“We will be ready when any ruling is issued,” Biden said.
President Biden shared his plan to codify Roe, telling the American people, “If the Court does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose.”
Pleading for the American people to elect more pro-choice Senators and Representatives this November to control the Senate and the House, the president said, “We will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.”
Politico wrote that this is the first time in modern history that a draft decision has been disclosed to the public while a case was still pending.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement, Daniel Darling, called the leak “an unprecedented assault on this sacred institution of American life.”
Darling believes that the leak seems to be an attempt to apply “maximum pressure on the Justices set to strike down Roe.” Harassment from social circles, media outlets, and others looking to dig up dirt on them for blackmail purposes to swing their vote will most likely occur. Therefore, Darling said, we must fervently pray for the justices not to “yield to the inevitable mobs,” but have courage to hold to the votes the draft suggests.
Barriers were set up in front of the Supreme Court building Monday night after Politico published the leaked draft. According to Fox5 News, pro-choice and pro-life protestors were outside the Washington D.C. building within the hour of the leak’s release.
If Roe is eventually overturned, Darling gives three responses Christians should have. The first is that Christians should “rejoice at the justice handed down by the highest Court in the land.” Next, “Christians should lament the millions of babies whose lives were snuffed out in the name of convenience, each an image-bearer of the Almighty,” and lastly, “the pro-life movement should be prepared for the days ahead.”
“The same invisible armies of compassion that have ministered to mothers and babies in crisis must continue the work, in cities and communities around the country,” Darling says. “After 50 years, we cannot grow weary in well doing until the law everywhere recognizes what Scripture has already declared: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’ (Jeremiah 1:5).”
Overturning Roe won’t ban abortion in America. Rather it would strip away federal protections abortion has possessed for the last 50 years and allow states to determine whether to enact abortion restrictions.
Christians Respond to the Leaked Draft
After the the Politico piece was released, many Christians, including leaders within the church, took to social media, sharing their thoughts on the SCOTUS draft opinion.
“Praise God,” President and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and of Samaritan’s Purse Franklin Graham tweeted. “The Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade according Politico, which received a supposedly leaked copy of the opinion draft. I don’t know if this report is true, but if it is, it is an answer to many years of prayer.”
Southern Baptist Convention Presidential nominee and Grace Baptist Church senior pastor Tom Ascol posted, “A friend and I were walking a river trail last night when word came that Roe v Wade may be overturned by SCOTUS. We stopped and thanked the Lord, asking Him to abolish the child sacrifice of abortion from our land. May He grant His people courage to settle for nothing less!”
Attorney Jenna Ellis, who helped defend John MacArthur and Grace Community Church for holding church services during California’s COVID-19 lockdowns, said, “Unless this leaker is exposed and prosecuted, the trust between the Justices and their staff will be irreparably damaged.”
Outspoken pro-life activist and former NFL tight-end Benjamin Watson shared on his tweeted, “A leak on such a crucial decision is unacceptable. As contentious as this issue is, such an action is dangerous. No matter how SCOTUS votes, women and children deserve care and compassion. Men must lead. A ruling won’t make this issue disappear. In fact, the work will increase.”
