IS THE ROE HUMAN RIGHTS TRAGEDY ABOUT TO END?
As the words of Chief Justice John Roberts floated from the loudspeakers to the thousands of people huddled together on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday (through a livestream), the crowd grew silent as they realized the momentous significance of what they were hearing—and our urgent need to pray—as the Justices inside the building weighed the human life issues at stake in the biggest case on abortion in 30 years.
At issue is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case involving a lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s right to pass a law that bans abortion after 15 weeks and has the potential to eliminate abortion’s status as a “Constitutional right.” In his opening statement, the Mississippi Solicitor General gave a wrenching description of how Roe, and the sister case, Casey, continue to “haunt our country.” The rulings “have no basis in the constitution; they have no home in our history or traditions; they’ve damaged the democratic process. They’ve poisoned the law," he said. "Nowhere else does this court recognize a right to end a human life.
Those words resonated deeply with the Family Foundation team as we’ve watched Roe wreak its havoc for decades on our own Commonwealth. That’s why we made it a priority to be at this rally in person, joining with thousands of other concerned citizens in prayer and to speak up for life. It’s also why we joined with Concerned Women for America in getting “life rider” buses of people to the nation’s capital for this key moment—including the Family Foundation/CWA bus from Richmond, buses leaving from Burke Community Church and Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg—and many others we don’t even know about! Then there were the 21 buses full of Liberty University students who led crowds in spontaneous worship.
But the question remains: Will the Roe haunting finally come to an end? A majority of the Justices’ questions seemed to bode well for at least a serious reduction of high court protections for unlimited abortion, or even a more complete dismantling of Roe and Casey. But as I pointed out in my interview with Lifesite News (watch below), even if Roe is dismantled there will be plenty of work to be done because the issue will then return to the states.
While reversing Roe would directly lead to more than 20 states outlawing virtually all abortions, it will also open a new front in the battle to eliminate abortion in the remaining states, including Virginia. Visit the After Roe website to see the status of each state in a post-Roe America and hear my thoughts on where we stand in Virginia.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this thought: The rally also made tangible the very real spiritual forces at play: Even as Christians prayed together on the steps of the Supreme Court, tragically, there were others in the crowd who chose to celebrate the destruction of human life by taking chemical abortion pills together in unison (watch that disturbing video here). It’s an important reminder of the spiritual realities at the heart of these cultural clashes—and of our very urgent need to pray, not only for the women in that video who apparently took those life-ending pills, but also for the Justices who will now have all the spiritual and cultural forces brought to bear attempting to persuade them from doing anything but protect life. But we believe, in the end, truth will prevail, if we do not give up—as Candi Cushman, our Vice President of Grassroots and Communications Strategies, shared at the Court (watch below).
Stay tuned for information on the next Virginia March for Life this spring! And thank you again for your continued prayers and support!
