Looking Back and Peering Forward

Last week we celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case, whereby the court struck down Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs outcome is a huge victory for the pro-life movement. The precedent of Roe enshrined the right of abortion at least until the point of fetal viability – about the 24th week of pregnancy. Yet in practice, Roe kept abortion legal until the moment of birth. Therefore, even in parts of the country where people oppose unrestricted abortion, Roe always stood in the way. The pro-life movement was unable to achieve any legal protections for unborn children. Now at long last the dam has burst. Many conservative states have already implemented legislation significantly limiting abortion.

In this blog, I would like to address both the past and the future. We shall begin by looking back. How did we finally arrive at this glorious moment when Roe v. Wade has been swept away? And what can we learn by reflecting on what has transpired?

One lesson that I’d like to focus on is this: we must never forget that Christians have a solemn responsibility to engage in the political process. The evil which afflicts our world is not simply a matter of wayward individuals; injustice is often bound up in our corporate structures. In other words, evil frequently magnifies itself by corrupting our institutions: our government, courts, schools, and businesses. If we are truly committed to working on behalf of God’s kingdom, we cannot limit ourselves to engagement purely on the private, individual level. Rather, Christians must confront injustice within our public institutions, and that means stepping into the rough-and-tumble world of politics.

Of course, this is not to say that every Christian needs to run for elected office. God calls his people into all kinds of service. Certainly not everyone is cut out for political life. However, every Christian does have a responsibility to stay informed and to vote. We ought to faithfully support those who are advocating Christian values in the public sphere.

Christian engagement in the realm of government and politics pays rich dividends. Elections have profound consequences. This was especially true for the Presidential election 2016, when Donald Trump faced Hilary Clinton. Despite his obvious personal flaws, millions of evangelical Christians cast their ballots for Trump. Many of these voters explicitly told pollsters that their vote depended largely upon potential Supreme Court nominations. Trump took the unprecedented step of unveiling a list of potential nominees – conservative judges who would rule based upon the law as written in the U.S. Constitution. It goes without saying that the Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would never have happened without the fortitude of Donald Trump. In the face of bitter and unrelenting opposition, he made good on his campaign promises.

Many others deserve huge credit for the Dobbs victory, not least the Supreme Court Justices themselves who had the courage to strike down Roe despite massive efforts by the political left to threaten and intimidate them. We should be thankful too for the thousands of Christian politicians who continue to advocate for unborn children despite facing constant slanders and opprobrium.

Let’s now turn to the future. How can Christians continue to most effectively advocate for a culture of life and human flourishing?

Following the Dobbs decision, Democrats immediately flew into a nationwide rage. The Democratic Party is now overwhelmingly committed to the radical position of supporting unrestricted abortion at any time during pregnancy. (I hasten to mention the only two honorable exceptions: Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas.) In recent days, the Democratic Party and their media allies have launched a relentless series of attacks against the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. With the exception of Manchin and Senator Krysten Sinema of Arizona, every single Democratic Senator now supports packing the Supreme Court and ending the filibuster.

President Joe Biden recently announced his own intention to circumvent the Senate filibuster in order to codify Roe into federal law. This is the same man who for decades expressed strong support for the filibuster, calling it “one of the pillars of American democracy.” (During the Trump presidency, Democratic Senators employed the filibuster over a record smashing 300 times.) But don’t worry, Joe doesn’t want to eliminate the filibuster completely! Biden only wants to skirt the rules for his own party, while leaving them in place for his political opponents. Biden’s bizarre position would be funny if it weren’t so sad. These developments clearly demonstrate that the Democratic Party is quite willing to destroy the democratic institutions which stand in the way of their policy goals.

Meanwhile, prominent Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has launched an all out assault on pro-life pregnancy resource centers. For Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren, the “right to choose” clearly does not include the right to keep your baby nor even the right to give your child up for adoption. Rather, the right to choose exclusively means “the right to choose to have an abortion.”

Senator Warren recently announced, “With Roe gone, it’s more important than ever to crack down on so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ that mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care. We need to crack down on the deceptive practices these centers use to prevent people from getting abortion care, and I’ve got a bill to do just that.” Warren’s legislation would threaten to levy huge fines against resource pregnancy centers which promulgate “disinformation” regarding abortion services. Her bill fails to define what would qualify as disinformation, thereby leaving the definition in the hands of government bureaucrats. What would be an example of such “disinformation”? One pro-abortion organization investigated pro-life resource centers and accused them of deceiving women by referring to the fetus as a “baby” and telling women that they were “mothers”! This is but one example of how the abortion industry twists the truth into lies.

Elizabeth Warren’s intentions are clear; she would unleash the power of the federal government to harass and persecute crisis pregnancy centers with the ultimate goal of putting them out of operation. Senator Warren apparently cannot countenance any competition with her beloved abortion clinics. She and other Congressional Democrats have even pressured Google to favor search results for abortion providers and suppress results for pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.

In truth, it is pro-life pregnancy centers which present women with the full range of their options. There women learn about adoption agencies and receive assistance in working their way through the adoption process. Thanks for generous donors, a whole range of practical assistance is provided including baby formula, diapers, cribs, blankets, infant clothes, toys, car seats and anything else you might imagine. Sometimes this assistance comes simply in the form of badly needed emotional support and encouragement. Moreover, crisis pregnancy centers continue to support women throughout their pregnancy and oftentimes well beyond the birth of their child.

Meanwhile, it is abortion providers who railroad women into having an abortion. Consider Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion provider. In 2020, Planned Parenthood performed 354,871 abortion compared to only 2,667 adoption referrals and 8,626 cases of prenatal care. Based on these numbers, 97% visits of Planned Parenthood resulted in an abortion.

Pregnancy resource centers have been an amazing triumph for the pro-life movement. Many on the left falsely claim that Christians are only ‘anti-abortion’ and not truly ‘pro-life.’ This is a dark lie. There are over 3,000 pro-life centers operating across the country. These centers are highly effective; women who visit are substantially less likely to choose abortion. One study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates that over the past 5 years, pregnancy resource centers have saved the lives of 828,000 unborn children! You might think that all American’s would rejoice to see women getting the care and support they need. But Elizabeth Warren and her fellow Democrats are enraged by the success of pregnancy resource centers; they are now working feverishly to snuff out their existence.

So let’s return to our question: how can Christians continue to advocate for life in the future? First, if God has given you passion for women facing unplanned pregnancy, get involved in a pro-life pregnancy resource center. These centers are staffed by many thousands of volunteers who daily share God’s love with women (and families) in crisis. Second, stop voting for the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is wholly committed to the evil of abortion on demand. Moreover, the Democratic Party has thoroughly embraced an entire array of policies which are inimical to Christian faith and human flourishing. Their ideology rejects the wisdom of God and will only bring about misery. Finally, and most importantly, let’s commit to praying for the issue of life. Let’s pray that God would move in the hearts of our nation. Let’s pray for those courageously struggling in the public, political world on behalf of Christian values. And let’s even pray for those people who have been deceived by the evil one on the issue of abortion. For if God can change the heart of Saul, who was “breathing out murderous threats against the church,” why can’t he change the heart of Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi?