A Pastoral Letter in response to the NRLC's "The Status of Abortion in the United States: 2025 Edition."

July 2, 2025

To the faithful and to all people of good will,

With grave concern and unwavering conviction, I write in response to the National Right to Life Committee’s (NRLC) latest report, titled “The Status of Abortion in the United States: 2025 Edition,” published in June 2025. This report offers a clear and sobering assessment of the national abortion landscape in the post-Dobbs era — and its findings should awaken every conscience in America.

According to the report, chemical abortions now account for over 60% of all abortions performed in the United States. These drugs are increasingly accessible online, with dangerous consequences for both unborn children and vulnerable women. The report also highlights the surge of abortion “shield laws” — state measures designed to protect abortion providers from prosecution and obstruct interstate enforcement of pro-life laws.

Even more troubling is the report’s documentation of the rise in state constitutional amendments that enshrine abortion as a fundamental right — including efforts in Michigan, California, and Vermont, and similar movements now underway in several more states. Meanwhile, at the federal level, legislation like the Women’s Health Protection Act threatens to erase all state-level pro-life protections, while conscience protections for medical professionals and religious institutions face increasing hostility.

The NRLC rightly names this moment for what it is: a critical battle in the defense of human life.

But as a Catholic bishop, I must speak plainly and go further still. This is not merely a policy crisis — it is a spiritual revolt against the Author of Life. We are not simply witnessing legal maneuvering or partisan division. We are witnessing the fruit of a culture that has rejected God’s law and desecrated His image in the womb.

“No circumstance, no purpose, no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit… such as abortion.”
— Pope St. John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 62

“Every human being, even the child in the womb, has the right to life immediately from God, not from the parents, nor from any human society or authority.”
— Pope Pius XII

The NRLC’s report is invaluable in detailing where we are. But as the Church, we must proclaim where we must go: toward the total abolition of abortion, without exception, without compromise.

We must not become content with “reducing” abortions or regulating the methods by which they are committed. Every single abortion is an act of murder. Every abortion kills a child. And every law that permits it offends divine justice.

-To Catholic legislators: you cannot cooperate in any law or vote that expands or protects abortion — to do so is gravely sinful.

-To Catholic voters: support for abortion is a non-negotiable disqualifier. No cause, no party, no personality can justify complicity in the culture of death.

-To Catholic hospitals, schools, and institutions: do not cower before government threats. Stand firm. Refuse cooperation. Bear witness.

-To every mother who has suffered the pain of abortion: come home. The mercy of Christ awaits you. There is healing. There is hope.

This report makes it clear: the fight is not over. It has simply moved into new terrain. Shield laws, pills by mail, and constitutional amendments are the latest weapons. But our response must remain the same: truth without fear, mercy without compromise, and a Gospel of Life proclaimed without apology.

We entrust this work to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who carried the Christ child in her womb and appeared in defense of the unborn. May she intercede for our nation, that we may rise from this culture of death and become once again a people who choose life.

In Christ the King of Life,

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland