On this day four years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic ruling. The case in question, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, upheld a Mississippi state law banning abortion after the 15-week gestational period. This case earned landmark status because of the question it presented: Is abortion a federally protected right? On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court course-corrected existing precedent, ruling that the Constitution does not broadly grant the right to an abortion. As the opinion was read, pro-life groups around the nation erupted in celebration. This was a huge victory for the movement. But it was not the end.
There is still pro-life work to do 4 years after Dobbs
Unquestionably, the Dobbs decision changed the landscape of the pro-life movement. However, the foundation of the ruling itself was not a commitment to uphold the sanctity of life, but a commitment to faithfully interpret the Constitution. The Dobbs opinion resulted in the return of legislative power to the state governments, meaning that individual state lawmakers would have sole authority to determine abortion access within state lines. While the pro-life community can and should be thankful for the remarkable Dobbs decision, we must also take time to recognize that there is still crucial work to be done—at both the state and federal level.
This leads us to the necessity of pro-life advocacy. Why, in a post-Dobbs world, is it still crucial for us to engage the public on this issue? Unfortunately, we still live in a culture which fails to broadly recognize the sanctity of life at conception. Southern Baptists recognize that being “pro-life” means to acknowledge the irrefutable, imperishable, imprint of the likeness of God, the imago Dei, in each human being—regardless of capacity, character, or circumstance, from fertilization to natural death. While these ideas might seem foundational, in the modern era, the related doctrines of the imago Dei and the sanctity of human life face new challenges through developments in abortion policy in our post-Dobbs world.
Pro-life advocacy 4 years after Dobbs
In responding to this cultural and political condition, the ERLC remains committed to pro-life advocacy on behalf of Southern Baptists. As we work to end the heinous practice of abortion in our nation, we want to ensure that taxpayers are not complicit in its funding.
At the state level, a patchwork of pro-choice state laws enshrining abortion and the absence of consistent gestational limits is reason for heartache. But the federal landscape is not faring much better, with a growth in mail-order abortions, the murky regulation of Title X funding to family planning organizations, and the likely restoration of Planned Parenthood funding through Medicaid reimbursements.
Federal engagement continues to be paramount to the pro-life cause. In April, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down another win for the pro-life movement in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc., v. Davenport. In a unanimous ruling, the court affirmed First Choice’s ability to protect donor and licensing information from government investigations. In this case, promoting a culture of life starts with advocating for the integrity of our pregnancy centers. The ERLC came alongside First Choice Women’s Resource Center in an amicus brief, urging the court to rule in favor of pro-life groups and religious ministry groups in hostile states. This is one example of how the ERLC engages all three branches of the federal government to promote the sanctity of life in the law.
In addition to federal advocacy, the ERLC is committed to supporting pro-life ministries in states across the nation. Through the Psalm 139 Project, the ERLC has placed over 100 ultrasound machines in Pregnancy Resource Centers, allowing abortion-vulnerable mothers to see images of their babies in utero, and hopefully, choose life. The Psalm 139 Project’s recently launched Across State Lines initiative allows the ERLC to prioritize the placement of ultrasound machines in pro-choice states, in particular. The Across State Lines initiative enables pro-life states to cooperatively fund ultrasound machine placement in pro-choice states. Advocacy at the state level is equally as important as advocacy at the federal level, and the ERLC is committed to advancing the pro-life movement across states with differing abortion policies.
How you can be a pro-life advocate 4 years after Dobbs
Regardless of where it happens, advocacy is, and always will be, fundamentally important to the Christian faith. If we hope to change the culture, we need bold, convictional voices in the public square who are committed to Christ-centric, countercultural living. But advocacy is not exclusive to public policy professionals and legislators. We need advocates in every discipline of life—whether that be in the corporate world, the construction site, the classroom, even in the Church. The Church cannot depend on the legislative system alone to promote, establish, and keep moral order. The goal was never for mankind to depend on congressional or judicial powers to legislate morality—for the Christian, the goal for the Church is to disciple it. Advocacy reaches into every area of life: the way we speak and act on the sanctity of life, the way we raise our church members up to value God’s command for his creation to make order out of chaos.
As we celebrate this day, we remember this call to order God has placed on our lives. People will always need clear, moral voices rooted in biblical truth to guide the direction of our society. The Church has the opportunity to be this voice, those voices whom Christ empowered by his death and resurrection. Using our voices to contend for the sanctity of life is a charge that the ERLC is proud to carry out alongside Southern Baptists.
