On January 22, America marked the 49th anniversary of our Supreme Court once again dehumanizing a segment of our population: the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.
Historically (and sadly), the Supreme Court’s greatest achievements are often correcting its gravest errors. It is likely the Court will do this with Roe v. Wade, having heard the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health case in December. The Court's decision is expected to be announced this summer.
Today, we see and know what our ancestors had to believe: that life begins at conception. We now do surgery and protect the health of unborn children like never before.
Roe has made us a nation of schizophrenics.
On one hand, we don’t allow pregnant women on a roller coaster, serve them ten whiskeys at a bar, or let Scott Peterson off the hook for the 2nd-degree murder conviction of his unborn son, Conner. On the other hand, we have states taking advantage of Roe to allow abortion all 40 weeks of gestation, putting us in a shameful category with only a few countries, including Canada, Vietnam, North Korea, and China.
Facebook is full of heart-wrenching stories of parents fighting and praying for their babies in a NICU while Gov. Ralph Northam calmly articulates on the radio how to let unborn babies who survive an abortion suffocate on a table, assuring us that "the infant would be comfortable" during the process.
In daily life, we proudly describe amazing surgical procedures and brag on the expertise and bedside manner of doctors. As Jerry Seinfeld says, everyone thinks their doctor is the best.
But we hardly hear a woman or family member describe the abortion procedure or tout how their abortion doctor is "the best." Nor do we hear from medical students striving to be "the best" abortion doctor in America as they do for other fields of medicine.
Roe lives on 1973 science, and even RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) criticized it. Therefore, Roe requires national schizophrenia, and we hope and pray that the Supreme Court corrects its error and makes this the last Roe anniversary.
However, the last Roe anniversary does not mean the end of abortion or this abortion schizophrenia in America. The overturning of Roe v. Wade simply sends abortion back to the states, making the abortion battle more local than ever. Some politicians in cities and states are already declaring they would provide an "abortion safe haven" and are inviting abortion businesses to their states like they would any other industry.
At that point, pro-life Americans will be challenged to decide--not whether we can sleep at night knowing abortion takes place in our cities and our states--but whether we can sleep at night knowing it goes on in other cities and states.
The slavery abolitionists made their decision--they could NOT tolerate slavery in any state. Many Americans in the North justified inaction just as we justify our dehumanization today: "I don't like slavery, but I don’t have a plantation and am not going to tell another man how to run his business." Every year at the March for Life in Washington, I see many signs--often held by men--saying, "Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one!" History will expose that sign to be as absurd as a sign that reads, "Don’t like slavery? Don’t own any slaves!"
Having passed the last anniversary of Roe v. Wade, pro-life Americans need to prepare their minds and hearts to decide what we will do to end, not just Roe, but abortion altogether. My feeling on January 22 was that the overwhelming momentum in the grassroots of the prolife movement--momentum that has provided free medical alternatives and closed over half of America's abortion facilities in the last 30 years--will not slow down.
Abortion does not permit us to be "kind of" on the right or wrong side of history. The possibility of this being the last Roe v. Wade anniversary should make us hungrier to bring about freedom and dignity for every American who is the target of the only surgery you are not supposed to survive. Do not wait for the Supreme Court to announce that it is upholding Roe or overturning Roe; use the current anniversary to make your decision to end abortion in our nation so the world can follow and modernize itself to 2022 science and human decency.
From Washington, D.C. to Austin, Texas to San Diego, 40 Days for Life commemorated the Roe v. Wade anniversary with a presence at marches, rallies, and walks across the country.
At the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, we presented Kathryn Amdahl with the 4040 Scholarship--$4,040 toward her tuition.
The scholarship is made possible by a donor who wants to inspire, encourage, and reward students who are making an impact on campus...
...and Kathryn certainly is! A junior at Eastern Washington University, she serves as the local 40 Days for Life campaign leader in Spokane, Washington.
Kathryn has reached out to 500 churches in her region for her campaign, launched her school's pro-life student group, knocked on countless doors doing pro-life outreach, and collected thousands of baby supplies for local pregnancy help centers.
Check out the television broadcast of the scholarship presentation here:
Kathryn's tireless advocacy for abortion-vulnerable moms and babies is helping to make Generation Z more and more pro-life!
Tune in to this week's episode of The 40 Days for Life Podcast, where we discuss new research showing that young people are more pro-life than the media would have you believe...and why many more are ripe to become pro-life:
40daysforlife.com/Gen-Z-is-pro-life
