This coming Saturday, June 24, marks the one-year anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in a tremendous victory for the pro-life movement. The decision sent the issue of abortion back to the states.

Immediately after Roe was overturned, pro-life trigger laws went into effect in several states. In Wisconsin, a law enacted before Roe that effectively prohibits doctors from conducting abortions in nearly all circumstances, immediately went back into effect. The sole exception permitted under the law is for situations where the abortion is deemed necessary to preserve the mother's life. Within days of the Dobbs decision, WI Attorney General Josh Kaul (D), filed a lawsuit challenging the enforceability of the pre-Roe law. That case is still pending in Dane County Circuit Court.

An initiative called #WeCount, led by the Society of Family Planning, presents a comparison of monthly surgically-induced abortion procedures conducted both at the national level and across different states, including 83% of known abortion providers. Recent data shows a drastic decline in abortions across the country.

Society of Family Planning reports that from July to December 2022, fewer than 10 abortions were performed in Wisconsin compared to the 590 and 610 abortions that were performed in April and May 2022 respectively prior to the Dobbs decision. Researchers estimate that there was a decrease of 3,540 surgically-induced abortions in Wisconsin during the six-month period following the Dobbs decision. If we extrapolate that data to this month, six months later, we have over potentially over 7,000 unborn babies saved and that number of women spared the trauma of abortion!

However, a growing number of women are turning to the extremely dangerous abortion pill in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Some assert that about 60% of all abortions in the US are now chemical abortions rather than surgical. For instance, abortions performed via telehealth have increased from 4% of all abortions to 11%. Even before Dobbs, it has been illegal to prescribe the abortion pill via telehealth in Wisconsin. But, we have learned that many women have been ordering this potent drug from places such as India, where quality control would be questionable at the least. This drug comes with significant side effects and risk for any woman who takes it.

The future of access to these pills is a national debate to keep a close eye on. Recently, the Biden administration's FDA authorized their sale through pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS. The next step for pro-lifers in the fight to end abortion is to share the truth about how dangerous and traumatic using these pills is for women and certainly for their unborn children.

Even with this sobering news about chemical abortions, the Dobbs decision has ultimately saved thousands of lives in Wisconsin and prevented life-long pain and regret for thousands of mothers here and around the country. This is a victory worth celebrating and thanking God for as we approach the anniversary of the Dobbs decision.