My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

After 43 years of legalized abortion in the United States following the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade on Jan. 22, 1973, those who are involved in the pro-life movement might feel discouraged that greater progress has not been made to outlaw the killing of unborn babies, but we should not relent in these efforts to protect all human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Even when the law has not been changed, it is important to remember that moving from a culture of death to a culture of life involves changing hearts and minds, not just changing the law.

In this regard, we can take heart from the progress that we are making. As detailed in the 2016 National Right to Life report, The State of Abortion in the United States, recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that the annual number of abortions continues to decline. The most recent CDC report, released in November 2015, found that in the 47 jurisdictions that volunteered data, there was a 4.2 percent drop in the number of abortions from 2011 to 2012.

The news here in Illinois is even better. Abortions in Illinois declined for the sixth straight year in 2014, reaching the lowest number since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, according to data released this past Dec. 22 by the Illinois Department of Public Health. In 2014, Illinois abortion facilities reported a 5.6 percent drop from the previous year. The most significant drop was abortion rates among girls under age 18. In 2014, the abortion rate for minors fell by almost 28 percent, or about 500 fewer abortions. This decline in the number of minors having abortions is due in large part to the fact that 2014 was the first full year that the Illinois Parental Notification Law was enforced. Abortion advocates fought persistently against the Illinois Parental Notification Act of 1995, but after almost 20 years of legal battles, the law finally took effect in mid-2013 after the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed it. The law requires that a parent or guardian be notified at least 48 hours before a girl under the age of 18 has an abortion.

The New York Times reported last Sunday that many doctors refuse to perform abortions in Italy, where the procedure has been legal for the past 30 years. The article reports that 70 percent of gynecologists — up to 83 percent in some southern regions — are conscientious objectors to the law, and do not perform abortions for religious or personal reasons.

Nevertheless, significant challenges and opportunities remain. The videos that exposed the harvesting and trafficking of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood underscore the urgency to defund that organization and the need for enactment of some very important pieces of legislation: the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. Twelve states have passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would generally protect unborn children from abortion beginning at 20 weeks fetal age (the start of the sixth month), based on their capacity by that point, if not earlier, to experience excruciating pain. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of the bill on May 13, 2015, by a vote of 242-184. However, Senate Democrats blocked consideration of the bill in a nearly party line 54-42 vote in September (60 votes were needed to take the bill up for debate).

During the spring state legislative session, Kansas and Oklahoma became the first two states to enact legislation prohibiting abortion by dismemberment. On Sept. 15, 2015, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) introduced the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act (H.R. 3515) for Congressional consideration.

Another proposed federal law, the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) would affirm the principle that no health care entity should be forced by government to perform or participate in abortion. Unfortunately, Congress failed to include ANDA in its omnibus funding bill, which was signed by the president on Dec. 18.

During the coming year, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will be 78, Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy will be 80, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be 83. Those numbers suggest that the next president of the United States is likely to get two, perhaps three, and possibly four, nominations to the Court. This creates an opportunity, unprecedented since the wrongful decision of Roe v. Wade, to make significant advances in rebuilding the structure of legal protection for human life from conception until natural death in the United States. Voters will need to keep this in mind when voting for the next president who will make these nominations and the senators whose advice and consent will be required to confirm them.

During this Holy Year of Mercy, may there be an outpouring of repentance for the sin of abortion, a thirst for divine pardon, and firm resolve to end this terrible disgrace.

May God give us this grace. Amen.