Evangelical Christians who oppose abortion rights have been played by the Republican Party for more than 30 years. The snow job was detailed last week by Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in her speech announcing she would vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court.
Collins may not have intended to show how disingenuous her party has been about overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized most abortions in America, but that’s what she did in arguing there was no need to fear that Kavanaugh’s appointment would bring to fruition the “sanctity of life” movement’s signature goal.
“Opponents frequently cite then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to nominate only judges who would overturn Roe,” Collins said in her speech. “The Republican platform for all presidential campaigns has included this pledge since at least 1980. During this time, Republican presidents have appointed Justices O’Connor, Souter and Kennedy to the Supreme Court. These are the very three justices —Republican president-appointed justices — who authored the (Planned Parenthood v.) Casey decision, which reaffirmed Roe.”
Abortion rights groups vigorously opposed the nominations of Sandra Day O’Connor, David Souter and Anthony Kennedy, even circulating buttons with the slogan “Stop Souter or Women Will Die!” Collins said, but just two years later Souter co-authored the Casey opinion reaffirming a woman’s right to choose.
“Suffice it to say, prominent advocacy organizations have been wrong,” said Collins. But following her line of reasoning means evangelical Christians have been wrong too. The Roe decision has withstood every attack and remains their chief political target.
“No Christian — especially no one who claims to belong to a Bible-believing evangelical denomination — should support the grave injustice of allowing babies to be killed in the womb,” says Joe Carter, an editor for The Gospel Coalition website.
Vice President Mike Pence told Christians “this administration, this president are pro-life,” but thrice-married Trump, who has had multiple women accuse him of unwanted sexual advances, said he never discussed abortion with Kavanaugh before nominating him.
That doesn’t mean the new justice won’t have any impact on abortion rights. Without touching Roe, a more conservative Supreme Court could allow more states to impose abortion restrictions that make it difficult for women to find a safe facility near where they live.
Only by a narrow 5-4 majority did the court in 2016 overturn Texas’ law that required physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Similar laws have survived in eight other states, however, by requiring admission privileges “in case complications arise.” Meanwhile, nine states specify the size of procedure rooms and seven specify the width of abortion clinic corridors.
Those restrictions fall short of the total ban of abortion that many evangelical Christian churches have made their mission. Pence calls Trump “the most pro-life president in American history,” but that’s a low bar. No president has pushed hard for Congress to pass a law that would invalidate Roe. It’s unlikely that the legislation would pass if any president did.
Given the reality that Collins noted, it’s unlikely that Kavanaugh’s ascension to the Supreme Court spells doom for Roe. That shouldn’t upset the evangelicals. It should set its eyes on other “sanctity of life” issues that deserve to be addressed spiritually and politically, including giving greater priority to those children born into this world whose needs are great and whose resources are too small.
Many Christians have changed their perspective on voting Republican. Tess Clark, a Dallas woman, told The New York Times she realized that, “I care as much about babies at the border as I do about babies in the womb.” Clark didn’t say she no longer cares about the unborn; she said she understands that babies here also need support, too. The truth is as simple as that.