Originally published in Newsweek on June 22, 2023.
Last June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and reversed nearly 50 years of precedent protecting the right to an abortion. Nearly one year later, Pope Francis called for an end to "the era of fossil fuel."
The papal encyclical points to a moment of unexpected opportunity. The Dobbs decision represented the hallmark victory for the pro-life movement, a movement that has shaped conservative voting patterns for decades, and in many ways, contributed to the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Yet with this judicial victory, the anti-abortion pro-life movement may be winding to an end—and with it, its stranglehold on voting patterns for much of the conservative base.
Perhaps environmentalism can become the next "pro-life" movement.