Beyond Dobbs: It’s Time to Empower Women with Truth, Not Tragedy

Three years ago, the Dobbs decision returned the question of abortion to the American people. It was a long-overdue correction to decades of judicial overreach, but the legal debate was never the whole story.

The deeper battle has always been cultural. For far too long, women have been forced into a false and heartbreaking choice: keep your child and sacrifice your future or end the life within you and preserve your freedom. That is not liberation. That is a crisis disguised as a choice and it’s time we call it what it is.

Behind the curtain of “reproductive rights” lies an industry built on fear, silence, and profit. Women in the throes of crisis are offered not empowerment, but urgency. Not care, but isolation. Not truth, but a carefully marketed illusion that termination equals freedom. That’s not healthcare. That’s manipulation. And women deserve better.

The central question after Dobbs isn’t simply whether abortion is legal in all 50 states. The deeper question is this: What kind of society are we building for women in crisis? One that walks alongside them with support and compassion or one that exploits their pain for profit?"

At the America First Policy Institute, we believe that when women are fully informed, truly supported, and treated with dignity, not pressure, they overwhelmingly choose life. That belief is the foundation of the HOPE Agenda, a bold policy framework designed to restore what our nation promises to every woman and child: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Built on four foundational pillars: Health, Opportunity, Prosperity, and Empowerment, the HOPE Agenda goes beyond rhetoric. It redefines what real care looks like.

Health means more than access during a medical crisis. It includes continuity of care before, during, and after birth. That includes emergency and routine care, mental health support, and other support services for both mom and baby. In 2023, more than 63% of all clinician-provided abortions in states without bans were medication abortions, highlighting a growing trend toward solitary, anonymous pills in the mail with no follow-up and no oversight. That’s not comprehensive healthcare. In a culture that values life, care must be continuous, compassionate, and complete.

Opportunity means no woman should be forced to choose between motherhood and her future. In 2023, over 169,000 women crossed state lines to obtain abortions, which is double the number from just three years prior. That’s not freedom. That’s a failure of proximity and support.

Prosperity addresses the brutal truth: most abortions are driven by financial desperation, not preference. According to Guttmacher Institute, 41% of abortion patients live below the poverty line, and another 30% are barely above it. HOPE demands policies that provide real aid: affordable childcare, parental leave, workplace protections, and housing stability.

Empowerment restores the roles of fathers, employers, and families. More than half of abortion patients are already mothers, women who know what’s at stake and are often facing it alone. We must hold fathers accountable, safeguard pregnancy in the workplace, and equip families, especially parents of teen girls to stand beside their daughters in love and truth.

This Friday, Margo Nicholas, Senior Policy Analyst for American Values at AFPI, will brief Members of Congress and their staff on the HOPE Agenda. Her message is simple: “We can't legislate a woman's choice, but we can legislate support that makes choosing life the best and most empowering option. The HOPE Agenda is how we stand with women, not over them.” And she’s right.

It’s time to replace panic with peace, coercion with care, and propaganda with policy rooted in reality. Women deserve to be seen, heard, and supported—not sold to. That begins with medical transparency, honest information about risks and procedures, and comprehensive post-abortion care for those already harmed by the system.

We must also revitalize adoption as a meaningful, respected, and supported path, not as an afterthought, but as a courageous, life-affirming decision. Reasonable safeguards like parental consent and gestational limits are not barriers but protection found within common-sense policies that affirm the seriousness of these decisions and preserve family involvement.

Because in the end, the so-called “pro-choice” model offers no real choice at all.

Real empowerment looks like truth, not silence. It looks like care, not coercion. And it looks like honoring women not as liabilities, but as life-givers.

As women of faith, we know that choosing life is not always the easiest path. But with the right support, it is the most powerful one.

So, on this second anniversary of Dobbs, we extend a cultural challenge, not just to lawmakers, but to every American:

Let’s reject the lie that we must choose between women and children. Let’s build a nation where both thrive. Let’s lead with hope. Because every woman deserves to be truly free.

And every child deserves a fighting chance at life.

Stacey Schieffelin is the Chair of the America First Women’s Initiative, Senior Advisor for the Center for the American Worker, and Director of Talent & Culture at AFPI.

Deven Wallace is the Co-Pastor of Redemption to the Nations Church and Founder of True Choice in Chattanooga, Tennessee.