Two lives changed forever

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Psalm 139:13-16

Surely the writer of Proverbs was a grandfather! He nailed it when he wrote, “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged!” Parents have the responsibility to provide, nurture and disciple their children. Grandparents get to love, spoil and send them home! Grandchildren are the bridge that connects one generation to the next.

1973 marked a turning point in our nation. I was a sophomore college student when the infamous Roe v. Wade decision was handed down by the Supreme Court. Life for me was going to class, trying to understand the subject material, making sure I had studied for my exams, and working to pay for my college classes. However, this one split decision by the U.S. Supreme Court changed the course of history. Over time this one decision created a ripple effect that now threatens to become a tsunami with the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade.

The Supreme Court leak has dominated the news cycle for several days. Politicians have seized upon the story as a way to supposedly energize their base. Media commentators on both sides of the spectrum have interjected their opinions without offering wisdom. Anger has spilled into violence forcing fences to be erected around the Supreme Court building to keep the justices and staff safe. Verbal abuse has been thrown by each side against the others.

Norma McCorvey, the real person behind the name Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, was a young pregnant woman in Texas in 1970 who sought an abortion. Texas law prevented her from having an abortion when two attorneys filed suit on her behalf. McCorvey later said, “I wasn’t the wrong person to become Jane Roe. I wasn’t the right person to become Jane Roe. I was just the person who became Jane Roe, of Roe v. Wade. And my life story, warts and all, was a little piece of history.” Yet McCorvey never had an abortion and gave the child up for adoption. However, it was her case that attorneys used to file suit against Texas and ultimately paved the way to legalize abortion in the United States.

McCorvey’s life could have been a character in a Shakespearean tragedy. She grew up in an unstable home with an alcoholic mother and her parents divorced. She was pregnant and married at 16, gave three children up for adoption, and was hopeless and manipulated.

For a decade after the ruling, her identity was hidden from the public, but once revealed, she became the face of the pro-abortion movement. McCorvey later professed to become a Christian and rejected abortion. Almost immediately she became the face of the anti-abortion movement for two decades. After her death, a documentary was made and aired last year on FX. McCorvey claimed, on a deathbed confession, that she was basically pro-choice all along and only became a pro-life activist for the money.

Abortion advocates make their case. Anti-abortion advocates make their case. Yet both sides are deaf to each other, seeking only to win their argument. It is in the deafness that God hears the cry of the aborted and listens to the pain of the woman. Two lives changed forever. One will never breathe life, the other will never hold this life. God, who sees the little one being wonderfully woven, weeps at her death. God who loves unconditionally weeps with the woman as she lays on the abortionist’s table. “Abortion kills twice. It kills the body of the baby and it kills the conscience of the mother.”—Mother Teresa

Jesus felt the humiliation of the woman caught in adultery as he sat with her in the dust offering his hand of mercy and grace. Jesus felt the rejection of the woman at the well as he sat with her in the noontime heat offering hope and redemption. Jesus felt the scorn and mockery of the woman who bathed his feet with her tears offering her encouragement and love. Jesus felt the belittlement of children as he calls them to sit on his lap in acceptance and laughter. Jesus felt the plight of his mother as he looked down from the cross offering her compassion and care.

“How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with LOVE, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts.”—Mother Teresa

Followers of Jesus, we have a unique and pivotal role to play in this emotionally charged, passionate driven, and divisive season. The unborn children cry out in their vulnerability and innocence, for us to protect and keep them safe. For the sake of the women who are driven out of despair and hopelessness to abortion clinics, we must come alongside them in love and compassion. For the sake of our nation’s soul, we must be courageous and stand against the tide of evil. For the sake of our children and grandchildren’s future, we need to be men and women of prayer that plant hedges around them daily.

Lord, we cry out in desperation. We desperately need you to pull back the curtain of darkness that has engulfed our land. We desperately need you to help navigate the societal issues that have forced women to accept abortion as an acceptable alternative. We desperately need you to help men to stand strong and courageous against evil and temptation. We desperately need you to protect the unborn and care for these little ones you love so very much. Lord, in our desperation, forgive us, restore us and use us to make a difference.

God is great