Lately, the pro-life movement has experienced several setbacks — most recently in Ohio, where our efforts to stop an extreme abortion amendment to the state’s constitution ultimately came up short. This may dishearten some. But as I rewatched the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life with my family the other night, I was struck by certain parallels between it and the current battle for life in America.

Those who have seen the film will recall that Potter is a crotchety old miser who lacks compassion for his neighbors and accumulates wealth at their expense, while George Bailey is a man of “high ideals” who gives up his dreams to be a voice for Potter’s victims. Bailey’s trust in the unseen, the potential of his neighbors, is what propels him to tirelessly invest in families’ lives and futures.

But Potter never relents. He continues to swarm Bailey with doubt and insists that he “wake up” and realize that no one needs or even wants “his kind of help.” What people in the town need is the kind of fix that only Potter can provide, he claims. Thankfully, George Bailey realizes that his faithful service has created joyful, blessed lives for generations of families.

And that brings me to where we are today — to America after Roe. We are, as ever before, cleareyed about the realities on the ground. We see abortion activists, just like Potter, wield excessive wealth and power (more than $66 million was spent by the pro-choice movement in Ohio alone) to push radical policies that cost children their lives and mothers viable solutions. Our modern-day Potters view the mother’s pregnancy — the child — as the problem. And they do not recognize abortion as a symptom of a larger societal rot, one that would rather push a woman to terminate her unborn child over the systemic change and safety net support she’s looking for.

I acknowledge our movement has seen some discouraging electoral defeats in recent months. But in the spirit of George Bailey, who was able to see the good through the tough, I’d like to present some pro-life wins.

Since the Dobbs decision, a new study shows that more than 32,000 unique lives have been saved in pro-life states. Today, nearly half the country, 24 states , have pro-life laws that serve mothers and protect babies in the womb by at least 12 weeks. This was unimaginable under Roe v. Wade, as every state was forced to have late-term abortion policies, despite poll after poll showing that most people want abortion limited by 12-15 weeks .

And despite all of the violence hurled their way, pregnancy resource centers have remained steadfast in providing financial and physical resources to mothers in need. More than 2,700 centers nationwide in the last year have provided $358 million worth of services and material support to women and their children, all at no cost to them. And these centers operate with the mandate of the public, at a 91% approval rating . They are what make it possible for women such as Rachel, who was given the choice by her boyfriend to either abort her twins or be homeless, to have a future for her family.

I believed Democrats in the '90s when they said abortions were unwanted. As pro-lifers, we know this to be true: most women don’t want abortions . But today, that same group tells me that abortions must be available on demand.

We can’t let our country be blinded to the actual needs of women and their children. And we can’t let the knee-jerk reaction to push women to abortion drugs and surgery as a quick fix win out over the harder work of serving them when they need help the most.

As we navigate these sobering times, it is good to reflect on the words of Clarence, Bailey’s guardian angel. “Each man’s life touches so many other lives,” Clarence says. “And when he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” Imagine a world where there was no one fighting for babies in the womb or a world with no pregnancy centers helping mothers in need. Where would that leave us?

Like George Bailey, it’s our responsibility to show our modern-day Potters that we will never back down while lives are on the line.

This Christmas season, instead of giving in to discouragement, let’s continue building a culture of life by using our talents with the same zeal and promise that George Bailey discovered when he realized what a profound impact his life had on generations of families.

Emily Osment is the vice president of communications for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.