But the cleavage in our society over abortion and related questions touching on respect for human life is deep and ominous, comparable only to the cleavage over slavery. In the way that we now look back on slavery, we hope that Americans of the next century will look back with deepest shame on the abortion regime of Roe . Twenty-five years is a long time in our political history, a short time in the human story. Many Americans refuse to recognize the horror of abortion on demand, many have gotten used to it, and a substantial number support it. Casey was right in saying that the American people are being tested by the regime of Roe , but the test is whether we have the decency and the will to overthrow it.
Elections are important to that testing.
It seems quite possible that the next President will appoint four Justices to the Supreme Court. Also important are fresh legislative initiatives at the state and federal levels, persistent activism, and unrelenting public education. And prayer without ceasing. The culture of death commands a formidable array of powerful institutions. With few exceptions, it has in its service the establishment media, the universities, the foundations, the corporate elites, the labor unions, the oldline churches, and, of course, the courts.