Every January our attention is turned in a particular way to the pro-life message. It is the time when we recall in a particular way the tragic anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy for virtually any reason. Contemplating this blight on the American soul can be pretty staggering.
Approximately 57 million abortions have occurred over the past 42 years, a number that is difficult to fathom. How can we picture these numbers? One way is to think of it as one-in-three. In speaking to high school students, for example, they are often impacted by the notion that for every three of them in the classroom, there is a missing person: one-third of their potential classmates that they will never get to know in this life.
It’s also been said that if we were to look out at our congregation on a Sunday morning, there might be, on average, one person in every pew who has somehow been affected by abortion – whether themselves directly, or a friend or loved one who has suffered so much pain.