I will never forget where I was when I heard Roe v. Wade had been overturned. It was a Friday afternoon, and I distinctly remember thinking, “I’m going to have to rewrite my sermon.”
As a pastor and parent, my views on reproductive rights have evolved significantly in the last ten years. I’ve moved from staunchly supporting legislation that defined life at conception to championing abortion access as valid and necessary healthcare.
If you are tempted to stop reading here, I implore you: Give me a chance. If you hate what I’m saying, you are welcome to let me know afterward. If you’re curious why I’ve had such a departure from my pro-life roots, the primary reason may confuse you:
Two of my four incredible daughters are adopted. Counterintuitive, I know. How could I, the mother of children carried to term and placed in my care, still believe in a woman’s right to choose?
Our twins’ entrance into the world was chaotic, traumatic, and a true emergency in every sense of the word. Their birth mother had COVID and went into premature labor. She hemorrhaged and lost over 90% of her body’s blood volume. When she and the babies made it to the hospital, a whirlwind of activity ensued as doctors, nurses and specialists worked desperately to save all three of their lives.
I received a call from her sister, who relayed the events through tears. The status of the babies was unknown, and their birth mother was in a coma.
During the chaos, she thought about what she would say if the doctors asked her who they should save: Her sister or her teeny tiny baby nieces. She asked me what I would’ve said.
Despite a tight throat and a knot in my stomach, I told her that in her position, I would advocate for her sister. I would advocate for the woman I’d come to know and love over the last few months.
I would tell them to save the mother of two other children. I would tell them to save the woman.
Thankfully, that is not how the medical world works. We don’t live in an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” or “The Pitt.” Doctors have historically been ethically bound to prioritize their patient over their patient’s pregnancy. Doctors are supposed to do everything they can to keep their patients safe, healthy, and alive.
That, however, is no longer the case.
Supporting Women
We live in a society that privileges an unborn fetus over a living, breathing woman. Tragically, Christians have muddied the waters even further. We’ve ignored the example set by Jesus and taken up a crusade with singular focus.
Banners and billboards read, “I had a heartbeat at 22 days,” “Real Men Protect and Care for Pregnant Women,” and “Women Need Love, Not Abortion.” Perhaps my least favorite slogan is “Abortion is Profoundly Anti-Woman,” a phrase found on the Focus on the Family website.
In reality, not supporting the freedom of women is profoundly anti-woman. Moreover, it is profoundly unbiblical.
Jesus accepted financial support from women. He taught and discipled women just as he taught and discipled men. Jesus refused to condemn a woman “caught” in adultery while the man with whom she had committed the act was nowhere to be found.
Jesus healed women, heard women, was ministered to by women, and ultimately, entrusted the resurrection story to women.
When we treat women as a monolith, when we refuse to hear their stories and trust them to know their own needs, we miss the way Jesus elevated women into equality in a time when gender parity was inconceivable. We tell image bearers of God that we know better for them than they know for themselves. We play Holy Spirit, judge and I fear, one day, executioner.
As a pastor, it is my job to study and disseminate theological perspective, to spur my community to greater care and justice, and to shepherd the hearts of those I encounter. I have sat and wept with more couples than I care to mention who have heard the words “incompatible with life” used to describe their long-anticipated baby.
Worse, I have sat with couples whose physician has told them they can only intervene when that same grieving mother becomes septic: “We will do our best to save you at that point.” Where is God’s compassion, care, and justice in that?
Real Life Issues
Now, if I have not convinced you to reconsider your perspective, please allow me to extend one last invitation. Vote for politicians who will reinstate SNAP benefits, push for paid maternity leave, demand higher quality prenatal care for Black mothers, and support no-fault divorce.
It is wildly unbiblical to neglect the vulnerable people in our society. If you simply cannot get behind full reproductive rights for women, I beg you to consider the policies that make it dangerous for women to carry pregnancies to term. Feeding and providing safety for people should not be controversial for followers of Jesus.
Ultimately, as you vote, may you do so with empathy, compassion, and an awareness that we live in a world that can be unfair.
If you’re curious about what I said in my sermon that infamous weekend in 2022, I’ll leave you with this:
“When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:18).
Full acceptance.
Full inclusion.
No partiality.
As you know, this week an historic blow to the autonomy of women took place. Women all over our nation will have to fight for the ability to be granted equal personhood to that of men.
Regardless of individual beliefs regarding abortion, pro-life legislation denies, with partiality, the rights of women to reproductive care. We are returning to a time of witch hunts where individuals and panels will investigate the agony of a lost pregnancy and make a judgment on intent; where women are denied medication and procedures that will save their lives.
Today, we heard the great measures God took to value and affirm all people without partiality. We were reminded that God does not assign value, capability, or superiority based on ethnicity, gender, or creed. It falls to us to carry God’s assessment with us and boldly fight for the rights of our sisters.
Jesus rescued, relied on, and trusted women; beloved, go and do likewise.”
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Senior Pastor, University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.