President’s Post
Liberty University began 50 years ago in the fall of 1971 — a fact I’m sure you’re starting to recognize with all the banners and signs we’ve installed around campus to help celebrate our golden anniversary.
But did you realize that a Supreme Court Decision is approaching its own 50th anniversary – though not one worth celebrating? About 18 months after LU was founded, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, taking the legal decision-making about abortion out of the hands of the people. With the vote of those nine men who wore the black robe, the issue of abortion was federalized – all the people in the 50 states would now be forced to follow the legal reasoning of these nine justices.
As a result of the decision made in Roe v. Wade, abortion has claimed the lives of more than 60 million people – would-be children, parents, professors, doctors, researchers and countless others. And the bitterness over the issue of abortion has only increased in the five decades since. The cultural tension over abortion has not let up one bit.
But several court cases today could send the decision-making about abortion back to the people of the states. The people then would be able to elect state legislators who would vote pro-life.
But hear me out, students, because you should know that we’re now standing on the precipice of court decision making that could reset the judicial grounding of the pro-life movement in a way that I’ve been praying for since I was your age.
This is not political bluster. This is not Democrats vs. Republicans.
When SCOTUS vacancies came about in the past few years, we were thankful those vacancies were filled with justices who are far more likely to rule against abortion. We saw a glimpse of this hope last week when the Court ruled 5-4 to deny an injunction that would have blocked Texas’ “heartbeat bill” from going into effect. While this decision was procedurally based, it could foreshadow a merits-based decision in the future.
Let us remember that we are Christians before we are legislators, policy pushers or advocates. Those positions should and must be held by Christians but always second to our identity as Christ-followers. That said, every ounce of effort that we use to demand justice for the unborn must be preceded by prayer. When God sends us to pursue justice, we should always begin that pursuit by seeking Him first.
The pursuit of abortion abolition is daunting, but it is imperative. In response to such a challenge, I’ll quote the early church leader John Wesley who, while on his death bed, penned a final note of encouragement to William Wilberforce, who was pushing to abolish slavery in Great Britain.
“Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils,” Wesley wrote. “But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall vanish away before it.”
Will you pray with me about this significant issue of abortion? Some things to pray for in specific:
– That God will soften the hearts of those who make the judicial decisions about abortion.
– That God will ignite a passion in His Church to aggressively combat abortion in America.
– That God will raise up political leaders who will protect the life of the unborn.
Why? To give every life a chance to live and be able to pursue life just as you are.
Prevo is the President of Liberty University.