Responding to Dobbs

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 28th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: responding to Dobbs.

Pro-lifers around the world are celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision last week to uphold Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15-weeks of pregnancy. As that decision also reverses Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, abortion law now returns to the states.

REICHARD: As the battle over abortion becomes much more localized, what can churches do? How should Christians continue the political and cultural advocacy while also stepping up to meet the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancies? Here’s WORLD’s Paul Butler.

MUSIC: HYMNS SUNG OUTSIDE SUPREME COURT

PAUL BUTLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: For more than six years, GraceWay Baptist Church has hosted a weekly prayer meeting outside the Supreme Court building in Washington D.C.

PRAYER MEETING: We pray for our divided nation. We pray for our President. We pray for Congress. We pray for....

Each weekend this small group gathers to sing and pray. Sometimes tourists join in. This meeting is occurring just a day after the court announced its landmark decision—so there are more protesters around than usual.

Bobby Lundberg is a Washington D.C. attorney and lives in nearby Maryland. He’s one of the 20 church members gathered across the street from the fenced off Supreme Court steps.

BOBBY: It just so happens that we're here doing our weekly prayer meeting, and a protest showed up. So we would have been here, no matter, but we're here to pray for our nation. To pray for our leaders, the President. Vice President. The cabinet. The Justices. Congress. And we do that every week faithfully and just pray for revival.

Churches have long been the backbone of the pro-life movement. Now that many states have increased protections for the unborn, there is a greater opportunity than ever before...

STANEK: The church has to step up now. It's on us now. It's on the pro-life movement now to encourage the church in areas that they're willing to take on themselves and help out with.

Jill Stanek is a seasoned pro-life advocate. She currently serves as the Community Outreach Director for Her PLAN, an organization that links churches with assistance providers to reach women facing unplanned or unwanted pregnancies:

JILL STANEK: There are literally hundreds of examples of ways that churches can get involved. And some of these ideas are super easy, and some of them are a little more advanced. But churches really need to step up and fill in the gap.

The team at Her PLAN has come up with a list of 100 practical ways local churches can fill those needs. Diaper drives, car repair programs, single mom Bible studies, the opportunities are endless.

STANEK: There are already programs that exist—wonderful, solid, Christian programs that a church can just plug into. They don't need to reinvent the wheel.

Stanek insists that most women seeking abortions face problems that drive them to the decision. If the church can figure out ways to address those challenges, the perceived need for abortion will greatly diminish.

JILL STANEK: Abortion is just a symptom of other deeper needs, an indication that there's something going on in the background. And that's what we need—life affirming assistance providers and churches to help with in the medical and social and theological areas, you know, to…minister to these moms.

Stanek says one of the first things any church can do regardless of size or resources is to become a welcoming place for women in need:

STANEK: 67% of single mothers do not go to church, right or wrong. They feel judged. They feel inadequate. They don't feel like they deserve to be in church. But that is a terrible statistic. And not only does that mean that those moms aren't being churched and mentored. Right? Their kids aren't either.

The church is going to have to step up in other ways, too. Peter Lillback is the President of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.

LILLBACK: I believe, every pro-life church—every church that believes in the sanctity of life—needs to consider how they will help their young people make decisions for life. That includes remembering the importance of adoption, and includes helping to support very practically, through financial and other caring means (like) mentoring and counseling. So in one sense, our work needs to be redoubled because there are going to be more needs now because more people are going to choose life as a result of this decision.

Lillback suggests that Christians must not only be against the sexual distortions of the world, but ready to teach and promote the beauty of God’s plan for intimacy.

LILLBACK: We are now being reminded that we need to mobilize the church to help counsel both young men and young women about how sacred life is and how they need to be responsible with their sexuality.

In the years ahead, the pro-life movement will still have to lobby politicians, challenge laws, and meet material needs. But for long-lasting change to happen, there has to be a change of heart.

ROLAND WARREN: Legally you can overturn it in the public square, but to really overturn in the hearts of folks that really is, is something that happens by the power of God…

Roland Warren is president of CareNet.

ROLAND WARREN: It's the power of the Holy Spirit. And that particularly puts it in the realm of the church and the body of Christ.

According to Warren, it’s time for a paradigm shift—we have to start looking at this issue through a different lens…

ROLAND WARREN: It's not just about saving that baby—as God honoring as that is. It's not just about helping that woman—as God honoring as that is. And it’s not just about helping that guy—as God honoring as that is right? It's about helping those folks also become disciples of Jesus Christ, and that’s the core role of the church - that is the Great Commission, and viewing someone who’s facing a pregnancy decision as a mission field.

MUSIC: HYMNS SUNG OUTSIDE SUPREME COURT

The members of GraceWay Baptist church plan on continuing their weekly prayer meetings near the Supreme Court. Roe may be overturned, but there are still a lot of hearts that need changing…and that’s something they’ll keep praying for.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

EICHER: Additional reporting for this story is from WORLD’s Carolina Lumetta—our eyes and ears in Washington D.C. Visit wng.org for more of her coverage and reflections on Friday’s decision.

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