Will the Supreme Court Overturn Roe v. Wade?

“Abortion will be illegal in a significant part of the United States in 18 months. There is just no doubt about that,” staffer writer for the New Yorker and CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin. “Let’s talk facts,” he said. “You are going to see 20 states pass laws banning abortion outright. Just banning abortion. … Roe v. Wade is doomed. It is gone because Donald Trump won the election.”^[1]

A frenzied panic erupted among journalists and pundits with the surprise announcement that Justice Anthony Kennedy has resigned his seat on the Supreme Court bench. Immediately, reporters prophesied the imminent end of Roe v. Wade with headlines such as “The End of Roe,” ^[2] “The Plan to Overturn Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court is Already in Motion,”^[3] “What to Do When – Not If – Roe Vanishes,”^[4] and “We are F*#%’d.”^[5] With over 9,000 news media references of the terms “Roe v. Wade” and “abortion” in six days, one would think the sole purpose of the Supreme Court is to protect “abortion rights.”^[6]

As the swing Justice on an otherwise ideologically balanced Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy was the deciding vote in several key decisions that have the potential of being revisited by the Court:^[7]

• Obergefell v. Hodges found that all states are constitutionally required to recognize same-sex marriages.
• U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton prevents states from imposing term limits on members of Congress.
• Kelo v. New London holds that private property can be seized via imminent domain for non-public uses.
• Massachusetts v. EPA ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate carbon dioxide as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
• Kennedy v. Louisiana blocked the expansion of the death penalty for violent crimes that neither killed the victim, nor intended to kill the victim.

Nevertheless, the issue of abortion is nearly the sole focus of expressed concern by the media, and we are being told to gear up for an epic fight if President Trump nominates someone who might tip the balance of the Court in favor of the pro-life movement. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews warned, “This is going to be the fight of the century. I think it’s going to be almost like Spanish Civil War stuff. You watch the next few months.”^[8]

Senators are already choosing sides, despite the fact that nobody has yet been nominated, and all eyes are focused on the two Republican senators who support abortion rights: Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME).^[9] Only time will tell what the future of Roe v. Wade will be. Nevertheless, it should be deeply concerning to us that the immediate reaction of so many within our country upon hearing about Justice Kennedy’s retirement was to rally around a court ruling that establishes a Constitutional right to murder one’s unborn child.

We could debate endlessly over the morality of aborting babies in life-threatening cases, and we could struggle to reconcile pro-life stances with how a woman must feel if required to bring to term a pregnancy induced by rape, but these arguments only mask the heinous nature of the abortion issue. If truth be told, the vast majority of abortions are made for reasons of convenience. Since the Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973, an estimated 60+ million babies have been murdered … mostly upon the altar of convenience.^[10] And while great concern has been given to the toll and potentially harmful effects that a pregnancy can have upon the mother’s body, virtually no honest consideration has been given to the toll and harmful effects that an abortion has upon the baby’s body. As is true with any other law in America, a woman’s rights over her own body are restricted when they impede upon the rights of another person over their own body … at least, this would be true if the law were consistently applied.

Make no mistake about it; in God’s mind, an unborn baby is a person (Psa. 139:13–16; Isa. 44:24). God speaks of having set Jeremiah apart to serve as a prophet to the nations even before he was born (Jer. 1:5). Likewise, the Apostle Paul was set apart by God before birth (Gal. 1:15). And John the Baptist was indwelt by the Holy Spirit and experienced the emotion of joy while still in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:41, 44). Therefore, the abortion of unborn babies is murder. It is the shedding of innocent blood—something that God hates (Prov. 6:16–17)—and it is something for which God judges nations (Jer. 19:3–6; Joel 19:3–6). Moreover, the Bible frequently speaks about how the shedding of innocent blood makes a nation guilty in God’s sight and pollutes the land until the guilt of that murder is purged from the land (Deut. 19:10; Psa. 106:37–38).

We can only wonder what level of guilt our nation bears in God’s eyes for the murder of 60+ million of our nation’s most innocent and helpless. This guilt must be purged from our land (Deut. 19:13; 21:8–9). If we fail to do this ourselves, then God will eventually do it Himself. The reversal of Roe v. Wade would not even prevent all abortions in America, let alone purge our nation of its guilt, but at least it would be a good starting point. Rather than rally against a Supreme Court nominee who might reverse Roe v. Wade, we ought to pray for such a Justice of the Court. For the first time in decades, we have hope that the protective barriers surrounding state-sponsored murder could be dismantled. If ever there was a time to fervently pray for God-fearing leadership that respects human life, this is it!