One Year Post Dobbs

There are so many hot topics to discuss – Hunter Biden’s slap on the wrist, the credible allegation that Joe Biden took a bribe as VP, the Ukraine war, COVID lies and the silencing of RFK, Jr., inflation and the economy, and closer to home in Illinois - outmigration, illegal immigrants costing millions, and mass gatherings turning into murder scenes.

But, you see, none of those issues seemed to matter when it came to the 2022 election or 2020. According to the pundits, it was all about abortion. Not war, not the economy, not a weaponized DOJ or the “expert” class that shut down schools, mandated shots that didn’t work, and shuttered the economy.

If that’s the case, then on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, let’s look a bit more in-depth at the topic.

First, there has been no more consequential decision to American politics in the last 5 decades than the Supreme Court decision in 1973 that for nearly 50 years enshrined abortion as a right in the United States.

The next most impactful decision, on the lives of the unborn and politics, was the Dobbs decision in 2022 that reversed Roe and sent the abortion issue back to the states.

Since 1973, nearly every political candidate (and now even local candidates) is asked by the media or at many voters’ doors their position on abortion. In many cases, an answer one way or the other, will be the basis for the voter’s support, even in races where the elected office can have no impact on the decision.

The political implications for candidates from the Roe decision go back to the first presidential election following the decision in 1976. The New York Times wrote in a September 21, 1976, article:

The delicate, divisive, complex and intensely personal subject of abortion has, somehow, exploded into the first major issue of the Presidential campaign.

This was the contest between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. At that time, both candidates held virtually the same position only differing on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the issue.

President Ford has said that he is personally opposed to abortion on demand and favors abortion only in limited cases, including conception that endangers the mother's life or that is a result of rape or incest. He said that as President he must enforce the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that forbids states to ban abortions. But he has come out in favor of a constitutional amendment that would overturn that ruling and return to the states the option of drawing up their own abortion laws.

Jimmy Carter, the Democratic candidate, has also said that he is opposed to abortion except in limited cases and is also opposed to Federal spending on abortion. Mr. Carter's position departs from Mr. Ford on the issue of a constitutional amendment, which the Democratic nominee has said repeatedly he will not support, whether for state option or other remedies. But Mr. Carter appears to have equivocated somewhat on this position by saying that he would not oppose others seeking a constitutional amendment.

Twenty years later when Clinton won the Presidency, both he and Hillary, continued to discuss abortion in similar terms as Carter using the phrase “safe, legal, and rare.” (At Breakthrough Ideas, we pulled a clip of Hillary saying this and put it in an ad. You can view it here.) Not anymore. Democrats aren’t allowed to be anything other than fully pro-choice. In Illinois, former Congressman Dan Lipinski knows this. He was liberal on every issue, but he was pro-life and so his party targeted him and took him out of office in a primary for his pro-life stance.

According to the National Right to Life organization, over the last 50 years, there have been an estimated 63,459,781 abortions.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention reports that the majority of women who have an abortion are educated, in school, in their 20s, already had one child, were low-income, and were Christian. Black women have the highest percentage of abortions according to multiple studies.

Polling on abortion has for years shown that the majority of Americans want abortion to be legal. A majority also want it to be limited (63% - first-trimester limit), a majority oppose taxpayer funding of abortion (58%), and even more, believe parents have a right to know if their daughter is seeking an abortion (72%).

But not Democrats in Illinois. Over the last five years, and unfortunately, with the help of Bruce Rauner, they have pushed Illinois into becoming the Mid-West capital for abortion and shown not one ounce of moderation on the issue. Last year, they revoked parental notice of abortion, the first state in the nation to do so.

Since the Democrats insist on making abortion the only issue for which to judge a candidate, then let's discuss how extreme their positions are on the topic.

Let’s start out by taking a good look at this map provided by State Rep. Brad Halbrook. Illinois is the Mid-West capital for abortion and a growth industry in Illinois.

Planned Parenthood says Abortion is Up 54% in the last year.

They are intentionally setting up shop in towns near the Illinois border because they know surrounding states are putting limits on abortion,

Here are a few other things you should know:

• Illinois Budget includes $18 million for an Abortion Hotline to direct women where they can go to kill their babies. That’s $50,000/day. A total waste of money.
• In the first six months after Democrats required Medicaid to cover elective abortions, the number of abortions paid for by taxpayers jumped a staggering 1,758% according to Illinois Department of Health data. Updated data was unavailable.
• Minors can now receive a surgical abortion from a non-doctor, paid for by the taxpayer, in a clinic that is not held to the same standards as other medical facilities, without their parent’s knowledge.
• Another bill on the Governor’s desk requires colleges to stock the morning-after pill in vending machines.

And SHOCKINGLY, a woman told a large group of us that UIC is providing housing for women seeking an abortion. She wrote a more detailed email to me stating:

On August 15, 2022, all incoming 1L students at UIC Law had a one-hour discussion with Professor XXXXXXXXX…During this discussion, she stated that UIC was providing housing for any woman seeking an abortion in Illinois.

How many of you thought our university dorms would be used to house women, likely from out of state, that are seeking an abortion? This is extreme. There are a couple of State Reps that are looking into this information as the lady mentioned it during a Q&A session at their town hall.

The anniversary of the Dobbs decision has spurred numerous articles on the topic. USA Today had a long, detailed article that focused on Illinois and specifically Carbondale. Carbondale is a town of about 18,000 and the home of Southern Illinois University. Prior to 2022, it hadn’t had an abortion clinic since 1985. Now it has two and another one is expected to come in. As a border town, and one with AMTRAK service to Memphis and New Orleans, it attracts women seeking an abortion from surrounding states. Here is a map that was in the article:

A few poignant details are important. The article also mentioned:

• “By May (2022), after ramping up over months, Alamo and Choices together were scheduling about 20-30 women each day, with 95% from out of state – making Carbondale the emerging haven of access that clinic operators had envisioned more than a year earlier.”
• “Planned Parenthood of Illinois, which operates in various locations, saw numbers of out-of-state patients rise to 30% from 6%.”
• “By the end of March, in the first five and a half months they were open, Choices had performed just over 1,400 abortions, reaching an average of about 400 a month, the largest numbers of women coming from Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.”
• “Though rising each month, it’s just 75% of the surge that Pepper (she runs Choices abortion clinic) predicted – likely a function of the newness of the location, greater use of abortion pills via telemedicine, unpredicted preservation of abortion access in some states and the struggle to reach distant clinics, she said."

Choices only does abortions up to 12 weeks. In the article, it said to see a doctor and get the first pill of mifepristone for an abortion costs $600. Surgical abortions cost more. Doing the math, it means Choices had revenue of at least $840,000 in its first 5.5 months in Carbondale. THIS IS ALL ABOUT MONEY TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD.

It is doubtful that women coming for an abortion in Illinois know that abortion “clinics” in Illinois are not inspected or licensed. Even though they perform invasive surgeries, they are not required to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital in the case of a medical emergency resulting from an abortion. Surgical centers across Illinois, that are licensed and inspected and run by professional staff and doctors must have admitting privileges.

There is no doubt that women will suffer serious medical complications from abortionists practicing in Illinois. There is already anecdotal evidence coming from Indiana hospitals that such medical complications are occurring from botched abortions in Illinois.

Do Illinoisans really want abortion legal through all nine months for any reason and taxpayer-funded?

In Illinois, the Democrats in charge have taken us to the most permissive abortion laws in the country. That is not the way most people feel about the issue.

Every state that limits abortion has an exception for the life of the mother. Nearly all, if not all, states that have gestational limits on abortion also have an exception in place in the cases of rape or incest. Many want exceptions in the cases of severe abnormalities where the baby doesn’t live. I addressed that issue in this opinion piece in 2015. It is important to note that the women highlighted in the USA Today article, all sought abortions for purposes other than rape, incest, a deformity. The article notes that they didn’t want the baby or felt they couldn’t take care of the baby. Statistically speaking that is usually the case.

Yesterday in Chicago there were dueling rallies on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision. According to a Chicago Tribune article, “The pro-abortion rights gathering featured speakers from Stop Trans Genocide, the Gay Liberation Network, and Chicago for Abortion Rights. “One year later, and our rage is still raw,” said Nora Dolan of Stop Trans Genocide before the crowd. “One year later, and we’re all still here.”

The militant way in which so many on the Left look at abortion shows the moral depravity of the pro-abort movement. There is zero effort to make “safe, legal, and rare.” Abortion is nothing to celebrate it – but with loud boisterous applause and high fives that is how they greet every law that furthers abortion in Illinois. This photo is from the signing of the 2019 Reproductive Health Act, photo credit to the Chicago Tribune.

Every abortion results in the killing of a human life. It is not a celebratory moment.

Here’s a story of a mother who chose life even though she was the typical woman who chooses abortion, at college, not in a permanent relationship, and not the right time in her life. Our Everyday Mamas: Monica Aberle | Everyday Mamas Monica’s son is an amazing young boy – smart, cheerful and kind – I know because he is my great nephew.

There are people conceived in rape. They are just as human as anyone else. Check Ryan Baumburger and the good he is doing. Ryan was conceived in rape and then adopted. Radiance Foundation Home - The Radiance Foundation illuminate. educate. motivate.

Let the Democrats talk about abortion. I’ll talk about Life.

Listen to my podcast I did with Mary Kate Knorr on this topic: