Does anyone have the right to an abortion? That is the question which was settled by the June 24, 2022, ruling which overturned Roe v. Wade after nearly 50 years and over 63 million babies killed in the womb. It is a much deeper issue than the question of whether abortion is morally right or wrong. It is an issue of rights.
America’s Founding Fathers and Mothers argued, disagreed, defined, discussed, and debated the issue of an individual’s rights. Correspondence is full of their reasonings and their search for Truth on the subject. Samuel Adams wrote an essay entitled “Right of the Colonists” in which he identified, reasoned from history and explained the rights of the Colonists as Men, first of all, then as Christians, then as Subjects of the British Commonwealth.
Their overwhelming conclusion is stated so beautifully in our Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness . . .
Nowhere in the Constitution does it address abortion at all, much less as a right. It does declare unequivocally that God, the Creator, gave to every individual the right to life.
What the June 24, 2022, decision did was overturn the courts in America legislating and defining rights. That is not a court’s function. Courts in America are to determine whether a law is Constitutional or not. The legislative body which is elected by the people makes laws, and the Executive Branch is to execute the law, not to make the laws or judge them. This is the wonderfully wise Separation of Powers put into place by the Founders. It come straight from Scripture in Isaiah 33:22, “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.” Thus the basis for the three branches of government. However, while all three powers reside in God, man’s fallen nature prevents those powers from residing safely in one man.
Therefore the landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which is truly an answer to believing prayer is a much greater gift than deciding rights. It protects American citizens from the encroaching tyranny of laws being made by a body not elected by the people and therefore ungoverned by the people in whom the government legitimately resides.
With this ruling, the question of abortion goes back to each state’s legislature and therefore the people of each state to once again discuss, disagree, and debate, thus governing themselves as is right and good.
On a spiritual level, we are again reminded of the great mercies of our covenant, committed God on our behalf. Believing individuals have sought His face continually for nearly 50 years asking Him to remove this blight from America, and the curse of God upon our land brought upon us by our flagrant disobedience in murdering our unborn children. We have worshiped relentlessly the gods of sexual perversion, greed, convenience and materialism. We have killed our own children. Only pagan societies do that unashamedly.
The question of “When does life begin?” Is at the heart of this issue. God commands us to choose life and He has never changed or deviated from that command. Life is sacred because it comes from God.
I remember when the churches were trying to determine when life begins. When is a baby only a fetus, a blob of cells? When does an infant have significance? What about rape, or incest? If those situations justify abortion, what about the argument of I’m just not ready yet, maybe someday, but not now. Or the well-being of the mother? Is that confined only to physical well-being, or is it also mental and emotional?
Even Christians were confused and too few voices were raised with definitive answers – authoritative answers – answers that could claim, “Thus saith the Lord!” So there was no strong voice labeling abortion as murder, and of course, the claims of botched abortions killing women or rendering them permanently infertile weren’t loudly told. And nobody wanted that as an alternative to “safe” abortions performed by trained physicians. Such deception. And the Church for the most part was silent, avoiding the issue, and when pressed to the wall, shrugging their shoulders and sadly shaking their heads as if it was inevitable. There was little organized, concerted spiritual warfare like there has been in these later years, and no one was declaring anything about the coming judgment upon our land. No one was reminding Americans that we were in covenant with God, or that we needed to humble ourselves before Him and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Those voices would come later and I thank God that they did to rouse Americans from their spiritual slumber and remind them that God is a covenant keeping God if His people will repent.
What God has done for the United States of America with this judicial overturning is nothing less than to remove the curse from us as a nation. In His amazing mercy and grace, He has heard our prayers and is healing our land. He also protected us from the certainty of tyranny in our land. He is indeed the God who does exceeding abundantly above and beyond all that we can think of or ask for according to the power that works within us. (Eph 3:20)
We cannot imagine for one second that the battle is won, or is over. We must strike the enemy while we can and continue seeking God’s face, turning from our wickedness, and fighting spiritual warfare in our communities, our schools, our states until we are called home. We must occupy until He comes to get us . . . and He will, sooner than we think.
When He returns, by His grace and mercy, He will find faith on the earth and His believing Church awake and eagerly waiting for Him.
Meanwhile, let us put one another in remembrance that God hears our prayers, . . . lest we forget.
(C) Patricia Holloway Smith
6/25/2022
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