Let the walk begin!

LEAH SAVAS, REPORTER: It’s a blue sky kinda morning in Michigan—sunny and in the mid-sixties. Families and groups from local churches file out of the pregnancy center’s parking lot. The fundraising walk organized by PRC Grand Rapids will follow a two-mile loop with prayer stops at locations around the neighborhood, including the Planned Parenthood next door to PRC.

MAN PRAYING: Just help them to know what they're doing is wrong in your eyes, Lord. We just pray that you would close this place down. Just pray for that.

It’s PRC’s first Walk for Life since the overturn of Roe v. Wade last June. The group’s CEO Jim Sprague said the last one happened a week before the Dobbs ruling. After that, pregnancy centers were a target for a lot of pro-abortion frustration. Michigan voters in November approved an amendment adding a right to abortion to the state constitution.

SPRAGUE: So here we are a year later, things have settled down a bit, but it's it's still, you know, there's a different tone, a different climate.

That different climate has made it harder for Sprague to talk about his work.

SPRAGUE: When you start talking about PRC, as soon as they figure out, what you're really talking about is pregnancy resource center. Oh, I'm well aware of who you are. And I've literally had people turn their back and walk away at that point. So I think there is a polarization that I'm experiencing after 22 years of doing this work that is, is, is—the polarization is even greater than it's ever been.

SOUND: [STROLLER AND CAR SOUNDS]

John and Sarah Marsman are a young couple pushing their twin girls in a stroller. They said some family and friends have come out more strongly pro-abortion since last summer. Sarah said she was surprised to hear who voted for the pro-abortion amendment in Michigan.

SARAH MARSMAN: And that was kind of crazy to see people that were really close to us doing that.

SAVAS: Was it, like—you said people close to you. Is it family?

MARSMAN: Yeah, family and friends. Yep. Siblings, people just not understanding and publicly speaking about for it.

At the end of the walk, everyone gets a chance to tour the pregnancy center. Inside, I meet Vicki DeGrazier in a back room with candy and containers of coffee for the visitors. She’s the church relations coordinator and has been at the center for almost 19 years.

VICKI DEGRAZIER: We have over 200 volunteers. And yes, there was a significant uptick when Roe v. was overturned. And it got to the point where we just almost had to turn people away because it was so there was so many people that wanted to help.

The center’s community engagement director Natasha Mueller said the overturn of Roe and the constitutional amendment in Michigan have also inspired more people to give to their center.

NATASHA MUELLER: There was a gentleman who came, and he had a check. And he said, I just felt like I need to do something like, what can I do? And so he said, I haven't done this before. But here's some, here's some money. I'm deciding that this is a place that I want to put my treasure. And he said, you'll see me again.

But not all pregnancy centers across the country are seeing this kind of growth.

JOR-EL GODSEY: It's been a mixed bag, right?

That’s Jor-El Godsey. He’s president of the pregnancy center support organization Heartbeat International. He said about two-thirds of Heartbeat’s affiliate pregnancy centers have seen an increase in clients. But while some centers have gotten more help from their communities, others in states with pro-life laws like Texas and Oklahoma have seen the opposite.

GODSEY: We have run into a, ‘Wasn't Roe the goal?’ Right? You mean this abortion stuff is still going on? I thought our state took care of that. And we've outlawed abort—’ Like, the the scariest thing for me is when I see headlines to say there are zero abortions happening in such and such state because of the laws say so. It's like, man, we know better.

Jim Sprague says he hopes the Walk for Life will encourage more people to get involved here in Grand Rapids.

JIM SPRAGUE: But I think there is an opportunity, an opportunity to speak, an opportunity to for people to give and to pray. And and that's what this walk has meant about. Let's pray over the places that propagate a death agenda in our city and let's pray life over them. But you know, it's it's an opportunity to be involved at a different level.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leah Savas in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

WOMAN PRAYING: We realize we are not praying for them as we ought. Lord, I pray for forgiveness and I pray that your spirit will always be poking at our consciences.

One more thing before we move on. WORLD has always made it a top priority to offer reliable reporting on life issues. But in the year since the fall of Roe, we've all seen how much more important it is.

So first a personal word of thanks if you’re a regular giver. I count it a privilege to have the resources I’ve needed to cover the Life beat.

We’re nearing the end of WORLD’s June Giving Drive, and we’re hoping to go strong into the new fiscal year with the same kind of momentum we had last year.

So if you appreciate WORLD's coverage of abortion and other life issues, but haven’t given yet, would you make a gift today? Just head to wng.org/donate. Any amount can help make more stories like this one possible. Thanks.

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