Unless you have been living deep in a cave or vacationing somewhere without cell phone service you have undoubtably heard the hysterical rantings of pro choice advocates afraid that the Supreme Court is close to overturning Roe v. Wade. A leaked draft of a case currently before the Supreme Court has most court watchers certain that there are enough votes to overturn Roe and that an announcement will be coming very soon. If that happens the tensions that have been festering between pro-life and pro-choice advocates will reach nuclear level.
Since the Politico’s report of the leaked draft, multiple churches and pro-life advocacy organizations have been burned, looted and vandalized by abortion extremists. The Justices who are believed to be supporting the draft have had their homes surrounded by noisy protestors in violation of the law. Outraged pro-choicers have been threatening on social media to storm the Supreme Court, burn it down, and kill the Justices and their clerks. Liberal pundits have been in a panic and have been spewing lies to their viewers or readers to fire them up to a higher level of hysteria.
Despite the high level of panic from outraged abortion advocates, this ruling would not mean the end of abortion in this country. It would become an issue for each state to decide for themselves. You can expect pro-life leaning states to pass laws restricting abortion or banning it completely. Pro-choice states will continue to offer abortions, with many of them allowing it up until the minute the baby is born. The fight to defend unborn life in our nation will be far from over. And it is a fight we must continue to fight.
There are a number of scriptures in the Bible that Christians quote in defense of their pro-life stance. But to non-believers, quoting the Bible has little impact on their pro-choice beliefs and our Christian beliefs usually fall on deaf ears. Instead of trying to win the abortion argument with our words, let’s try a new approach and win them over with our actions.
We must never forget that we are not just dealing with the life of the baby in the womb. We may be dealing with people who have had abortions in the past and for whom the current debate opens old wounds and a feeling of shame. We also may be dealing with people who are not in our churches but who are watching the national debate carefully. They are watching the pro-life Christians who hold up signs in front of the abortion clinics. And they are afraid of what is coming next. Most of them have grown up with Roe, and abortion is a way of life for them.
As followers of Jesus it is important to remember that these women are precious in God’s sight. And rather than repel them, we must find ways to reach them. Did not God Himself reach out to us when we had no interest in Him at all?
Let’s remember to talk about forgiveness and redemption when we engage in discussion about abortion. We could very well miss an incredible opportunity to reach out to a community riddled with fear and full of distrust of those who profess to be Christians. Instead of a message of judgment we should send the message that God loves them.
Christians should always respond with compassion. If more children are now put up for adoption, we should be the first to provide them with loving and welcoming homes. If desperate mothers are in need of a job, a ride to doctor’s appointments, money, housing, food, or diapers, we should be the first to meet those practical needs. If their children need babysitters, friends, or male role models, we should be eager to build a Christ-like community around them.
We should strive for a world in which a woman has barely read the positive result on her pregnancy test before the thought crosses her mind that there is a Church or a Christian based pregnancy care center in her neighborhood that will be able to help.
Yes, we must make the case for life and expose the evil of abortion. But we must also do our best to befriend and reach out to those who differ with us, showing them a better way. We must continue to do our best to cultivate a culture of life, from the womb to the tomb but do it within a message of love.