When the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization which by a 5-4 majority overruled Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that held that abortion was a protected right in the US constitution, I fell to my knees in both joy and disbelief. A draft opinion overturning Roe had been leaked some weeks earlier, but even so I didn’t dare believe that the legal and moral wrong of Roe would finally be corrected. We should not underestimate what a momentous decision this is.
It is only right to acknowledge the role Catholics have played in keeping the abortion issue on the agenda in the US, and continuing to oppose it. This included faithful Catholics being silent witnesses to the violence of abortion outside abortion clinics, to Catholic prayer to end abortion, and groups who give real assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies. It also includes the Church hierarchy who condemned abortion in the strongest terms. In a voting guide in 2019, produced by the U.S. bishops, that guide stated that “the threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family and because of the number of lives destroyed.”
The law on abortion will now return to the 50 states, where many have already restricted abortion in some form. Once Catholics have given thanks to God for the decision in Dobbs the question is, where do they go from here.
The first issue is that anti-abortion laws will be introduced in a very different culture to that of America pre-Roe. Although Roe came late in the sexual revolution (the damage this revolution causes continues to this day) there were still firm conservative and Christian foundations across the culture. These have now been shattered and it will take time to rebuild.
For instance, fifty years ago, children were still seen as a blessing to be welcomed, but in 2020 the fertility rate in the US has collapsed to the lowest rate ever. This is evidence of the fact that the US can be a hostile environment for children and families. Young men and women believe it is more difficult to raise a child today, due to housing costs, lack of maternity leave, and lack of childcare.
Some women believe it would be wrong to bring a child into a time of crisis – such as Covid or climate change. Also, we must remember that there is no NHS in the US, so should a mother or infant get sick the family can be left with crippling medical bills. Therefore, all Catholics should support paid federal maternity leave, child tax credits, and universal health care for pregnant women and their infants. No woman should have to choose between her job or continuing with her pregnancy.
The role of women has also drastically changed, they are much more independent, and able to pursue their ambitions compared to 1973. In fact, in 1973 men outnumbered women at university – now the women outnumber the men. Again, with adequate economic and social support young women should not have to choose between continuing their degrees and continuing their pregnancy and raising their child.
And what of the men? Only this week, at a Mass concluding the 10th World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis said it required courage to get married. “We see so many young men who don’t have the courage to get married and mothers often say to me: ‘Do something, speak to my son, who is not getting married and is 37 years old.’ But, Signora, don’t iron his shirts, make the first move by sending him out, let him leave the nest,” the Pope said.
The Pope is correct that it does take courage to get married (and he is right that mothers should not be ironing the shirts of their 37-year old sons.) In a post-Roe world and in the states where abortion is illegal it will take much courage by men to be truly pro-life. They will need to discover the virtue of chastity in a world saturated with pornography; and if this proves too great a challenge they must take responsibility for any child he has created in the knowledge that this was the natural consequence of the baby creating act. It is not for the women to avoid this natural consequence at all costs, she is not to be blamed should all the best-laid plans in baby avoidance be scuppered. Men must be supportive and take full responsibility for their new role as fathers. Marriage of course should be offered, although never forced (it would be void in any case.)
Jeremiah 1:5 tells us, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Catholics who must always seek to protect the most vulnerable, who must always speak up for the voiceless are right to celebrate Dobbs and the post-Roe world. But building a pro-life culture will take the work of a generation. It will not be easy, but then neither was putting together the coalition that ended Roe v Wade.
Laura Perrins is co-editor of The Conservative Woman
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