What Does the End of ‘Roe v. Wade’ Require of Us?

Responses to our July/August issue.

Source image: Envato Elements

Christianity Today president Timothy Dalrymple’s editorial “At the End of ‘Roe’” (updated on our website in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision) affirmed the ruling as a win for the sanctity and dignity of all human life. He also encouraged not just adoption but early and ongoing support for families in crisis. Many readers responded with a resounding “Yes … and.”

In emails and comments on social media, they brought attention to the United States’ high maternal mortality rate and lack of paid parental leave. They suggested universal preschool, subsidized childcare, and government food assistance. Linda Morey in Greensboro, North Carolina, called for more support in the church for intellectually disabled children and adults, like her son.

Some wondered why the church hasn’t done more, in their eyes, to support these kinds of policies already (although, in the US, the church does adopt and foster at higher rates than the general population, and ministries have long supported single mothers).

Some worried about the ruling’s impact on vulnerable families:

The end of Roe will not deliver children “safely” into the world. It will simply ensure they are delivered. It will not just “bring real hardships for many mothers.” It will cost some of them their lives. I am not pro-abortion, but an article like this ought to carefully detail the heartbreaking realities of this situation. Better yet, it ought to have been written by a mother.

Abby Thompson
Atlanta

Sometimes the narrow vision of pro-life advocates to simply bring a baby into the world and think their work is done has legitimized pro-choice criticism of the church for being unwilling to follow through and alleviate suffering which caused the mother to contemplate abortion in the first place.

Carol Galambos
Colorado Springs

Some also expressed hope that the pro-life movement could evolve:

I hope sincere Christians have the courage in coming weeks and months to acknowledge that churches and ministries will not be able to meet the increased demand for services, and will rethink their beliefs about the role of government in supporting women and children.

Naomi Hunter
Redwood City, CA

We’ve also explored Dobbs’s ramifications in online-exclusive stories at ChristianityToday.com. Writer Megan Fowler explained international hopes in “Could Roe’s Reversal Slow Global Trends to Legalize Abortion?” CT news writer Emily Belz, though, reported from New York that “The Pro-Life Movement Faces Blue State Backlash.”

Sharing her reflections in “I Was Pro-Life in Theory. It Took Much More to Actually Help,” Jen Pollock Michel said,

Time is the modern widow’s mite, the currency that is incredibly hard to sacrifice. In truth, I could have given money far more easily. But not time. Not interruption. Not long-haul life-on-life investment. Not birthday cakes and weekly groceries. … If we should ask women to give nine months of their lives to bear a child into the world … we must be ready to give that much and more to ensure that child’s well-being.

And in “Post-Roe America Needs a Forward-Looking Church,” Russell Moore argued,

Indeed, we need policy changes to better care for vulnerable women and children. … The longer term, though, will require more than even the best solutions policy can bring. It will require convicted consciences that care for the vulnerable people in need—both born and unborn.

The Unexpected Parenting Comfort of Ecclesiastes

Yes! We struggle and times are scary and hard, but they have always been scary and hard! The difference is we know the outcome of the insane fears from years gone by and we don’t know the outcome of today’s fears. It makes it easy for us to look back and always think of those days as the good ol’ days.

@irene.smith.67 (Instagram)

The early church was established in significantly worse circumstances, so I think God can carry my kids through whatever the next decades bring.

@breezyteacher (Instagram)

Can We Resurrect Expertise?

As a physician watching the pandemic unfold, it was clear to me that the “experts tasked with crafting public health guidance” were universally doing the best they could, amid uncertainty, to manage a crisis for which everyone was unprepared. But their best efforts were met with anger, rage, malice, and slander. Most disturbing was that the chief accusers were my fellow evangelical congregants and their pastors. And the most grievous fallout is not our broken trust in the experts, but rather the experts’ broken trust in us.

Nathan Robison Los Angeles

Who Will Pay for Africa’s Medical Bills?

I know where that hospital is and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi at a hospital just like it. They really do have severe financial challenges. It’s very concerning and not a sustainable model.

@rpcvwarmheart (Instagram)

Also in this issue

Our cover story this month examines the career of a relatively unknown linguist whose life is a microcosm of the transformation that global Bible translation has undergone in the past half century. Also in this issue: Why religious moderates aren’t winning elections, the next-gen leaders of the Vineyard, and the sin of cutting corners.

Cover Story

The Woman Who Gave the World a Thousand Names for God

Christian Aid Agencies Have a New Approach to Famine

Online Seminary Isn’t B-League

After the Boomers, New Leaders Bring New Life to the Vineyard

Come On, Let Us Adore Him

Testimony

Before I Got Saved, I Got Shipped Off and Strung Out

Negligence Is a Deadly Sin

Found on Bushes? No!

Editorial

Where the Unborn Are People

Political Empathy Takes Work

Bring Back Altar Calls

5 Books on the History of Christian Parenting in America

News

20% of Polling Places Are in Churches. We Mapped Them.

News

Moral Middle Candidates Want to Save America (But They Keep Losing)

News

Evangelical School Strikes Deal with Chick-fil-A Franchises

News

What the First Black Death Victim Wanted the World to Know

News

Migrants to Europe Are Changing Churches

The Rise of the Pentecostal Fusionists

Review

If We Can’t Reason Together, How Can We Worship Together?

Review

Faith and Doubt Aren’t Black and White

New & Noteworthy Fiction

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What Would Lecrae Do?

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No More Sundays on the Couch

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Safety Shouldn’t Come First

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