by Bishop James Conley
The recent leak of a draft of the majority opinion of the Supreme Court case Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case challenging a 2018 Mississippi law prohibiting most abortions after 15 weeks’ gestational age, has caused a tsunami of media attention, and rightly so. Leaking privileged information like this, at the highest levels of our judicial system, is a monumental breach of confidentiality and will have significant consequences for a long time.
For the Supreme Court to function well, it is essential for the justices to have confidence in each other even when—perhaps especially when—they disagree. If this information was leaked for the purpose of influencing the final decision of the judges, the tactics of it would be clearly immoral.
But perhaps even more significant, could it be that the Supreme Court of the United States, after nearly 50 years, is finally poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, and restore, once again, legal protection at the federal level to the most vulnerable and defenseless of our brothers and sisters, the unborn child in the womb?
For those of us who believe that every human person is conceived with an inherent sanctity and dignity, and deserves to be legally protected and safeguarded, this is indeed a cause for hope. For nearly 50 years this decision has caused us to treat a class of humanity as disposable and unworthy of the most basic human right: the right to life.
If this leaked decision were to become the law of the land, then the question of the legal protection for the unborn child would return to the state and local government. In an ideal world, an amendment to the US Constitution, recognizing that every human life in the womb should be valued and protected by law is the only just and lasting solution, but this pending decision by the highest court in the land, is a significant and hopeful improvement from the status quo.
The first thing we need to accept, both individually and as a society, is the fact that the question of when life begins is not a religious question. It is a matter of science. And the science is now clearer than it ever has been, that human life begins at the moment of conception. If it doesn’t begin at conception, then when does life begin—first heartbeat, brainwaves, fingernails? Ultrasound technology, our window into the womb, concludes, beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt, that life begins at conception.
Now, our response to this fact is both a matter of natural law and religion. On the natural level, the right to life should be protected in law, and that life should benefit from all the resources our society recognizes as serving the common good.
On a religious level, our faith places a responsibility on each of us to assist women in difficult situations and build a culture of life and a civilization of love. This is our only response—period. This is what our faith teaches us, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to reach out to those who are in need, to accompany those who are in difficulty and in crisis.
Our response, of course, can take on many different forms, but I am proud of two initiatives in the Diocese of Lincoln, in particular. On Dec. 7, 2020, the “Women’s Care Center” opened in Lincoln, across the street from the Planned Parenthood abortion facility. This was the organization’s 33rd such center to open in the United States.
While the organization is not a Catholic entity, many members of our Catholic community participate in and support their work—and with good reason. Since its opening 17 months ago, the Women’s Care Center has been hugely successful. Women in unplanned pregnancies are given resources to choose life. Lives have been saved and women have been loved. The average time these centers assist moms is a full five years after they have given birth to their child!
This is the sort of thing that the faith community is so good at… loving both the child and the mother through a difficult situation. Should Roe be overturned, it is incumbent on us, the Catholic community of this diocese, to double our efforts to increase this sort of support for women and children.
The second initiative, “Walking with Moms in Need,” was launched March 25, as a response to a post-Roe world. Pregnant and parenting moms in need are in our parishes, at our places of work and in our neighborhoods. As Pope Francis reminds us, our parishes need to be “islands of mercy in the midst of a sea of indifference.” This new diocesan initiative, “Walking with Moms in Need” is designed to bring resources to and through the parish to women who might otherwise not have the necessary resources they need to choose life.
Both initiatives are much more than “programs.” They incarnate the love our heavenly Father has for each one of us, but especially the most vulnerable—pregnant women and unborn children. We as a faith community must increase our support for moms in need of help in what is likely soon to be a post-Roe world. We are not just anti-abortion, we are pro-life.
Regarding the leaked draft opinion, it would appear most likely that this leak occurred to change the draft opinion through public and social pressure, in favor of abortion. I must admit that reading the draft opinion gives me real hope. The argument is a very well-reasoned refutation of a horrible and tragic legal decision made 50 years ago.
Our culture has witnessed so much death and suffering due to the terrible consequences of the Roe v. Wade decision of Jan. 22, 1973. Millions and millions of our brothers and sisters, who would have brought so much beauty into the world, were never among us. The consequences of our grave national sin will be felt for generations.
During that time, we have prayed, we have peacefully protested, we have educated, and we have loved with a real hope that one day this dreadful law would be overturned. At the national March for Life this past January, I had the opportunity to address our high school students. I was with a chaperone who was about my age, and I told the young people “it is highly unlikely that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned in our lifetime.” Turning to the youth I said, “but in your lifetime I really believe it could happen.” I told them the promise and hope that they bring to my generation of pro-life workers and advocates is truly exhilarating.
Here we are at the crossroads of an historical moment. In the coming weeks there is a real likelihood that the long winter of the tyranny of Roe vs Wade will thaw into a new springtime.
Dare we hope?
