Many people fighting against abortion believe the key to changing the culture's stance on abortion is in fighting the laws that permit it.
While it is important to work for laws that truly reflect human dignity and protect human life, beyond the level of law is the culture itself.
What truly needs to happen is to touch the hearts of all with the Gospel message. And a key element of that in regard to abortion is a bold proclamation of the beauty of sexuality as it was meant to be.
Liberating view of sex
Pope Benedict XVI highlighted this approach to the abortion issue when speaking to the Bishops of the United States in 2012:
In this great pastoral effort there is an urgent need for the entire Christian community to recover an appreciation of the virtue of chastity. The integrating and liberating function of this virtue (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2338-2343) should be emphasized by a formation of the heart, which presents the Christian understanding of sexuality as a source of genuine freedom, happiness, and the fulfillment of our fundamental and innate human vocation to love.
He also didn't think winning arguments would accomplish much in the long run:
It is not merely a question of presenting arguments, but of appealing to an integrated, consistent and uplifting vision of human sexuality. The richness of this vision is more sound and appealing than the permissive ideologies exalted in some quarters; these in fact constitute a powerful and destructive form of counter-catechesis for the young.
In this strategy, Pope Benedict XVI followed his predecessor, St. John Paul II.
It shouldn't be a surprise that one of the hallmarks of St. John Paul II's pontificate was the presentation of what is called the Theology of the Body. Far from offering a condemning view of sexuality, the Theology of the Body presents a truly "liberating" view of sex in the light of the Gospel.
When we see the beauty of how God made us, male and female, and how he created us for an intimate union with him, we discover a path to freedom.
Without this "formation of the heart," the general populace will never truly appreciate this human-dignity centered vision of sexuality.
It's why we need more places like the Theology of the Body Institute, which offers courses that help train both catechists and everyday folks in the life-changing teaching of the Gospel.
While we certainly should fight for legislation to limit abortion, the culture will never change until people have an authentic encounter with who they are created to be.
