Every Person Has a Right to Life

It was 49 years ago that the United States Supreme Court made one of their most influential and controversial decisions to date, legalizing abortion in all fifty states. Roe v. Wade (1973). was a landmark decision in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The decision struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws and fueled an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether or to what extent abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. It also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication. The debate still continues today: are you pro-life or pro-choice? As believers, we consider ourselves to be pro-life. To be content with the murder of lives forming inside the womb is unimaginable. But being pro-life is more than being anti-abortion… Being pro-life must be a way of life. The pro-life ethic doesn’t allow us to see the vulnerable as burdens, it requires that we see them as image bearers of a holy God. Being pro-life means championing, celebrating, and fighting for life. It means valuing all human life, particularly the lives of the vulnerable who need our protection. Being pro-life means welcoming refugees. It means opening our hearts and homes to orphans and children in foster care. It means caring for and celebrating those with special needs and genetic differences. It means protecting the lives of the unborn and promoting adoption as an alternative to abortion. It means fighting against human slavery and sex trafficking. Being pro-life is about so much more than just being against abortion. It means protecting, defending, caring for, and loving the vulnerable. It means living and loving like Christ. People are vulnerable for many different reasons including age, race, disease, disability, imprisonment, and poverty. Pro-lifers don’t see these people as burdens; we see them as bearers of God’s image and therefore valuable. We care for them while honoring their inherent dignity. We value the vulnerable not because of what they can do but because of whose they are. This Saturday, Christians around the world ­will mourn the innocent lives lost since Roe v. Wade was decided. It’s an opportunity for us to act on our beliefs in new and bold ways. Perhaps you’ve said you’re pro-life, but you’ve never really done much about it. Perhaps you’ve wondered how God really feels about the whole debate, and you have never really spent time in prayer about it. Perhaps you’ve considered pro-life to be simply an abortion issue, nothing more. Wherever you are in your faith journey today, you are invited to spend time in prayer, asking the Lord to show you his heart for his creation and show you how you can follow him faithfully in the midst of today’s culture.