A life spared by abortion law: Reflecting on the VP’s historic Planned Parenthood visit

The recent visit by Vice President Kamala Harris to a Planned Parenthood facility in Minnesota has been called a historic first.  While many in the pro-choice movement celebrated this milestone, for those of us who hold a pro-life perspective, the event felt more shocking than inspiring.  It certainly underscored the deep divide in our nation over the fraught issue of abortion rights.

Last year’s Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the question of abortion’s legality to the states, was the correct ruling from a constitutional perspective.  Regardless of one’s personal views on the morality or politics of abortion, the regulation of the practice is not an enumerated power found in the United States Constitution.  Such lawmaking and regulation therefore belong with the individual states.

The Dobbs decision did not ban abortion nationwide, as some of its critics claim.  Rather, it affirmed that individual states have the right to set their own policies on the matter through the democratic process.  Voters and their elected representatives, not unelected judges, now have the power to determine the laws governing abortion in their jurisdictions.

While I disagree with the policy choice, as a staunch constitutional conservative, I respect the right of states like Minnesota to enshrine expansive abortion access if that is the will of their citizens.  What I find more troubling is the tone of unalloyed triumphalism from some quarters of the pro-choice movement in response to actions like Vice President Kamala Harris’s clinic visit.  Is there no road too low when celebrating “firsts”?

Even staunch abortion-supporters like former president Bill Clinton once emphasized that the procedure should be “safe, legal, and rare,” acknowledging the gravity of the issue and the unpleasantness of the decision in even the best circumstances.  Turning abortion provision into a celebratory cause feels like a betrayal of this “rare” aspiration, which recognized the fundamental moral quandary involved.

On a personal note, I can attest that abortion laws have profound impacts on real lives — like my own.  I was adopted as an infant in 1963, at a time when abortion was still prohibited in my home state of California.  Had abortion been legal at the time, my birth mother later admitted to me that she would have terminated her pregnancy rather than carrying me to term and placing me for adoption.

Abortion was legalized in California in 1967, four years after my birth.  California became one of the first states to liberalize its abortion laws when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Therapeutic Abortion Act.  This law allowed abortions in cases where the pregnancy posed a substantial risk to the woman’s physical or mental health, as determined by a licensed physician.  In my birth mother’s case, thankfully for me, she would likely not have qualified for an abortion under that act.

The landmark Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 created a constitutional “right” out of thin air and made abortion legal nationwide throughout all stages of pregnancy.  This ruling overrode individual state laws and made abortion legal in all 50 states, including California.

In the post-Roe era, California has continued to be one of the states with the most liberal abortion policies, with few restrictions on the procedure.  In 2002, the state Legislature passed a law guaranteeing the right to abortion, and in 2023, following the Dobbs decision, California voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion in the state.

I’m deeply grateful for the 60 years of life I’ve enjoyed, including 38 years (and counting) of marriage to my beloved wife, two precious sons, and three delightful grandchildren.  None of these blessings would have come to pass had my mother been able to access legal abortion.  I shudder to think of the joys and relationships I would have missed.  And for what it’s worth, our country would not have had my 27 years of service in uniform, or the 25 years and counting of service provided by my sons.

I share this not to condemn my birth mother, who faced a difficult situation, or to bash the state of California for now permitting what it once prohibited.  I simply invite reflection on the profound impact these laws and decisions can have.  Every life is infinitely valuable, and there are ripple effects of these choices that extend far beyond the individual.

As our nation continues to grapple with the weighty issue of abortion, let us resist the temptation to treat it as a political football or fall into a celebratory mindset around its prevalence.  May we rather approach this topic with the moral seriousness, empathy, and care it deserves, working to craft policies that affirm the dignity of all human life while extending understanding and support to those facing unexpected pregnancies.

Willis Keith is a pseudonym for a retired U.S. Navy captain with over 27 years of active-duty naval service.

Image: Mobilus In Mobili via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).