After Roe, our work remains

Like nearly every other media organization, WORLD planned ahead a bit for our coverage of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Because of the leak, we thought we had a pretty good idea of what we would do with the story.

Even so, there were quite a few things we didn’t know: Would the majority hold? What would be the final vote? How would the concurring and dissenting opinions read? And, importantly for us, when would we have the actual decision?

All of those questions were answered midmorning on Friday, June 24, while WORLD’s board of directors, the editorial council, and management were in our annual fiscal-year-end board meeting. As it turned out, God’s providential timing provided an emotional moment for our team.

Among that group were individuals who had participated in, reported on, and advocated for the pro-life cause essentially for our entire adult lives. It was amazing to share that moment together. I wish our entire staff had been able to be there.

Much as we wanted to bask in the moment, it didn’t last long—a prayer of thanksgiving, a sung doxology, a few tears, some hugs. Our editors’ rush from the meeting to finish and file WORLD’s stories on the ruling was symbolic of the pro-life task overall: There’s still work to do, even while celebrating a hard-fought victory.

Our team put extraordinary energy and effort behind dozens of stories and reflections and commentaries in the past few days on all of WORLD’s platforms and in other media outlets. That kind of energy and effort is not new, or unique to this event. By God’s grace, their energy and effort will not falter, but will continue as we cover every other issue God allows us to encounter in the future.

There probably isn’t another concern that has so defined WORLD’s reporting and commentary like the fight for life. Our annual Roe v. Wade issue, published every January, has provided reporting and rallying cries for the fight since we began publishing it early in WORLD Magazine’s history. I did not know when we published our most recent edition of that issue a few months ago that it could be our last.

In years ahead, maybe instead of publishing annual Roe issues in January, perhaps we will publish an annual Dobbs issue in June. But all of the excitement at the end of June does show that we still have work to do and stories to write, along with the hope that God will bring abortion to an end as He brought Roe v. Wade to an end.