Now is decidedly not the time to press on with incremental bills that chip away at abortion around the edges. It is time for the ax to be laid at the root of the tree.
UPDATE: On June 24th, 2022, Roe vs Wade was overturned by a 6-3 majority decision in the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health case, sending the issue of abortion back to the states.
The groundbreaking news of the week of May 2, 2022, was the unprecedented leak of a draft of what would be a majority decision by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health case. The decision is written by Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The content has unleashed a firestorm. In no uncertain terms, Alito calls not for moderation or modification of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, which regularized abortion in the United States—to the tune of over 60 million dead babies in the five decades since—but for an unapologetic overturning of both Roe and the 1992 decision which re-affirmed it, Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, referring to Roe as “egregiously wrong from the start.”
Although this is but a draft and is neither official nor final, the fallout has already begun. Pro-abortion activists are rabidly calling for federal legislation to codify the “right” to abortion into law, while conservatives are rejoicing over what they see as a long-overdue victory. Indeed, this initial decision is cause for modest celebration—the reversal of Roe has long been a chief goal of the pro-life movement—however, Christians must continue to think biblically and engage actively in this fight, which remains very far from over.
Were honesty to prevail (a notion that is nothing if not laughable in modern politics), then everybody who has been involved in the abortion battle, on both sides of the aisle, would acknowledge that from the beginning, Roe was simply a bad decision and a 98-page refutation was not necessary to prove it. Yet that is what Alito has given us. While this decision does nothing to criminalize, ban, or even mitigate abortion, it will function to expose who the cowardly conservatives are regarding abortion and who the consistent conservatives are.
Over the past several years, a minority of pro-life voices have called for the criminalization of abortion at the state level. In the last two years, bills of equal protection to this effect have been introduced in various states, including Pennsylvania; however, these bills—rooted in the biblical principles of justice such as impartiality and proportionality—have largely been met by the Republican and Pro-Life establishment with staunch opposition. One of the go-to arguments by conservatives who favor an incremental approach to ending abortion is that the hands of the states are simply tied due to the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe.
This excuse ought never to have carried the currency that it did; from the start, states should have ignored Roe for the unjust, unconstitutional, immoral, illogical, and illegitimate decision that it was. In any case, whatever excuse existed during the tyranny of Roe is no longer a factor. Conservative-run states no longer have any cover to hide behind for their lack of urgency in establishing justice for the pre-born. Roe being overturned is a blow to the pro-abortion militarists, and we must acknowledge it to be such, yet if this groundbreaking decision is to be truly meaningful and impactful, what must follow immediately is a wave of states outlawing abortion entirely and calling it what it is: murder.
As Christians, we do thank God profusely for the very real answer to prayer that this decision is; yet our petitions before the throne of grace cannot end. Indeed, now is the time for our prayers to become even more fervent, desperate, and bold. Whether or not the drafted decision changes before it is officially handed down is essentially irrelevant—the die has been cast. Roe is illegitimate, and not even a flipped decision in which it is affirmed will restore its previously enshrined status in the Supreme Court canon.
Now is decidedly not the time to press on with incremental bills that chip away at abortion around the edges. It is time for the ax to be laid at the root of the tree. The left is busy carrying its radically wicked worldview to its logical end, with the United States Senate ready to vote on a largely symbolic act that would allow, by law, the killing of the unborn until essentially the moment of birth. It is time for the side of truth, justice, and righteousness to be just as consistent. Christians must bring pressure to bear against our state legislatures, calling for them to end, immediately and without exception, the willful, premeditated murder of the unborn through abortion.
There is no more pretense. There can be no more excuses for turning a blind eye to this atrocity. Abortion is a national sin that demands repentance, and repentance is not simply acknowledging guilt but requires a reversal of course. Admitting the error of Roe is not enough; it is now time to bear the fruits of repentance by pushing back hard against abortion in the name of the King, Jesus Christ.
We cannot afford, in out battle to undo the legalization of elective abortions, to ignore the lessons taught to us by the parable of the two men praying (Luke 18:9-14). It was the Pharisee, not the Publican, who failed to recognize his own sin. And thus when we compare ourselves with our pro-choice counterparts, we want to always remember that it was the Publican who found favor with God.
The term Pro-Life implies a deep concern for a number of issues that significantly affect the lives of people. Unfortunately, many Pro-Lifers have restricted the use of that term to just the abortion issue. And in doing so, they are able to pray and speak like the Pharisee from the parable of the 2 men praying while ignoring their own stances on other real Pro-Life issues that do not live up to the term ‘Pro-Life.’
Thus, what we find when we look at those in both the Pro-Life or Pro-Choice movements are many people who have mixed bag Pro-Life views and practices. And that should drive each of us to pray the prayer of the Publican on a regular basis in each day of our lives.