Reason Demands an End to Roe

Ignoring reality does not change it.

A young wife and her husband were enthusiastically awaiting the birth of their first baby. It was a girl. They had already done a big baby shower with family and friends; they had bought all the furniture and decorated the room— a beautiful retreat of yellow and pink. They had faithfully kept every doctor's appointment and attended all the classes, learning everything about what to expect when you're expecting. They had even named her: Mary Beth.

But at 28 weeks (7 months), mom confesses she was not ready. She is just too young and not mentally and emotionally prepared to be responsible for another human being. So instead, she wants to have an abortion.

Dad earnestly pleads with her to no avail. "It's my body," came the answer.

"Is an abortion even legal so far along in a pregnancy," he thought? Yes, one quick Google search informed him that there are no limits even for late-term abortions in their home state of New Jersey. He quickly found a clinic's website offering the service and explaining a third-trimester abortion procedure, but he could not bear to finish reading the short description. He even explored legal options but has no recourse.

So, on a day they were supposed to go to another doctor's visit and see their baby girl on the latest sonogram, mom will instead drive to an abortion clinic to "terminate her pregnancy."

Such is the state of abortion policy in our nation. It is part of the wretched legacy of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that invented a constitutional right to abortion.

The euphemism "terminate the pregnancy" is supposed to help us cope with the reality of the actual termination happening—that of Mary Beth. She could live. But instead, she will be sacrificed at the altar of "choice" – an altar so sacred that anyone who dares question it is immediately shamed or ridiculed.

Is there really no space for the state to consider Mary Beth? That's a question for us—for you and me, especially those who consider themselves "pro-choice." We are the state— "We the people." You and I are allowing fully formed babies to die in this manner.

We certainly consider the baby if someone intentionally kills the mom. Even on the way to the abortion clinic, as a society, we want the criminal who commits such a heinous act as to hurt a pregnant mother to pay for both lives, mom's and baby's. Therefore, such a murderer is regularly charged with not one but two counts of murder. This is more than reasonable.

But all reasonableness has been lost in the context of abortion. If a baby is born alive in a failed abortion, the "pro-choice" movement wants the doctor to leave it to die. After he or she is outside the womb. Are you for that? Do you think there should be any limits on abortion?

Most people believe there should be strict limits, yet the Supreme Court stands in the way.

By putting its force behind the pro-choice argument, starting with Roe, the Supreme Court prevents progress in this area. Attempts by states to pass laws acknowledging the humanity and protecting babies in the womb are immediately met by an abortion advocate's legal challenge that will tie up the law in decades of litigation before being second-guessed by the unelected justices at the nation's highest court. Only their view of human life ultimately matters in our current state of affairs.

Many have grown comfortable with this unjust arrangement. At least they don't have to deal with it. But ignoring reality does not change it.

If this is you, I plead with you to take a moment and look at the pictures of the aborted babies discovered in Washington, D.C. Consider the reality of abortion beyond the political slogans.

This is one of the many reasons why Roe must be overturned. The Supreme Court will have a perfect opportunity in its upcoming Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization opinion. Let us pray the justices take it.

Our nation has gone long enough ignoring the reality of abortion. With Roe out of the way, states will be able to have the conversations needed to help us come up with better policies respecting human life. It would allow states to consider the full impact of abortion instead of dismissing the intricacies of these policies as a simple choice.