Less Demand

Although I was very late to finish the special issue on ending Roe (November 29), I still offer a thought for others to consider. I saw many pieces on why and how abortion is abhorrent, and one piece, “Let’s Just Make This Work” (Kathryn Jean Lopez), that dealt in detail with groups offering serious alternatives to abortion. What I did not see, but would like to, is a discussion of how to reduce the incidence of abortion in the first place. Most pro-life groups focus on reducing the abortion rate by reducing the supply; I would like to see both pro-life and pro-choice groups work on reducing the demand.

Reducing the demand (the incidence of unwanted pregnancy) would be a twofold effort. The first part would involve working with young people — tweens, teens, and young adults, female and male alike — to give them a sense of agency, of responsibility for their own lives, of a purpose and vision of their futures.

The second part would be to support better contraception and better access to it: better products, more readily available, at better prices, with a more informed public.

This kind of work is doubtless more difficult, and less self-satisfying, than advancing brilliant legal and ethical arguments or marching on the steps of the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, if we really want to deal with this divisive issue rather than just fan the flames, we need to direct our energies on both sides into making abortion unnecessary.

A. J. Pepper

Decatur, Ga.

Kathryn Jean Lopez responds: Thank you for the note — you are so right that there is so much more to discuss about the practicalities of helping young people see what beautiful things they are made for.

My piece was just a little window into the world of pro-life work. And yes, much of it was frontline, which is also often triage work. Building a culture of life needs to start much sooner than when there is a pregnancy. That’s part of the reason I mentioned the Sisters of Life and their ministry to women of all faiths and no faith. Their charism is about letting people know they are loved. That they are not alone and that their lives have meaning. And the Sisters do that work in schools and in parishes and youth rallies — wherever the opportunity arises and in specific mission territories. It’s about much more than pregnancy. Again, they also provide just a glimpse into what a multifaceted pro-life movement should look like.

About contraception: It’s not the magic solution it would seem. I think you would be interested in the work of one of our other authors in the “End Roe” issue, Erika Bachiochi, and another friend of NR, Mary Eberstadt. Contraception tends to increase risky sexual behavior among younger people, and abortion is used as a backup. So many young girls don’t even know they can say “no.” I’m not even talking about abstinence here, but a healthy sense that there’s more to a relationship than sex. But as you suggest, we will keep covering these issues, and in the most practical of ways.