Editorial

We must continue building on the momentum to protect the unborn

It has been nearly four years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision returned the issue of abortion from the federal to the state level.

And while we are grateful the justices overturned Roe v. Wade—which had legalized abortion on demand across the nation in 1973—we know our work to protect unborn life is far from over.

Indiana is one of several states where a law abolishing most abortions is in effect (it was enacted in August of 2023), but other states sadly continue to offer abortion on demand, including three states that border Indiana.

While the ultimate goal is changing hearts so that abortion is unthinkable, our mission to protect human life does not end there.

“We must continue to support pregnant and parenting mothers in need and offer spiritual and emotional help to all who have participated in abortion,” said Toledo, Ohio, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in a statement marking the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade and in observance of the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children on Jan. 22.

The annual Indiana March for Life and associated events took place on Jan. 22 in Indianapolis, and coverage of those events will be featured in the Jan. 30 issue of The Criterion.

During the past five-plus decades, abortion nationwide has led to the loss of more than 65 million children and immeasurable harm to their parents and family members, Bishop Thomas noted.

But since the overturning of Roe in 2022, there have been several other pro-life victories.

“Most recently, at the national level, Congress acted heroically last year in largely defunding Planned Parenthood of federal taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile the administration has reversed several of its predecessor’s pro-abortion policies,” Bishop Thomas said.

“Despite these successes, human life is still gravely threatened by legalized abortion as it continues to be aggressively promoted at the state and federal level. Many challenges remain, including pro-abortion ballot initiatives, the increased use and availability of abortion pills, and the need to protect the Hyde Amendment to keep taxpayer-funded abortion out of national health care bills. … Our united prayers, sacrifices, and efforts to protect human life and heal the wounds inflicted by abortion remain as important as ever.”

In his first-ever New Year’s address to the diplomatic corps on Jan. 9, Pope Leo XIV told them that abortion “cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life.” He also defended marriage and the family.

The vocation “to love and to life,” the pope said, “manifests itself in an important way in the exclusive and indissoluble union between a woman and a man,” and “implies a fundamental ethical imperative for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life.”

He added, “Life is a priceless gift that develops within a committed relationship based on mutual self-giving and service.

“In light of this profound vision of life as a gift to be cherished, and of the family as its responsible guardian, we categorically reject any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development.”

The Holy Father told the diplomats that the Holy See “considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life, rather than being invested to support mothers and families. The primary objective must remain the protection of every unborn child and the effective and concrete support of every woman so that she is able to welcome life.”

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis offers Walking with Moms in Need, which assists pregnant and parenting mothers. Launched by the USCCB in 2020, the parish-based initiative helps women in crisis pregnancies choose life for their children, assist moms in need, and supports the ministries, organizations and agencies that provide services for these women.

Brie Anne Varick, director of the archdiocesan Office of Human Life and Dignity, said in a 2025 interview that Walking with Moms in Need “… shows that the Church is for the baby in the womb and also for the mom, that we love them both. That we want to help the mom choose life, but we also want to help her and her family after the baby is born. Helping them both has always been the Church’s pro-life mission.”

As we continue building on our pro-life mission, let us embrace these words Bishop Thomas shared:

“May we see the face of Christ in every single person, in every pregnant mother, and every child in the womb. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that every human life may be protected in law and welcomed in love, and that abortion may be unthinkable.”

—Mike Krokos