What Polish pro-lifers can learn from recent pro-life victories in the US

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Introduction

Polish pro-life advocates can draw strategic lessons from the encouraging trend of recent pro-life victories and campaigns in America. The United States (US) pro-life movement, notwithstanding intense legislative and social resistance from pro-abortion advocates, has attained a series of considerable victories in the past year. For Poland, a country with a strong Catholic history and pro-life heritage, the American pro-life landscape in recent months provides tangible and actionable lessons to better leverage on avenues for inroads to be made in pro-life policy and legislation as well as increase and maintain public support for the defense of unborn lives.

The Pro-Life Situation in the US (A Brief Overview)

For years, the pro-life movement in the US has experienced various brickbats to outright hostility (sometimes involving acts of physical violence) due to anti-life governments (such as the previous Joe Biden administration) as well as relentless lobbying by pro-abortion campaigners.

However, since Donald Trump took over as US President and nominated various pro-life staffers (in varying degrees) to serve in the new administration, the US pro-life movement has gained significant momentum in the fields of legislation and active grassroots work, achieving some newsworthy victories in the process.

US Supreme Court Rulings Defunding Abortion Mills

One of the most noteworthy pro-life achievements is the US Supreme Court decree backing South Carolina’s plan to defund notorious abortion provider Planned Parenthood. This landmark ruling reaffirmed that state and federal governments can legitimately limit abortion providers from obtaining taxpayer money, a formidable legal outcome following years of painstaking pro-life legal battles and advocacy.

The case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood, concerns South Carolina’s decision to withhold Medicaid tax dollars from abortion providers.

As reported by the Daily Citizen, the court case arose as a result of an executive order that South Carolina’s governor issued in 2018, which banned abortion clinics from participating in the state’s Medicaid program.

Planned Parenthood sued the state on behalf of Medicaid recipients, alleging that these recipients had a judicially enforceable “right” to select which qualified medical providers Medicaid should cover, including Planned Parenthood.

The central issue in this case lay in disagreements on whether the Medicaid Act’s language empowered recipients with a legal “right” to sue in court. The majority opinion of the Supreme Court said no because of vague language. According to the Court’s opinion, if Congress had intended for individuals to sue, it would have used crystal-clear “rights” language. In this case, Congress did not, the Court ruled, thus empowering states and Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Following this ruling, other states can refer to South Carolina’s law as a good illustration of how they, too, can defund Planned Parenthood at the state level.

Notably, this Supreme Court ruling defunding Planned Parenthood activists provides a useful template for Polish pro-life advocates and lawyers; crafting comprehensive legal strategies to face potential court challenges from pro-abortion advocates, as well as restricting public support and funding for abortion providers through regulatory and financial means, can dent the morale of pro-abortion advocates and even reduce the number of abortions performed. Additionally, the Kansas legislature overcame a gubernatorial veto to pass tax credits for pregnancy resource center donations. This victory can be attributed to constant and focused pro-life advocacy efforts, including the Kansas Catholic Conference’s testimony backing the Pregnancy Resource Act, demonstrating the potency of sustained advocacy efforts to incentivize donors to support pro-life efforts.

Strategic Alliances

Moreover, another major takeaway for Polish pro-lifers from the American context is the importance of building alliances to attain cultural and even legislative victories for the pro-life cause. For instance, the US decision to sign the Geneva Consensus Declaration alongside countries like Hungary, Uganda, and even Brazil, showcases the possibility and potency of inter-state cooperation to uphold the sanctity of life and family in the international arena. Strategically forging coalitions at regional and local levels among faith-based communities, pregnancy resource centers, as well as legal groups to lobby for pro-life laws and to gather resources for vulnerable and abortion-minded women, are likewise vital. Similarly, Polish pro-life advocates can benefit from the strategic establishment of local, regional, national, and even international alliances by working with religious institutions (such as the Catholic Church), medical boards, disability advocacy groups, and pregnancy resource centers in order to provide comprehensive levels of support for mothers and their children, as well as people affected with disabilities. By doing so, pro-life advocates can effectively debunk false allegations from pro-abortion supporters that the pro-life movement does not prioritize women’s well-being.

Education and Shaping Public Opinion

Even before Trump assumed his role in office as president for a second term, America’s pro-life advocates have for years tirelessly labored to educate the public about the sanctity and dignity of all human lives, amidst polarizing debates and hostile anti-life pushbacks.

By defending healthcare workers’ conscience rights, promoting adoption as a life-affirming alternative to abortion, and broadening resources for abortion-minded mothers through tax credits and welfare reforms, as well as associating pro-life advocacy to wider pro-family policies, pro-lifers can reach a wider audience and even gain potent allies in the form of lawmakers and donors in the process.

For instance, prominent pro-life organization Live Action, founded by pro-life advocate Lila Rose, has been assiduous in making educational videos like “Baby Olivia” demonstrating fetal development and how life begins at conception, the horrors of abortion, as well as the deceptive nature of the abortion movement. Also, according to its website, Americans United for Life stated:

“It is important to understand the reality of abortion: it ends a human life. Consider the impact of over 60 million human lives that have been ended. How many future presidents, sports stars, or cultural icons have been aborted? We will never quite know the impact of the reality of abortion because our potential as humans is so infinite. Abortion is not a simple medical procedure, but a life-changing decision that has significant consequences for women, their future families, and our society. In the United States, more than 60 million abortions have been performed since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973. That’s 60 million lives that were never given a chance to live and make a contribution to society. We believe that this is a tragedy that must be addressed. Americans United for Life works in advocating for pro-life policies and programs that provide alternatives to abortion and support for women and their families.”

With the rise in anti-life activism in historically Catholic Poland, Polish pro-lifers face an uphill task to promote the dignity of all human lives. Despite the odds seemingly stacked against them under the current anti-life Donald Tusk regime, just like their American counterparts, Polish pro-lifers should invest in robust pro-life educational initiatives that highlight the biological case that proves life begins at conception, testimonials of abortion survivors, as well as society’s ethical responsibilities premised on traditional Catholic teaching on life. Blending pro-life messaging with family, healthcare, and welfare reforms may likely yield greater social and political leverage—even under unfriendly political circumstances.

Concluding Thoughts

The American pro-life movement’s recent victories—defunding abortion providers, mobilizing millions, and providing sustained comprehensive support for mothers and children—show how persevering and resolute advocacy can influence even hostile pro-abortion environments. For Poles dealing with Donald Tusk’s pro-abortion regime, American pro-lifers’ hard-won victories provide actionable insights such as strategic policy solutions, grassroots support, moral courage, and hopeful optimism. As disheartening as Tusk’s abortion agenda in Poland seems, Polish pro-lifers can take a leaf from the American pro-life experiences and realize that the tide can be reversed if legal acumen, public witness (through reshaping mainstream narratives in favor of more pro-life stances), grassroots mobilization, and alliance-forging under the banner of traditional Christian pro-life values.

Angeline Tan is a Catholic journalist specializing in pro-life advocacy, politics, and sociocultural issues. With a background in international relations, she describes herself as “passionate about promoting the social kingship of Christ the King, Marian devotion, and the sanctity of all human life.” Her work has appeared in outlets such as Live Action, LifeSiteNews, AsiaNews, The Remnant, and Brussels Signal.