On January 13, 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation declaring January 22nd as Sanctity of Human Life Day. He chose this day as it was the anniversary of the Roe V. Wade case.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decree that legalized abortion for all 50 states (Roe v. Wade). It overrode any current state laws and declared that every mother had a constitutional right to decide whether her preborn child would live or die.
The Court errantly used the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which declares that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” They stretched this to imply a right to privacy.
Two of the seven justices, Justices Rehnquist and White, dissented, stating this Amendment had nothing to do with abortion and was errantly used. In the companion case of Doe v. Bolton, the dissenting opinion of Justices White and Rehnquist stated:
“I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to support the Court’s judgment. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right for pregnant mothers … and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state abortion statutes. The upshot is that the people and the legislatures of the 50 states are constitutionally disentitled to weigh the relative importance of the continued existence and development of the fetus, on the one hand, against a spectrum of possible impacts on the mother, on the other hand. As an exercise of raw judicial power, the Court perhaps has authority to do what it does today; but, in my view, its judgment is an improvident and extravagant exercise of the power of judicial review that the Constitution extends to this Court.”
Abortion was legal in America for nearly 50 years, resulting in the loss of approximately 63 million babies. On June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade was effectively overturned through the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women Health Organization Supreme Court Case.
Ronald Reagan declared his commitment to protect the sanctity of all life. In his speech in 1988, he eloquently stated:
“One of those unalienable rights, as the Declaration of Independence affirms so eloquently, is the right to life. In the 15 years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, however, America’s unborn have been denied their right to life. Among the tragic and unspeakable results in the past decade and a half have been the loss of life of 22 million infants before birth; the pressure and anguish of countless women and girls who are driven to abortion; and a cheapening of our respect for the human person and the sanctity of human life.” – President Ronald Reagan.
You can read his entire proclamation HERE.
As we are living in a post-Roe era, which returns the issue of abortion back to the states, we are witnessing an intense hostile political climate. We have seen the ebb and flow of laws pertaining to abortion. While I firmly agree that politically, we should be working toward the end of abortion in our country, the reality is that unless hearts and minds are changed on abortion, it will always be a part of our culture.
So, where do we go from here? Our mission is still the same – to bring hope and healing.
I believe abortion will become unthinkable to those in a crisis moment when we usher in healing for those who have experienced abortion. When those scarred by their past abortions receive healing and wholeness from God, the empty, harmful promises of abortion will become ineffective. When an army of healed individuals use their voices to declare their testimony of God’s truth and love, those considering abortion will see it as an unthinkable option because of the hurt and pain that abortion has caused so many who have gone before them. When those considering abortion realize the support and care offered by the Christian community to help with their pregnancy and raising of their children, they will see their baby as a gift, not a curse.
As we are incredibly grateful for the overturning of Roe v. Wade through the Dobbs decision, our mission has remained the same … to help those facing an unplanned pregnancy in difficult circumstances and to bring healing to those affected by a past abortion.
