This time, pro-life companies across the country are poised to combat pregnancy by defunding Planned Parenthood, restoring required safeguards on the contraception pill, challenging free-speech cushion zones, and more.  ,
Pro-life advocates are convinced that some significant cases will result in lower funding for abortion providers this year and regaining legal protections for the unborn.
The largest grassroots pro-life organization in the world, 40 Days for Life, stood up an enhanced legal arm, the Institute of Law and Justice ( ILJ), in Aug. 2023 to address increasing aggression against pro-lifers. The ILJ has so far lost no situations and is referring one to the Supreme Court.
Big scenarios include 40 Days for Living v. County of Westchester, a match against Westchester County, New York, to reform its 100-foot buffer zone against pro-life activists ‘ freedom of speech. In response to the lawsuit brought by the state, the state repealed its immoral legislation, knowing that the Supreme Court would stop buffer zones nationwide. However, 40 Days for Existence is advancing the case against the remaining immoral ordinances that restrict free speech.
The Westchester situation is one of several contentious buffer zones that the Supreme Court will hear before deciding whether to reject restrictions on the right to free speech around abortion locations. Turco v. City of Englewood, New Jersey and Coalition Life v. City of Carbondale, Illinois are just two examples.
In a lawsuit brought against the Department of Justice and Pennsylvania state and local law enforcement for forcefully arraign and arrest Houck on bogus claims in September 2022, the group is also bringing legal action against the pro-life recommend Mark Houck and his relatives.
In direct contravention of national laws that prohibit unlawful social activity by tax free organizations, ILJ filed two issues against Planned Parenthood for campaigning in a second case.
According to Matt Britton, ex-ilJ board member ex-officio and general counsel,” two Missouri Planned Parenthoods provided and advertised direct support to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the Sarasota Planned Parenthood allowed its services to be used for multiple day electioneering work for the Harris plan, setting up mobile banks, and placing Harris/Walz indicators on the building.”
Other Matters pending before the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is also looking into whether Medicaid dollars can be used to fund Planned Parenthood in the South Atlantic case Medina v. Planned Parenthood, which could redirect these funds to actual medical care for women.
In the cases r noopener”>Matsumoto v. Labrador and Welty v. Dunaway, the issue of abortion tourism, which has arisen as a result of state variation in legal abortion since r noopener”>Dobbs overturned Roe, will also be addressed in the courts this year. With parental consent or involvement, this may have an impact on the trafficking of pregnant minors across state lines.  ,
State Action
Major changes at the state level reshaped abortion law in America following Dobbs. Twelve states have banned abortion, and six more limit the procedure to under 6-12 weeks gestation. According to Bradley Kehr, Americans United for Life government affairs director, the abortion industry’s response was to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in ballot initiatives and deceptive messaging, but it was insufficient to persuade Americans, according to Bradley Kehr, the industry’s response.
Kehr is optimistic that more states will follow suit in 2025 after the success of protecting against the risks of chemical abortion, as Louisiana did last year.
” Finally, states are promoting the good work of pregnancy care centers”, Kehr said. This includes recognition and various funding channels. AUL believes this is critical to ensuring expectant mothers get the prenatal, delivery, and post-natal care they and their families need”.
Defund Planned Parenthood
According to Shawn Carney, president and CEO of 40 Days for Life, defunding Planned Parenthood should be the resounding call of all pro-life advocates in 2025. ” As Planned Parenthood goes, so goes the abortion industry in our country” . ,
The abortion behemoth received$ 750 million in taxpayer dollars during the Biden administration, accounting for a third of its massive budget.  ,
” According to their own reports, true medical services constitute a negligible portion of their operations”, Kehr said of Planned Parenthood. Federal action can be taken to ensure that these resources are used effectively by redirecting this funding to community health centers.
The Trump Effect
The first presidential election since Roe‘s overthrow was a massive failure for abortion advocates.  ,
” Kamala ran on abortion … and wasn’t going to apologize and that really backfired”, Carney said. ” You really saw that with the Catholic vote,” you said. Trump won the Catholic vote by , 9 percent in 2024, compared to 1 percent in 2020.
Promising to defund Planned Parenthood was a Trump initiative in 2017, and Vice President J. D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have both publicized this as a priority. Americans must remain vocal and hold elected officials accountable, Carney said.
” The pro-life movement is one of the few movements]Trump ] listened to in his first term”, Carney said. ” I don’t think he did anything we didn’t want him to do”. If Elon Musk is going to cut government spending, Planned Parenthood is “low-hanging fruit”, Carney added.
Chemical Abortion
As the number of chemical abortions reaches record highs, the FDA’s removal of safeguards for chemical abortion pills continues to be a thorn in the side of pro-life advocates. The Trump administration should reinstate basic, commonsense regulations, Kehr said.
According to Carney, the most significant grassroots initiative is the promotion of alternatives to abortion outside of Planned Parenthood facilities.  ,
Life advocates should continue to pray, march for life at the local or national level, petition Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, peacefully protest abortion centers, and support local pregnancy centers, Carney said. ” These are the five things we need to do in the first 100 days of 2025” . ,
Ashley Bateman blogs for Ascension Press and writes for The Heartland Institute about policy. Her work has been featured in The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, The New York Post, The American Thinker and numerous other publications. She previously held positions as editor, writer, and photographer for The Warner Weekly, a publication for the German-speaking American military community in Bamberg. She previously held positions as adjunct scholars for The Lexington Institute. A Catholic homeschool cooperative in Virginia has Ashley on the board. Along with her brilliant engineer/scientist husband, she homeschools her four amazing children.
