June 24, 2022 will be remembered as a landmark day in American history. The United States Supreme Court released its ruling on a Mississippi abortion law that turned back the impact of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling which legalized abortion in all 50 states. Pro-life proponents are overjoyed, while pro-abortion advocates are outraged. The debate over abortion has polarized America more than any other issue in recent years.

The decision does not criminalize abortion in the nation. What has been settled, for now, is whether the United States Constitution inherently guarantees a woman’s right to abortion. The court has said it does not. The key clause of the court’s ruling says this: “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey (another court decision upholding legalized abortion) are overruled: and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and elected representatives”. The court further held that “...the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition.” In fact, before the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973, more than half of the states considered abortion a criminal act.

The abortion debate is not over. It is now returned to the states for their legislatures to decide. Many states already have laws permitting abortion. Some, like New York, permit an “abortion” after a fully developed child is born. Various state laws limit abortion to within the first trimester of pregnancy. Now the states will become the new battleground. While this is considered a “victory” for democracy and due process within a federal form of government, the greater spiritual and moral question of taking a human life from a mother’s womb remains.

Will the abortion rate in America recede? We certainly hope and pray it will. However, recent statistics show abortions have been on the rise. Approximately 1 in 5 pregnancies end with an aborted life. Translated into reality, this means in five years there will be 20 percent fewer children on the playgrounds than would have been. Since 1973 more than 63 million legal abortions have been performed. That’s in a mid-size, modern nation. When you consider the Nazi Holocaust of World War II killed nearly six million Jews in Europe, this is more than ten times that amount. Abortion in America has been called the “silent holocaust.”

The United Church of God has had a clear voice on this issue. Beyond Today magazine and television have featured articles and programming that clearly shows what the Bible teaches on the sanctity of human life.

The taking of life is not a political issue. It is a moral and spiritual matter. It is a sin. Life belongs to God. He created and sustains all life on this planet.

God through His Word speaks clearly on the sanctity of human life from conception in the womb of a woman. In Genesis 2:7 we read: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." God created human life. His breath animated Adam, the first man. As Creator, God holds the judgment about life.

In the book of Exodus we see the Ten Commandments giving the command not to murder. In Exodus 20:13 it says: "You shall not murder." In Exodus 21:22 we read "If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely...he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine." Going on in verse 23 it says, "But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life." In other words, if the injury to the woman results in the death of the unborn, considered here in this verse a life, then it is called murder—murder in the first degree as we call it today. A life for a life. The Bible considers the unborn in the mother's womb a life—nothing less. It is considered murder to take an action that destroys that unborn life.

The scourge of abortion is a form of idolatry. It has been considered a human right a woman has by virtue of choice. When humans decide to take life from the womb of a woman for the sake of convenience or personal right as a matter of liberty, they cross the divide between man and God, and take to themselves the prerogative only God has—the authority to decide right and wrong. Man puts himself as God. That is idolatry, and for that all nations, not only America, will suffer the judgment of God when it comes upon the Earth.

We rejoice in the Supreme Court decision but know it is only one issue where the court has decided matters contrary to God’s law. In 2015 the court ruled that same sex marriage is legal. Marriage is of God and is defined as an institution between a make and a female (Matthew 19:4-6). Will the court rescind that decision as well? We should pray they do but it is not likely to be soon, if at all.

What can we learn from this decision? The story of Abraham negotiating with God over the fate of Sodom offers a thought. When he learned God’s intent to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin Abraham sought to convince God to change His mind if there could be found a righteous remnant. Starting with a bid of 45, Abraham eventually got agreement that the cities would be spared if there were ten righteous to be found. In the end not even ten could be found as only three made it out alive (Genesis 19:24-33).

We do not know what the righteous remnant might be in America at this moment. Only God, “the Judge of all the earth” knows the answer. But we know we are to stand as a watchman and cry aloud to a people to repent and turn to God with a new heart. This we should do with renewed fervor considering this recent decision. God has those He will yet call to salvation. May we be about our Father’s business in proclaiming the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.