Today is the 49th Annual March for Life, and it could potentially be the last one before the disastrous precedents in Roe and Casey are overturned by the Dobbs case. Advocates for life have longed for the day our laws will protect the most vulnerable among us — the little ones in the womb. The March for Life is the world’s largest human rights gathering, and it’s an incredibly powerful display of commitment to the protection of the preborn. Nellie Gray, the founder of the march, “after realizing congressional protection of the unborn was not on the horizon, decided to hold a March for Life every year until Roe v. Wade is overturned.”
In December 2021, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case titled Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Dobbs case reviewed a Mississippi law titled the “Gestational Age Act” that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks except in a medical emergency and in cases of severe fetal abnormality. This law replaces the ‘viability standard’ created by Roe with a limit on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The issue the court examined is whether pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitional.
Dobbs is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the court to overturn the harmful precedents in Roe and Casey. With each passing day, more and more people recognize preborn lives are worthy of protection. The Dobbs case provides another chance for the court to come to that same conclusion and affirm the fundamental right to life. If decided favorably, this case would potentially expand protections for children in the early stages of gestational development.
Where the March for Life continues
While the March for Life is an important annual event for pro-lifers to promote the innate dignity and worth of every single person, the real work happens in our homes, our churches, our neighborhoods, and our communities. Every one of us has an essential role to play in changing views on abortion, because we are uniquely situated to love our neighbors.
If Dobbs is decided favorably, abortion won’t end overnight. Instead, abortion will be sent back to the states. The need to care for vulnerable women and their preborn babies will increase, and Christians must be ready and willing to stand in the gap and provide care.
While we work to ensure that our laws protect the preborn, we also must work toward a day when abortion is unthinkable and unnecessary. Scripture is clear that every life has innate dignity and worth, and that abortion ends the life of a preborn baby. The reason women choose abortions varies greatly, from believing that a child will hamper their professional growth and abilities, to not desiring to parent a child at that point in their lives, to feeling as if they can’t provide for a child. Our response to abortion must be as multifaceted as the reasons women choose to abort. Solutions can’t be one size fits all. Because each woman has unique needs, we should care for her and her child individually.
How we can pray
There are dozens of ways we can get involved in caring for women and their children, and we should prayerfully discern how the Lord is leading us to engage. Personally, I’ve served in a variety of capacities at different times and different seasons throughout my life. But each one of us can regularly pray for abortion to end and for a day when a woman doesn’t feel like her only choice is an abortion. Here are some other ways you can pray:
- Pray that every woman facing an unplanned pregnancy would be surrounded by a caring community who’ll support and love her.
- Pray that women’s hearts will be changed and they will choose life for their children.
- Pray that more people would get involved in becoming foster or adoptive parents.
- Pray that the church would be the safest place for vulnerable women and their children.
- Pray that laws would be passed that protect life.
How we can serve
In addition, there are countless ways to get involved in serving in the pro-life movement. I encourage you to spend some time discerning through prayer how the Lord is calling you to serve. Below are just a few ways to get involved:
- Volunteer at your local pregnancy resource center.
- Financially support a pregnancy resource center or a pro-life ministry.
- Throw a baby shower for a woman who’s choosing life for her baby.
- Consider volunteering as a CASA (court appointed special advocate for children and youth in fostercare).
- Consider becoming a foster or adoptive parent.
- Support foster or adoptive parents in your local community.
- Help women access child care resources.
- Teach a parenting class.
As we continue to work toward a day when our laws protect the little ones in the womb and abortion is both unthinkable and unnecessary, may we do so with the love, grace, and kindness of Christ. Our words and deeds — whether interacting with pro-choice advocates, helping a mother choose life, or ministering to the woman who has had an abortion — should ultimately point others to the grace, forgiveness, and salvation that Christ offers.
