Despite all of this lack of tangible success, many in the pro-life movement insist it is succeeding. It is as if they no longer believe they can win the argument that abortion should be illegal, and so they shift the goal posts to merely “limiting abortion.” In this way, pro-life leaders seem to think they can show that they are winning the argument.
People who argue we ought to stand firm on our convictions and not settle are deemed idealistic, as if ending abortion any time soon is unrealistic. If I were cynical, I might say pro-life organizations have a good business model. Are they interested in winning the argument and rendering themselves unnecessary? Are they trying to win the argument for life? How could we tell, given their track record?
It is as if the pro-life movement lacks, well, life. It is as if many pro-lifers have accepted defeat and no longer believe in even the justice of their cause. They say they do, to be sure. The individual right to life is the cornerstone of the movement, they say. But like movement conservatism, the people in the pro-life movement appear to have become too comfortable in their role as beautiful losers, happy to pat themselves on the back for their moral purity while failing to question methods that have so far been shown rather ineffective.
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