Last week many ECFA members rejoiced when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and its assumption of a right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution. Justice Samuel Alito authored the majority opinion in a 5-4 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that carefully examined and rebutted the faulty foundations of the 49-year-old Roe ruling.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” wrote Alito. “Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.”

Dissenting Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan suggested Roe’s overturn would lead to “the curtailment of women’s rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens.” But Alito and his colleagues said, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

Attorneys of ECFA member Alliance Defending Freedom aided Mississippi officials in crafting and defending the law that spurred the Dobbs case. Following the ruling, ADF General Counsel Kristen Waggoner noted Roe was weak legally, which is why so many pro-life battles continued in courts, as well as scientifically, with more and more evidence of life beginning at conception.

“Mississippi asked the court to overturn Roe because that case was egregiously wrong and had no basis in constitutional text, structure, or history,” she said.

Another ECFA member, the Christian Legal Society, filed a brief in the Dobbs case suggesting Roe’s “court-imposed national solution engenders rancor and division that poisons our polity and debases the judiciary.” After last week’s victory, CLS Executive Director David Nammo said, “The Roe decision has long been regarded as overreaching and political. Today is a day to start anew.”

Numerous other ECFA members similarly lauded the ruling and pointed to the need for a renewed conversation in communities around the country about the sanctity of life.

“Truly, the pro-life movement’s work has just begun,” said Concerned Women for America president Penny Young Nance as she looked toward the goal of “making abortion unthinkable.”

Similarly, Elizabeth Graham of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission stated, “While we are grateful for any law or ruling that protects and defends life, the ultimate goal is for every person, born and preborn, to be protected and seen with inherent dignity and value.”

Care Net president Roland Warren affirmed that his network’s pregnancy resource centers and supporting churches will continue their critical work serving those in their communities facing difficult pregnancy-related decisions.

Roland went on to say, “Changed laws don’t equal changed hearts, and the Supreme Court can’t outlaw unplanned, unexpected, and unexpectedly complicated pregnancies…. In an environment in which abortion is more difficult to access, Care Net’s work has become more critical than ever.”

As we welcome the overturn of Roe and its asserted constitutional right to abortion, let us pray for a culture that honors the sanctity of life. Pre-Born wisely stated in their response, “The ultimate answer to the issue of abortion is the life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that our sin nature and brokenness is not addressed by law but by God’s Spirit.”

May we pray especially for all the churches and ministries that will continue to work to aid women and prenatal children in need every day through the love, power, and grace of our Lord.