On Friday morning, the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs opinion, ending nearly 50 years under a cloud of judicial fiat that said the right to murder an unborn child was so fundamental that it was protected and guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. For 50 years it was not simply that states could permit abortion, but rather that states could only lightly regulate abortions. By 2022, our wickedness had grown so great, that 22% of pregnancies in the U.S. ended in an abortion. In those 50 years, we murdered over 60 million defenseless infants. Imagine the entire population of California and New York, combined, being simply wiped off the map. A city three times the size of Spokane murdered every year. It was a holocaust. The murder of the innocents on a scale that dwarfs what was done by Herod. This was us—our nation and our generation—we share in part in this sin. Our people may not have heard the cries of our victims, but the Lord heard them, and the Lord saw what we did.
There is much to be thankful about in the issuance of Dobbs. It is a step in the right direction. It is an act of mercy. But let’s not pretend as though this opinion is the product of some national revival or repentance. The Lord brought it about through five courageous and faithful people. But to many in our country, the Dobbs opinion is a travesty. We saw outrage over Dobbs from the powerful and from the enslaved, from the rich and from the poor, from the educated and from the ignorant. It was not that Dobbs deprived Americans access to abortions—that will not be a problem for many of them—it was that Dobbs permitted state legislatures to declare the act of abortion as worthy of moral and legal condemnation. How dare they criticize how we choose to serve the god of self-love? The Dobbs opinion is a blessing in that it will save mortal lives; but it will not change hearts and it will not save souls. Only Christ Jesus can do that.
We must see and preach Dobbs for what it is and for what it is not. Dobbs is a glimmer of rationality and hope in an irrational and dark time. Dobbs is not an end goal, and it is not even the true means to the true end. The end goal is a nation of righteousness and the only true means to that true end is repentance and salvation through Christ.
Let us be faithful with the gift of Dobbs by redoubling our efforts to show our neighbors that we are not simply against death, but that we are for life. We are for a life ennobled because you bear the image of God. We are for a life freed of slavery to self-destructing sin. We are for a life where all repentant sinners are welcomed and encouraged and supported by their mother church. In short, now is the time to roll up our sleeves and prove what we have said for 50 years: If you would but let the child live, we would love the child and mother in the name of Jesus.