Ken Liu
We praise God for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs decision promotes justice for one of the most vulnerable groups of human beings – the unborn.
As pro-life Democratic Congressional candidate Chris Butler recently said, “When I looked at the over-representation of poor people and people of color in abortion rates, it more closely mirrored the things we were working against than the things we were working for…. That was a real red flag for me. It made me begin to think might be something that is more a tool of injustice than a tool of justice.”
However, while we celebrate this victory, we now have an even greater obligation to help those in need – women in crisis pregnancies, victims of domestic violence, single mothers in poverty, and all of their children now born into dire circumstances.
Elizabeth Graham, VP of Operations and Life Initiatives for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) put it well at a recent pro-life panel discussion: “I think of a church congregation’s role in this in the same way as a baby dedication. When someone has a baby and wants to dedicate that child to Christ, this is a life-long journey that the church is taking. We should think about serving vulnerable moms and moms in crisis in the same way.”
Christian Legal Aid clinics and attorneys are uniquely poised to serve these moms. We already help with many of the legal issues faced by women in these circumstances, including protective orders, child custody and support, housing, and government benefits. In following our call to “defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy” (Psalm 72:4), may we use our God-given skills to serve the most vulnerable, for life.