Death of Roe v. Wade–63 Million Voices Cried Out: Justice Is Served

An Unexpected Deliverance–The Death Of Roe V. Wade

And so it happened, here on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It took 50 years, much prayer and protest, much sacrifice and dedication, but Divine Mercy trickled through the land. A monstrous decision decades ago was finally dealt a death blow by the Supreme Court as it threw out the constitutional right to an abortion. The echoes of the cries of 63 million human beings snuffed out during this time finally were heard. Now, they are at peace.

Of course, it’s not over. The decision of the court did not outlaw abortion; it simply returned the issue to the states. But legislators there are much more open to the pro-life message. What is really horrendous is the response of the pro-choice people that our body politic is hurt because of this decision. Opponents have said the most outrageous things, even advocating violence. It remains to be seen if the incipient terrorist group, Jane’s Revenge, will act with impunity as they have the past weeks firebombing and vandalizing pro-life centers. I recall vividly the few times in the last half-century where pro-life extremists have acted violently. They were treated like terrorists, and they should have been. Let’s see if the Justice Department, which can’t even lift a finger to protect Supreme Court Judges, will do the same this time.

A Look Toward the Future of the Pro-life Movement

There is that haunting passage in Matthew’s Gospel where the women of Bethlehem grieved for the death of the Holy Innocents slaughtered by King Herod.  Then were the Scriptures fulfilled:  A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation. It was Rachel, weeping for her children because they are no more. I have always used that passage in talking about abortion since, in the name of the radical autonomy of an individual, a person could choose to wipe another person out of existence. There are many reasons why someone would choose abortion. It would be easy to condemn a person for that decision, but we should not. A far greater culprit exists and that is the culture we live in where being a mother is almost frowned upon and having the resources to raise children are increasingly diminishing. We need to make it easier to give life, than to deal death.

For the pro-life cause, this is a time of rejoicing, but not resting. Abortion is still available, and those who value life will once again have to make the arguments for their cause, but this time to state legislatures.  This is a worthy task, but we must always remember. We may think we can legislate or adjudicate abortion out of existence, but that is not possible. Only when people rediscover the preciousness of life, only when male and female rediscover the sacrificial giving each must make to bring new life to birth, only when we all see ourselves, not simply as individuals, but individuals in community will we be able to banish abortion from our midst.

But this is a good first step. In the midst of darkness, a light has shone.