The Persisting Threat of Nuclear Weapons: A Brief Primer
by John Whitehead The anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings mark 77 years since the only wartime uses of nuclear weapons. We should be profoundly grateful that such weapons have never been used again in this way to date. Yet our increasing distance from the bombings carries a risk with it. As the nuclear…
Abortion: A Restorative Justice Response
by Jim Hewes This is a response to the question of what states will now do after the Dobbs decision when women procure illegal abortions. There was a joint letter from more than 70 leading pro-life organizations stating that “criminalizing women who have abortions is not pro-life.” Many pro-life leaders and politicians have publicly stated…
Post-Roe Stats: the Natural Experiment
by Rachel MacNair Rachel notes: On April 7, 2026, I went through the predictions below published on July 19, 2022; Dobbs was decided June 12, 2022. I update the information on how Questions 1 and 2 turned out, since the documentation is clear. For the remaining three questions, it’s still too early to tell. All…
Unholy Trinity: The Terrible Consequences of the First Nuclear Test
We publish this in observance of the upcoming anniversary of the test. by John Whitehead The nuclear age began when the United States conducted the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. That day, years of work by civilian and military personnel involved in the Manhattan Project culminated in a…
Reaching Out Needs Compassion
by Sarah Terzo We consistent life ethic supporters can become frustrated with those who commit acts of violence. But we must reach out to them with compassion. Harsh words only further entrench them. Here are two examples. The Trauma of a Soldier One example is that of a veteran named Don, who was…
Post-Roe Life-Affirming Help
by Rachel MacNair Now that we can refer to the Roe era in the past tense, we have some different considerations for building a Culture of Life (and a Culture of Peace, which I see as the same thing). Abortions Going Down A commonly expressed fear in the media is that abortions can only be…
Major Obstacle Removed!
We’ve marched and educated and advocated, and finally it’s happened, as of June 24, 2022: months shy of 50 years, the United States courts will now allow citizens to influence abortion policy without judges telling them they can’t. The work ahead is huge, but at least it now has the chance to be more effective….
Must We Resign Ourselves to Violence?
by Julia Smucker Once while taking a graduate-level test in cultural anthropology, I had a revelation of sorts. In the class, we’d been discussing what’s revealed when different cultural values come into tension. The test essay question went something like, “What would the repeal of motorcycle helmet laws say about American cultural values, and how…
Buy the Time to Make Peace: Seeking a Cease-Fire in the Ukraine War
by John Whitehead The Ukraine-Russia war recently passed its 100-day mark. In those 100 days, the war has killed huge numbers of people (precise numbers are unclear) and displaced millions. The war also still threatens to cause harm beyond Ukraine’s borders, whether through a broader conflict between Russia and the west or through an international…
In Defense of Detachment: The Different Approaches to Protecting Lives
by John Whitehead A commitment to the consistent life ethic is a commitment to protect people’s lives against violence or other threats. This essential commitment is present among all varieties of consistent life advocates and their different approaches to the ethic. Sometimes, though, consistent life advocacy can involve a more personal, concrete, and emotional type…