The Church That Fights for Life

Pro-life activists around the US celebrated when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. After almost half a century of federally sanctioned abortions, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization seemed a “monumental victory for life,” finally promising to honor the unborn as image bearers.

Four years later, however, the fight against a culture of death continues. In the past, Roe v. Wade gave pro-lifers a common, united enemy. Dobbs hasn’t eliminated this enemy; instead, it has unleashed chaos among the states and fractured the battlefield into a decentralized conflict. Christians can no longer hold out for federal solutions. With the end of Roe, the war moved from Washington, DC, to our communities and backyards.

Culture of Death at the State Level

My home state of Minnesota has become one of the clearest battlegrounds in this fight. It is radically pro-abortion, ranking alongside New York and California in its policies. Minnesota has a constitutional right to abortion (Doe v. Gomez). In 2023, the Minnesota governor signed the Protect Reproductive Options Act into law, which further enshrined abortion access and limited the state’s regulation of abortion. Minnesota even provides protection for out-of-state abortion seekers, serving as an “Abortion Access Island” for the Midwest.

Future generations will be dumbfounded that we rationalized our way into murdering children in the womb. It is a sad world that accepts the killing of more than sixty million unborn children. It is a sad world where mothers and fathers permit the destruction of the very children entrusted to their care. The cost of abortion is immense. The guilt and emotional scars endure for a lifetime. Even if laws change, a greater danger remains present: the devaluation of vulnerable life made in the image of God. The problem is not merely what we permit but who we are becoming.

In the midst of such evil enshrined by the state, what are Christians to do? How do those committed to protecting life respond? How do we not lose hope and continue to labor for life when efforts across the country have fragmented?

Age-Old Battle

Although the battleground has changed, the struggle to protect vulnerable life is as old as time itself. Satan has wielded infanticide as a tool from the beginning. Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the newborn males to slow Israel’s growth (Exodus 1:15–16). When this failed, he ordered all the people to cast every newborn baby boy into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). Imagine the terror of such state-sponsored infanticide. Pharaoh effectively deputized an entire nation to destroy Israel’s sons, seeking to extinguish God’s people before his promises could unfold.

Even God’s people were not immune to killing their own children. God repeatedly judged Israel for child sacrifice. Whether they sacrificed children to Molech (Leviticus 18:21) or burned their sons and daughters alive (Jeremiah 7:31), Israel participated in a culture of death, staining their own hands with innocent blood.

“Pray for a day when we remember abortion as a tragic chapter of history, and a culture of death gives way to a culture of life.”

In Jesus’s day, the violence continued. Herod the Great channeled the wickedness of Pharaoh, ordering the murder of boys two years old and under in his attempt to eliminate the newborn King (Matthew 2:16–18). The callous killing of children has occurred from the beginning, often to eradicate God’s people and short-circuit his promises.

But nothing — not even the aims of the bloodthirsty — can thwart God’s will.

Five Ways We Fight for Life

It is easy to grow weary and discouraged when the laws, institutions, and momentum are moving in the wrong direction. Yet the God who prevailed over the plagues in Egypt and protected his Son from Herod’s sword still reigns over our statehouses and legal books. How do churches in pro-abortion states cling to this truth? How do we not lose heart and grow weary of doing good?

ACKNOWLEDGE

First, we acknowledge that it is indeed a war worth waging. God calls us to protect life (Exodus 20:13). Life is a divine gift to display God’s goodness and glory. As children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3–5), pregnancy is not a disease to be eliminated but a blessing to embrace. Satan loves abortion because it devalues life and undermines God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. We recognize this is a spiritual battle against the forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, our primary enemy is not our political opponents but the spiritual forces of darkness that blind minds and distort God’s good design. This is a war worth fighting.

PRAY

Second, we pray. We pray as Jesus taught: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). We pray for Christians to stand and fight for life. We pray for abortionists to become former abortionists. We pray for those guilty of abortion to repent, heal, and place their faith in Christ. We pray against a culture of personal autonomy at the expense of vulnerable life in the womb. We pray that people see they exist to glorify God with their lives and bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

Consider gathering your church to pray for the unborn, for vulnerable mothers, against the culture of death, and for those working in pregnancy centers. We pray with hope because God changes hearts.

PREACH

Third, we preach. We preach that every human being — from the embryo to the elderly — is made in the image of God. We preach against the horrors of abortion, euthanasia, and the minimization of human dignity. We show the people in our churches, from the Scriptures, how God views life. We lift their eyes to see their God-given purpose, value, and dignity. In our preaching, we invite those who have had abortions to repent and experience healing at the foot of the cross. We confront visitors and guests with the truth that abortion is evil and forgiveness is possible. We disciple Christians to see the value of life at every stage and age. We preach because truth renews minds.

PARTNER

Fourth, we partner with ministries and people doing on-the-ground work. Churches can partner with pregnancy centers and ministries that provide practical support to women and families. Or we can find ways to be involved in adoption and foster care and to come alongside families facing crisis. Every year, our church passes out baby bottles to support our local pregnancy center. When the bottles return filled with money, these funds provide ultrasounds, counseling, diapers, and life-saving support to pregnant women with few options.

Additionally, churches can celebrate life whenever possible. Our congregation announces births or adoptions to publicly welcome little ones into our church family. This small but significant practice celebrates God-given life. We partner because mothers need tangible support.

ENGAGE

Fifth, engage in the public and political spheres to advocate for life. Petition your local leaders to uphold the value of life. Pray, vote, and consider writing and dialoguing with your legislators so they hear your voice on this issue. We can build relationships with local leaders, attend town halls, write letters, make phone calls, speak persistently on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, and pray for those who represent us. We can make a biblical case for the dignity and sanctity of life and invite others to uphold these principles. We engage because laws teach.

A Vision of Victory

Imagine with me a society that views children not as burdens but as blessings. Imagine a world where no woman fears abandonment. Where fathers gladly embrace their responsibility as protectors. Where abortion clinics go out of business because their traffic has dried up. Where people don’t murder children in the womb but rather view them as gifts from God. Imagine a culture that instructs children to know, love, and treasure Christ. This is the world Jesus is ushering in through the transformative power of the gospel.

Pray that abortion would become increasingly rare. Pray for the church to disciple its members to value and cherish all life. Pray for a world where pregnancy centers have abundant resources to serve their communities, where foster care lists disappear because Christians rise up, and where the gospel takes root more and more within every heart and mind. Pray for a day when we remember abortion as a tragic chapter of history, and a culture of death gives way to a culture of life. And pray for the final day when these former things will pass away, and Christ will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).