The week started out with many commemorating the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today, people will march in our nation's capital to uphold human dignity of a different kind. While King was the face of the civil rights movement, it is unlikely the pro-life movement will ever have a single representative but if they do, it will likely be the face of the anonymous woman who's had an abortion.
The pro-life movement, much like King's for most of his life, has been marginalized. If you doubt this, consider the lack of coverage of previous March for Life events which have drawn hundreds of thousands to Washington D.C. And whenever there is an attack on an abortion clinic, the media are quick to imply the perpetrator is representative of the entire movement.
King dealt with similar challenges but his nonviolent response to the fire hoses and police dogs won the moral high ground. The demeaning of the personhood of an entire race gripped the nation's conscience and segregation slowly gave way to integration and civil rights protection. We celebrate his courage to today.
Yet, pro-lifers don't have the emotional advantage of a visible class being abused and mistreated, that is, until last summer when undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress revealed executives of the nation's largest abortion chain dealing in body parts like automakers deal in chassis and bumpers. This grisly conspiracy uncovered gave the nation a glimpse behind the curtain of a secretive industry. It was the pro-life movement's equivalent to hooded Clansmen burning a cross in the public square. That fetal remains were recently discovered in Ohio landfills drew an investigation and dealt another blow to the abortion lobby.
The curtain abortion proponents are hiding behind is fraying and their explanations are ever so hollow. Public sentiment appears to be changing. A recent survey by Marist Polling found that 60 percent of Americans view abortion as morally wrong and 81 percent of Americans say abortion should be restricted to the first trimester of pregnancy and only allowed in extreme cases. The survey also found that only 12 percent of Americans support abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy. This astounding change in the attitude toward abortion has largely been accompanied by the post-abortive women who've come forward with their stories and the pain they've carried with them. I work with three of them. All have come out of the shadows in recent years and share their story of pain and eventual healing.
Pain, guilt, and emotional baggage was something the the U.S. Supreme Court didn't factor in when struck down every state law that protected life in the womb 43 three years ago today. The good news is that in the last five years, there have been over 280 pro-life laws passed in various states across the U.S. But sadly, Kentucky was not in the mix. In fact, pro-life legislation has been killed in the Kentucky House for the past 12 years. This session could be different. On Wednesday, the Kentucky state House sent a signal they're finally embracing pro-life legislation after passing a procedural vote on the informed consent bill that requires the abortionist to actually meet in person with the woman before executing any procedures. It's a start. Yet Kentucky has a long road to travel to restore the sanctity of life.