The past year brought with it a long-sought-after victory for the pro-life movement: the overturning of Roe v. Wade . The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, giving states the power to set their own abortion regulations, has ushered in a new era in the fight for life.

There is much to celebrate in this new era. Already, more than a dozen states have passed pro-life policies to restrict abortion . The result is that thousands of lives are being saved. Within two months of Dobbs, for example, legal abortions nationwide had dropped by 6%. It won’t be long before you start to see and interact with that 6%. After all, they’re not just numbers or faceless fetuses — they are children, valued human beings, members of society who will one day take part in this experiment of self-government that gave them the chance to live.

There will also be many new challenges in the years to come. State restrictions on abortion still face a number of legal hurdles, and even if they make it out of the courts, it’s not at all clear whether they’ll survive the electorate. The November midterm elections made it clear that voters have little appetite for the abortion debate and tend to support whichever side will make them think less about it, hence why in every state where abortion was on the ballot, voters soundly rejected any effort to restrict it.