Why the Dobbs Decision is Good
This is my response to the Dobbs Supreme Court decision that was rendered last Friday. There are a lot of voices out there that are warring for our hearts and minds about this issue, so I thought the least I could do is give you the opinion of your pastor to help you navigate how to think and speak about this challenging issue.
If you haven't heard, last Friday the SCOTUS ruled on the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization case 6-3 in favor to uphold the Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Court then used this opportunity to further vote 5-4 to overrule the 1973 Roe v Wade and 1992 Casey v Planned Parenthood decisions (which basically legalized abortion in this country for any reason for all 9 months of pregnancy) on the basis that the constitution does not codify the right to an abortion. The details of the Roe and Casey cases are a lot, but I encourage you to watch this short video from the pro-life group Live Action on the true story behind Roe v Wade. It's very informational and you will better understand why that decision was made 50 years ago. As for the Dobb's case, you can read the court's rationale here.
Now what happens is the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives. Essentially it becomes a state issue where now state legislatures have the authority to pass laws to restrict abortions, which had been the way it worked until Roe in 1973. In the coming months and years, around half of the states in the union are expected to have laws in place to completely or partially restrict abortion. The question ultimately is: was this Dobbs decision a good one? I'm going to make religious and non-religious arguments why this was a good decision.
Religious argument:
From a Christian's perspective, our guiding light is God's word, the Holy Bible. It was written by man, but it's also holy, infallible and inspired by God. The beauty of it is that it provides answers to many of life's questions: Who is God, where did we come from, why is there pain and suffering, what is the meaning of life, what is our purpose, where do we go after we die, etc. Ultimately it points to the good news of Jesus Christ and our need for a savior (and to be made new).
The Bible doesn't explicitly refer to the term "abortion", but it does address murder (which is any unjust killing of human beings) and speaks to life in the womb. Here's a list of verses to support this. On top of that, Proverbs 24:11-12 tells us to fight for those who are unjustly sentenced to die. That's where the Christian pro-life movement gets its motivation to fight. God wants us to stand up for all injustice (as revealed in the Bible). Racism is injustice, mistreating poor people is injustice, and killing human beings in the womb is another example of injustice -- in fact it's the greatest injustice of our time.
Jesus said in John 10:10, "the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give life and life abundantly." Think of it, Jesus is in the life-giving business, not taking it away! That's why he came to die for us -- to give us the opportunity to have our sins wiped away and live! God created those babies to have the chance to live and know him; to bear his image and shine for him. Abortion is not only an immoral killing of innocent life, but also contrary to the message of the Bible and the good news of Jesus.
Thankfully, the evangelical church is pretty unified on the this issue, and has been for centuries. An anonymous letter to Diognetus in the 2nd century described what Christians were like even back then. One quote writes,
"They live in their own countries, but as aliens... They marry and have children, just like everyone else; but they do not kill unwanted babies. They offer a shared table, but not a shared bed. They pass their days on earth, but as citizens of heaven. They obey prescribed laws, but go beyond the laws in their own lives."
It's when churches stop preaching the born-again message (and the seriousness of sin and holiness of God laid out in the Bible) that you get more support for the pro-choice ideology. I just saw one of those so-called "Christian" churches in Minneapolis with gay pride flags all around their building to celebrate pride month. We have a few of those type of churches in the Duluth area, too. They preach a perverted message of Jesus' love that encourages people to live how they want live without the need to become born again and truly live for God... Which we understand will open their life up to sin, possibly pre-marital sex, which could result in unplanned pregnancy, which is where the problem of abortion comes from in the first place. God's true Church should always have compassion on those with unplanned pregnancies, but never condone a life of sin or the sin of abortion. Instead we fight for the right to life for those babies.
It’s no surprise we Christians in the pro-life movement are pleased with the Dobbs ruling. We think this is an important step in protecting God-given life. However, we would like to see it go further. We hope that abortion will become illegal in every state and unthinkable in the hearts and minds of all people (I would add except for life-of-mother cases... I can elaborate on that later). Perhaps a constitutional amendment would be best, recognizing life in the womb as is already implied in the constitution.
Non-religious arguments:
The pro-choice population, of course, didn't react the same way to the news. They see it as oppression and injustice to take away a woman's so-called "right" to choose to do what she wants with her own body. But really it's just a euphemism for the right to kill a child. In the effort of fairness, leaving religion aside, here are a few [probably not a full list of] arguments to support the Dobbs decision.
1) Roe was bad law
Lost in all the noise in the media right now, is considering whether the initial ruling of Roe v Wade was a wise one. The Supreme Court was never intended to be a law-making agency. Roe v Wade, unfortunately, wrote into existence a constitutional “right” that never existed before. When you look closely, the rationale was extremely weak. The constitution doesn't give the right to an abortion, instead you could make a better argument the constitution protects the rights to life for the unborn.
The reason everyone should be content with this decision is because it's good to live in a land when the constitution is honored in the judicial branch of government. This was a wise decision and makes sense from a legal perspective. Some have lamented that precedent is being ignored, possibly setting a bad example, but sometimes precedent needs to be questioned in order to better follow the constitution (e.g. Brown v Board of Education). Some are also saying the justices are corrupt and letting their bias get in the way. If that were the case, they would have decided to make abortion illegal across the country, but obviously that didn’t happen. Anyone with objectivity can look at their decision and think they made a sensible, constitutionally-led decision here.
2) This is a win for democracy
Now that states have been given the freedom to legislate this difficult issue, this gives our vote even more meaning when we vote for our elected representatives. And given that this is such a contested issue, this is a win for democracy. The media has been referring to polls that the majority of Americans did not want Roe overturned, but there's two issues with that: 1) We don't know if people understood what that meant completely, and 2) polls have consistently showed that most Americans are in favor of at least having some restrictions on abortion, which makes this overturning even more legitimate. The U.S. with Roe had some of the loosest abortion laws compared to the rest of the world. Now the citizens with their voice and vote can push for the restrictions they think is best.
3) The life of the baby is finally being considered again
You might think this is a religious take, but it's not. Most biologists agree that life starts at conception. That's because science clearly tells us that at the moment of fertilization, where the sperm and the egg unite, there is a unique genetic code formed, and a human being is created. At 3 weeks the heart is beating, and at 12 weeks they can feel pain. These are truly human beings. And according to the UN's Declaration of Human Rights and the US Declaration of Independency, all human beings have the right to life and liberty. So, if babies are human beings, then we would have to conclude that the youngest among us have the same inalienable right to life as those who are born. Meaning, the mother or father has no right to take away another person's right to life in the womb, even in the name of convenience.
While some pro-choice people concede that the unborn are human beings, they disagree that they are a "person". But pro-lifers would say that the vaginal canal doesn't magically bestow personhood; it's been there from the beginning. Humans have an ugly history of defining what personhood is so as to exclude certain types of humans. If it's wrong to deprive Jews, black people, and women of their personhood based on the idea of sex, race, and religion, then it is certainly wrong to deprive personhood to the unborn on the basis of age.
There’s a further discussion about the common pro-choice concerns like the mother’s “right” to choose, rape, incest, life-of-mother, overrun foster care system, babies with disabilities, and so much more… perhaps another time. But for now, my point is: the baby’s life is worth protecting. To my Christian brothers and sisters, as we seek to change hearts and minds about this issue and the Gospel, let’s do so with love. To my unbelieving neighbors, if you’ve had an abortion, please know there’s healing and forgiveness for that wrong (and all sin) in Jesus Christ. He is full of love and mercy. He wants a relationship with you, and to help you discover the reason why you’re alive and why he formed you in your mother’s womb.