Ferocious fighters against human dignity

June 24, 2022, was a day for joy. That morning the Supreme Court handed down Dobbs v. Jackson, fully overturning Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and with them the judicial fetters to protecting unborn life. A wave of restrictions, including outright bans, on abortion quickly went into effect. It seemed a new day for justice, for Americans loving our unborn neighbor.

But if pro-lifers thought the battle over, they’ve learned since then that Dobbs was merely a new beginning. While the cause of life has won in some states, the pro-choice movement has struck back hard in others. They have gained judicial victories at the state level, where several state supreme courts have enshrined abortion rights in their own constitutions. They have gained electoral victories, winning ballot initiatives last year in places like Kansas, Michigan, California, and Kentucky.

Despite these setbacks, other victories keep coming as well. North Carolina presents the latest, positive example. North Carolina’s Republican legislature passed a law which was vetoed (with political theater) by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. But the legislature then overrode that veto, making it the law of the state. Despite more work always needing to be done to further protect life, we can praise the Lord for the restrictions that are now in place.

This victory, while real, displays well the depths of depravity to which advocates of legal abortion will go. First, we see these depths in their unified opposition to this particular bill. While other states have passed or are considering six week or near-total bans on abortion, North Carolina’s was markedly different. It prohibited abortion only after 12 weeks. Even then, the law includes exceptions for rape, incest, and “life-limiting” fetal anomalies. This ban, then, actually affects a small number of pregnancies. In line with past years, in 2020 93 percent of abortions took place by week 13.

Yet abortion proponents attacked this bill with unyielding ferocity. It received explicit condemnation from the White House, which categorized the law as “draconian.” Those in the gallery of the state legislative chamber chanted “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at the bill’s passage. The totalizing nature of pro-choicers has been astonishing. Far from the Bill Clinton days of “safe, legal, and rare,” we are well into an era that cries “at any cost, legal, and predominant.”

Here we see the heart problem abortion showcases. Our sin is not ultimately one of knowledge but of will. We do not want to love God and our neighbor as we ought. On this score, the sin of abortion has reached a depth of depravity that borders on madness. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon laments that “the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live.” We should not separate entirely the former from the latter. Not that all madness results from evil. But in our wickedness, we can justify the most foolish ideas, and become almost-possessed in our worship of them.

We see this point played out in many sins. Yet abortion illustrates human sinfulness with particular potency. God’s natural law and His special revelation speak clearly and with one voice: Man is made in God’s image. He is knitted together and known by God from conception. The universal duty of the Sixth Commandment—Do not murder—applies with full force to the unborn. Still, much of our society rejects these truths, blinded by fear or greed or pride.

Here we also see that God’s witness has not been extinguished, even among the most virulent proponents of ending unborn life. Consider how abortion is discussed by its supporters. Euphemisms abound. The White House statement spoke of “reproductive health care” and “essential care” for women. Gov. Cooper, who vetoed the bill, tweeted that the North Carolina law was an “assault on women’s reproductive freedom.”

We must see how none of these arguments tackle the essential moral question—the status of the unborn child. They all ignore these boys and girls, speaking as if abortion only involves the mother (calling her a mother itself would give away the ruse), as if she is deciding on removing an appendix or putting in a stent. There is a reason for these twisted turns of phrase. It seems abortion supporters, deep down, still realize that ending a pregnancy usually involves some morally evil act.

We should be thankful that North Carolina has taken a step against this great injustice, this great sin of abortion. And we should be hopeful that this battle ultimately can be won. But we also must be clear on the challenge we face. It is a fight, a tenacious one. Let us continue in it for the protection of life and the glory of God.