I've been asked this question before. Not frequently, and usually not by people who describe themselves as pro-choice, but it has caused me to wonder for years. Will abortion ever end? Will it become illegal? Will Roe vs. Wade ever be reversed? For those of us who are fighting to this end, questions like these are ones which we struggle with commonly. A less-frequent question for me is this: "What next?"
I was asked both of these big questions at the University of New Mexico this week. One student on campus, William, saw Justice For All's exhibit from a window and thought, "This'll be fun." He wasn't wrong, but he didn't get the fight he was hoping for. William and I dialogued for two hours on Monday about abortion, justice, and the Christian worldview. He introduced me to his ideas about how the world works, the exceptions he found to be crucial for the justice of the women in hard situations, and there may have been some references to Star Wars. The next day, Tuesday, he came back to the exhibit. And he had questions. Between questions about JFA, aliens, and fears, he looked me right in the eye and asked, "Will it end?" He was asking if I thought abortion would ever be a thing of the past.
I sighed and prayed aloud, "Lord God... I hope so." Previous conversations where I've answered this question came to mind and recent conversations with Justice For All staff also spoke to my thoughts in that moment. Abortion really could end. Per JFA's mission statement, abortion really could become "unthinkable." I pray for a day where Roe vs. Wade will be reversed. It could be that I see a day where the millions who would have been surgically and chemically exterminated are safely entering the world and living their lives. I long for that day.
Explaining my hopes and dreams for the end of abortion over the course of the next few minutes was not enough. William listened patiently as I compared abortion to the United States slavery epidemic from 150 years ago and how the consequences of that time are affecting our nation today. Slavery may be over in that sense, but we experience the effects of it still. It will be the same for abortion, I said. When it is over... when it is finally done, our job will not be done. This world is forever changed by the way we have treated the weakest of our species over the past 45 years. Myself and pro-life advocates everywhere are ready to help people who are suffering the effects of a society which is embracing abortion. We know that our job will never be done in that sense and, more personally, Christians never expect our job to be over.
Knowing God helps us discover what we're meant to do in the time we're given on this earth. As Christians learn about God, we learn to care about what He cares about. He cares about His creation, so when it's being destroyed, it grieves Him and it has to grieve us. When abortion is over, the grief will still be there. We have to be ready to turn our care to the area of need. Today, there are so many areas of need. Right now, I'm concentrating on one of those areas in one college campus at a time, one person at a time. I told William that when this area is settled, with God's help, I will move to help whomever needs me. That's just how it goes. I can live my life no other way. Because if I believe God has the end of abortion in His plan, I have to believe He has a plan for what comes after.
I'm crying now as I write this. I want it to end. There are approximately 2,500 abortions every day in the U.S. alone. On the days I spent in New Mexico, around 7,500 lives were lost. At this rate, by the time Christmas rolls around, the U.S. will reach 60 million killed in 45 years. I have to believe it could stop.
Father God, please let there be an end to abortion. Give your people the humility, the strength, the grace, the compassion to extend Your love to every human being. Today, tomorrow, and after abortion is gone. Because the work will never be done, but Your faithfulness endures to all generations.
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