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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
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Eastern Orthodox poet Scott Cairns reflects on his new collection, his journey of faith, and poetry’s capacity to apprehend inexhaustible realities.
