Pro-life protesters attend annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, D.C. (Screenshot)

In 1973, the Supreme Court believed it had resolved the abortion debate, but decades later it’s clear the court failed to settle the issue. Why? Abortion runs contrary to the laws of nature.

Abortion remains as controversial as ever as shown by tens of thousands coming to Washington every year to the March for Life, marchers overwhelmingly young and happy for whom it’s more of a celebration than a political demonstration.

Polls have shown a steady rise in “pro-life” sentiment over the past two decades, even while “pro-choice” numbers fall.

After 51 million children have been legally aborted in this country, and the coarsening effects on society that have followed, Americans are ready for some meaningful limits. According to a Marist poll this month, 63% of Americans would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. And 92% of Republicans and 61% of Democrats want “significant restrictions” on abortions.

Why has the pro-life movement gained momentum? Well, science mostly. Black-and-white ultrasounds are now the first pictures parents put up on the fridge, a daily reminder of the humanity of the unborn child.

The partial-birth abortion debate a decade ago forced the discussion out of the realm of political platitudes and onto the subject of humanity. Trial transcripts were published, and the horror of this late-term abortion method was brought into the minds and the conscience of a nation.

In just the past seven years, more than 400 pro-life laws have been passed in states across the nation.

And every year on the steps of the Supreme Court, on the Roe v. Wade anniversary, the crowd of women holding signs that say “I Regret My Abortion” grows larger.

More Americans are coming to believe what America’s first feminists believed: That abortion is “the ultimate exploitation of women.”

No court can change the truth that a society that respects life is a safer and stronger society.

Tony Perkins is Family Research Council's fourth and longest serving president, joining the organization in August of 2003.