A recent column from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention reflected on the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s historic Dobbs decision by calling for continued pro-life advocacy in both the legislative arena and the Church.
While celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade as a significant victory that returned abortion policy to the states, Sidney Seibold, a policy intern with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), argues that legal wins alone cannot build a culture that recognizes the sanctity of every human life. Instead, she exhorts Christians to continue championing life through public policy, local ministry and active engagement within their churches.
“Regardless of where it happens, advocacy is, and always will be, fundamentally important to the Christian faith. If we hope to change the culture, we need bold, convictional voices in the public square who are committed to Christ-centric, countercultural living,” Seibold writes. “But advocacy is not exclusive to public policy professionals and legislators. We need advocates in every discipline of life—whether that be in the corporate world, the construction site, the classroom, even in the Church. The Church cannot depend on the legislative system alone to promote, establish, and keep moral order.”
Seibold continues, “The goal was never for mankind to depend on congressional or judicial powers to legislate morality—for the Christian, the goal for the Church is to disciple it.”
Care Net likewise emphasizes the call to discipleship and the sanctity of life, encouraging churches to put faith into action by walking alongside women, men and families facing unexpected pregnancies.
The recent ERLC article’s emphasis on the need for Church engagement closely aligns with Care Net’s long-standing conviction that the pro-life movement cannot rely on legislation alone. Care Net’s network of 1,200 pregnancy centers provides compassionate care and practical support to women facing unplanned pregnancies, but lasting transformation happens when local churches step in to disciple women, men and families after a pregnancy decision has been made. While Dobbs changed the legal landscape, the Church remains uniquely positioned to change hearts through the hope of the Gospel.
On a recent CareCast, Roland Warren, Care Net’s president and CEO, and Vincent DiCaro, chief outreach officer, discussed this issue, noting that laws are not the end but a means to an end.
“As Christians, that end is making disciples for Jesus Christ,” Roland said.
On the CareCast, he noted that while overturning Roe was an important legal victory, it does not satisfy what Christians should ultimately want for a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy. “Overturning Roe doesn’t answer the essential question,” Roland said, explaining that the answer is found in God’s design for family and His call to discipleship.
“A strategy that is just about helping the mother and saving the baby doesn’t give you that. Providing material support… going to the polls doesn’t get you there. You cannot get the answer to that central question without (integrating) God’s design for family, God’s call to discipleship, this call not just to have life, but to have abundant life.”
While Dobbs changed the legal landscape, the work of pro-life advocates and the Church remain as crucial as ever. Through its Pro Abundant Life vision, rooted in Jesus’ words in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” Care Net will continue to equip churches to partner with pregnancy centers in offering practical support, making disciples, and helping women, men and families experience the abundant life found in Christ.