According to a leaked US Supreme Court document, the Court is poised to overturn Roe v Wade – the 1973 decision that legalised abortion across the United States.
Many thousands of pro-lifers and pro-choice people have been demonstrating across the country since the leak, both sides entrenched over the issue which has polarised America for decades. But what would overturning Roe v Wade actually mean, both in the US and in this country?
US outreach group Focus on the Family said: ‘This is an important first step in the effort to relegate the barbarism of abortion to the dustheap of history. Championing the dignity and respect of all life is not radical – it’s the mark and measure of a civilized culture. There is a direct correlation between the legalization of abortion and the coarsening of our culture. Affirming life will provide parents with an opportunity to emphasize what is good, noble, and right. There is nothing more beautiful than a baby. Why deprive the world of their goodness, especially with so many families eager and willing to adopt?
‘Curiously, the majority of the rhetoric surrounding abortion centres on a woman’s right to choose and little to nothing on a baby’s right to live. As we have for the past half-century, we must continue serving the needs of mothers while protecting and giving voice to the innocent and defenceless children whose lives hang in the balance. The long overdue reversal of Roe will also reinforce and put on notice fathers, who bear significant responsibility when it comes to pregnancy and the parenting of a child’.
Kirsten Waggoner of US legal advocacy organisation Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) welcomed the possible Court decision, saying: ‘The US is an extreme outlier in abortion law and policy, allowing late-term abortions and failing to protect the lives and health of unborn children and their mothers. We are one of only six nations— including China and North Korea—that allows abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy. We are one of only eight countries in the world that allow the abortion of a child who can hear her mother’s heartbeat’.
James Mildred of UK lobbying group CARE said ‘Roe v Wade has shaped abortion law in the US for the last 50 years by opening the door to widespread abortion access. Were the Supreme Court to strike down part of it, it would represent a shift towards life-affirming laws, helping save lives and protect mothers from the trauma of abortion.
‘Very often, what happens in one part of the world can shape what happens elsewhere. If Roe v Wade is overturned, it could provide fresh fuel for the movement here to advocate for life-affirming laws. There are already two major attempts in the UK to clarify the law around abortion to birth for disabilities. One is through a legal challenge to existing laws by Down’s syndrome campaigner Heidi Crowter, in a case due to be heard at the High Court in July. The second is a Bill in Northern Ireland to outlaw any abortions to birth there for serious disabilities like Down’s syndrome.
‘From a Christian point of view, we must keep pointing to the life of the unborn child. From the moment of conception, the baby is an image-bearer of God. This is where our dignity ultimately comes from — the connection we have to God Himself. The preborn baby is as deserving of protection as a fully grown adult. It’s also important to stress that any court ruling and subsequent change in laws must be accompanied by a change in hearts’.
