Re-building Foundations POST-ROE
BY JOHN STONESTREET AND TIMOTHY D PADGETT
Editor ’ s Note : Originally published in commemoration of the 2023 March for Life , this insightful article on abortion reminds us of the necessity of constructing a biblical worldview foundation .
F ifty years ago , on January 22 , 1973 , the United
States Supreme Court fabricated a so-called “ right to abortion ” out of thin air . This travesty of justice , which enabled the deaths of tens of millions of innocent little souls , deserves a place among the absolute worst legal decisions in American history . In fact , additional flawed moral and legal reasoning soon followed in Casey v . Planned Parenthood and Doe v . Bolton , built on Roe v . Wade ’ s flawed moral and legal reasoning , rendering almost all restrictions on abortion , however mild , “ unconstitutional .”
Today , thanks to the goodness of God , the long labors of pro-lifers over the years , and the keen legal efforts of the present Supreme Court , Roe is no more . That ’ s reason to celebrate . However , in the months since the Dobbs decision , it ’ s become painfully clear how much work remains for those committed to the end of abortion . Specifically , Dobbs returned the legal decision-making about abortion to the states . The legal decision-making that has happened , at least so far , is not encouraging .
In Kansas , a state-wide pro-life ballot initiative went down in flames . A few months later , Michigan passed the most radical pro-abortion law that America has seen , by a majority unexpected by pro-life pundits . In Montana , of all places , a bill that would ’ ve merely required helping babies born alive after a botched abortion procedure failed .
When even a conservative state can ’ t be bothered to restrict personal freedom to preserve the life of a baby outside of the womb , why would we expect pro-life success anywhere else ?
In Psalm 11:3 , David famously asks , “ If the foundations are destroyed , what can the righteous do ?” Recently , I was surprised to learn that there is some scholarly debate as to whether this was stated in a present tense , such as “ Now that the foundations are gone , what can the righteous do ?” or in a past tense , “ If the foundations are destroyed , what have the righteous done ?” The first interpretation is an observation that things cannot stand without a solid foundation . The second is more of an appeal that if our work ignores the building of proper foundations , we are wasting our time .
Either way , the connection between preserving foundations and the work of the Church in any cultural setting is plain . In our case , living in the midst of the cultural evil of abortion , three foundations have been lost and demand our attention .
The first necessary foundation is the idea of the image of God as the only basis of human dignity and value . The loss of our understanding of who we are as human beings leaves only some vague notion of autonomy and self-expression as
48 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW