The blessing of life 40 years after Roe v. Wade

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Last week I attended a baby shower unlike any I had ever been to.

Held for a dear sister in Christ, this shower included all the typical baby shower elements – cupcakes, flowers, presents, & games.

So, what made this shower different? It was a blessing shower. Before the new mommy-to-be opened her presents, the shower attendees read selected Scripture passages and prayed special requests over her.

It was a special celebration of life, affirming the loveliness and blessings of God’s plan for motherhood. And with those memories fresh in my mind, my convictions regarding the pro-life movement are strengthened more than ever.

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade – the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized on-demand abortion in the United States. Since the 1973 decision, an estimated 55 million children have been killed.

An article over at The Gospel Coalition guesses this is roughly the equivalent to the populations of two of our biggest states combined – Texas and California.

News coverage of the anniversary have included celebrations from one side of the aisle and laments from the other. Since 1973 little has changed – pro-lifers are still decidedly committed to saving lives and pro-abortionists still maintain a woman’s right to choose trumps all else.

But in reviewing news pieces this week, one thing has surprised me – the gradual move of pro-abortionists toward a more radical embrace of their philosophy.

Gone is the need to cloak pro-choice arguments in the ‘scientific’ and sterile language of tissues and cells. This week,  pro-choice proponents are calling abortion what it is – the choice to kill.

Case in point, an article written by feminist Mary Elizabeth Williams for Salon.com unceremoniously removes the pretense that abortion is a clinical and non-moral decision. The title of her piece says it all: “So what if abortion ends life?” And the tagline? “I believe that life starts at conception. And it’s never stopped me from being pro-choice.”

Basically, Williams is acknowledging the validity of the pr0-life movement’s lynch pin argument – that abortion is murder. Williams’ brazenness is almost as astounding as her conclusion: So what if abortion ends life? It is what it is.

Whatever your position on abortion, one must concede that this type of mentality can have only a disastrous effect on society – making women and children collateral damage in the most extreme form of social selfishness.

For more reading on this pressing issue, check out these recent resources:

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• Denny Burk (pastor & Boyce College professor) ran a bundle of articles in light of the Roe v. Wade anniversary this week. Here’s his response to Mary Elizabeth William’s salon.com essay. He also ran this post highlighting one woman’s encounter with the U.S. ‘culture of death.’ And in this post, he reviews the connection between feminism and abortion through radical comments made by a pro-choice feminist.
• My friend Jessalyn Hutto of Desiring Virtue penned this heart-felt open letter to women considering an abortion. In it, Jessalyn shares her own poignant experience of miscarriage and God’s sustaining grace.
• Redeemed Reader co-author Janie ran this piece titled The Roe Effect – outlining how this landmark case has impacted the genre of Young Adult Literature. Janie also wrote this stellar piece for WORLD magazine about the transition of parenting from a noun to a verb and what that means for mommies who now view parenthood as a job instead of role.
• This Gospel Coalition post by Justin Taylor, ‘5 Things you Didn’t Know about Jane Roe‘ is a must read about the woman behind the 1973 decision that changed our nation. While you’re over at the GC site, you’ll also be interested to check out this article highlighting the impact abortion has on African-American women.
• This news package by Baptist Press, the news arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, offers some inspiration featuring women and families who have responded to difficult pregnancies and special needs situations with courage and faith! I love these types of joy-filled stories and know you’ll be blessed!

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After reading all the news week, you might be tempted to slip into discouragement. So many lives lost, so many blind eyes. But I hope you’ll hang your hopes on the One who knows our souls and hears the cries of our hearts.

Take courage! He who created us with his own breath will  breathe the blessing of life into us once again. His Word promises us this.

 “For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.”

Ps. 139:13-16