Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, there have been significant developments for both the pro-life and pro-abortion sides. In one regard, leaving abortion matters up to the individual states has saved over 30,000 babies from being killed in their mother’s womb. On the other hand, at-home and out-of-state abortions have grown in number as well.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research and policy organization, “[T]he proportion of patients traveling to other states to obtain abortion care has doubled in recent years, reaching nearly one in five in the first half of 2023, compared with one in 10” from before Roe was overturned. In 2022, Guttmacher reported that at-home abortions “accounted for 54% of all abortions” in the U.S.
While the Dobbs decision was a major victory for pro-life advocates, the fight is far from over.
A recent study revealed that support for abortion has increased up to 10% among Christian colleges since 2021. Additionally, the results showed at least one in 10 of these Christian colleges have maintained a relationship with Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion business in the country. These connections include programs for the students of these Christian colleges to do internships with the abortion giant.
The study was conducted by Students for Life of America’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement, and they evaluated 767 different Christian-affiliated colleges and universities. However, for many, the fact that these results were reaped from Christian schools is even more concerning than the results themselves.
The report stated “the growing number of Christian school administrations, health centers, and professors willing to compromise biblical values by promoting a known abortion vendor … or by making direct, public statements in support of abortion” is surprising. It continued, “With Christian administrators losing sight of the biblical principles that formed the institutions they were hired to safeguard, schools across the nation have misled students, families, and donors.”
And with the rise of progressive Christianity, experts continue to point out that there is an increasing exchange of biblical truth for worldly ideas. “These developments are discouraging,” Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, shared with The Washington Stand. “But I think we can be glad the number isn’t higher,” she added.
As Kilgannon warned, “This issue of the degradation of Christian universities is a very serious one” and “maintaining order in an established institution is a challenge because Christians are always under spiritual attack and Christian institutions are too.” But to “maintain our Christian identity and values,” she urged, “we have to stop abandoning our assets to these forces and fight.” She added that steadfastness is the only way to ensure these biblical values are imparted to future generations.
To explain some of what lies behind these study results, Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at FRC, shared with TWS, “Since the Dobbs decision, we are learning more and more that not everyone who said they were pro-life actually was.” She added that this has been demonstrated at the ballot box as well as on campuses.
She continued, “If we want to create a society where women and children thrive, we have to demand that our education spaces and our workplaces be reimagined to include mothers who are caring for their children. Becoming a mother and receiving an education should not be mutually exclusive — especially not on Christian campuses,” Szoch insisted.
Both Kilgannon and Szoch discussed the significant effort that’s needed to uphold Christian values in academia. As Szoch put it, “A rise in affiliation with Planned Parenthood demonstrates that some Christian campuses don’t want to do the hard work of supporting their pregnant students or creating an environment that welcomes a woman in her totality — including her ability to have children.”
Kilgannon explained that the fight “will be difficult work with no glamour at all. But if we don’t want this number to be higher next year, we need to get involved — express your views, pull donations, offer to serve on boards, run for office.” She concluded, “All of our oldest and most prestigious institutions were founded as Christian schools or seminaries. That fact is nearly lost to history. Let’s hope and work to make sure in our time we don’t allow the same.”
Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.
