OPINION:
Many states are battling abortion extremism. Massachusetts has become the 10th state, alongside the nation’s capital, to enact a law removing any gestational limit on abortion.
Although the fight for life has had many victories since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion on demand continues to put women in harm’s way, especially in blue states.
Against all odds, there is still room to make the case for life and limit extremism in these pro-abortion states. There, progress looks different, and states such as Massachusetts show why immediate abolition is a failing strategy.
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A culture shift is required, and good policy is an effective teacher.
Demanding immediate abolition of abortion and prosecuting women who violate pro-life laws cannot succeed in deep-blue states where abortion is radicalized. The same legislature that allows abortion on demand will not, even in a few legislative cycles, embrace complete abolition.
Abolition, not the prosecution of post-abortive women, remains the ultimate goal of the pro-life movement. Still, we must have a strategy that works regardless of the culture’s current extremism. That is why Americans United for Life is exposing extremism to turn the tide in blue states.
Pro-abortion legislators in blue states are fighting a losing battle against public opinion. According to Gallup, 70% of Americans oppose abortion being legal in the third trimester or after 28 weeks of gestation. Even in the second trimester, between 13 and 27 weeks of gestation, the majority oppose abortion.
In states such as Massachusetts, where abortion is allowed up until the moment of birth, it is the vocal minority, not the general public, championing this extreme legislation.
Many of these same states also allow for abortions based on the unborn baby’s sex or diagnosed disabilities. Polling from the Knights of Columbus/Marist in 2024 shows that 86% of Americans oppose abortion based on the unborn baby’s sex and 58% oppose it on the basis of a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis.
Effective education is key to addressing abortion demand in states such as these. The pro-life movement worked to overturn Roe v. Wade for nearly 50 years. We must now educate and persuade the public not to take the authority returned to the states in overturning Roe and use it to push an agenda of unlimited access that ignores the consequences of late-term abortion.
Other blue states are taking an equally extreme approach to abortion in the form of abortion shield laws that protect abortionists from criminal and often civil liability. These laws prevent state officials, including law enforcement, from assisting in investigations related to the pro-life laws of other states.
On Aug. 20, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed into law one of the most expansive shield laws in the nation. The legislation is among the first to include language mirroring the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Some pro-life groups are worried this will stifle their efforts on the sidewalk. The New Jersey law does not strictly prohibit sidewalk counseling, but pro-abortion state officials have historically been unfriendly to groups offering abortion alternatives.
A prime example is First Choice Women’s Resource Centers Inc. v. Davenport, in which the New Jersey attorney general issued a politically motivated, overreaching subpoena seeking the nonprofit’s private donor records. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with First Choice.
Targeting pregnancy centers is another issue on which blue states are losing. The 2026 Knights of Columbus/Marist poll shows that 84% of Americans support the work of pregnancy centers. Providing free services and material goods to pregnant women facing difficult life circumstances is not controversial; abortion advocates merely want it to be.
This is where we win. Pro-life groups cannot give up on our work in states that are unfriendly to life. We cannot let the divide between pro-life and pro-abortion states grow wide by our neglect, failing to engage where we are needed most.
It is time we take the battle to them, exposing the losing position of abortion extremism.
• John Mize is CEO of Americans United for Life, the nation’s leading anti-abortion legal advocacy organization. For more information, please visit https://aul.org.
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