By Peyton Majors
Christian Action League
October 20, 2023
Pro-lifers across North Carolina are celebrating news that the number of abortions dropped after a 12-week ban went into effect and are calling for prayer that the rate will keep falling.
The data from the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute shows that there was a 31 percent decline in abortions across North Carolina from June to July, a timeframe that coincides with the July 1 implementation of the new pro-life law in North Carolina. There were an eye-popping 1,310 fewer abortions in North Carolina in July than in June, the data revealed.
Guttmacher’s data — though from a pro-choice group — has historically been trusted by pro-life organizations.
The new law prohibits abortion after 12 weeks of a pregnancy with exceptions for a medical emergency and for the life of the mother. It also makes exceptions for rape and incest through the 20th week of pregnancy.
The Christian Action League played a key role in passage of the bill. In addition to their lobbying activity, the League sent a letter to legislators urging them to back it and argued that pro-lifers were not selling out the pro-life cause if they voted for it. Pro-life legislators had wanted a more restrictive bill.
Rev. Mark Creech, the CAL executive director, wrote the letter, which was emailed and hand-delivered to each legislative office.
“When it is not possible to completely prohibit a social evil, it is both moral and effective to limit it as much as possible,” Creech wrote in the three-page letter prior to the bill’s passage. “When the ideal is beyond our power, it is moral and effective to seek the greatest good possible.”
Creech argued that an “all-or-something” approach is better than an “all-or-nothing” approach in trying to limit abortions. He wrote the letter at a time when there was uncertainty if there were enough votes to override a veto.
Roe v. Wade was overturned, he noted, thanks to an incremental strategy. For example, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization involved a Mississippi law that banned abortion after 15 weeks.
“This legislation is a historical opportunity in North Carolina to gradually reduce the number of abortions in our state,” Creech wrote of the North Carolina bill, SB 20. “We cannot afford to waste it.”
Creech said he penned the letter to rally support among pro-lifers. Lawmakers said it was critical in helping them come together.
“My concern was what might be done to help lawmakers struggling with their consciences see that this bill was not where we wanted to be, but it was still a historic opportunity to save as many lives as possible,” Creech said.
According to the latest statistics, it worked and lives are being saved. To God be the glory!
