Here is the press release:
The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) welcomes today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson that overturns federal abortion rights based on Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The ruling represents the most significant change in abortion jurisprudence for nearly 50 years, returning decisions on abortion policy to citizens and the legislators they elect.
“God is the author of life, and every human life from conception to death has inestimable worth,” said Walter Kim, NAE president. “Under Roe v. Wade, our ability to consider policies that safeguard life at the most vulnerable stage was severely limited. While the Dobbs decision doesn’t resolve all the questions on abortion policy, it does remove an impediment to considering pro-life concerns.”
In a court amicus brief, the NAE argued that the U.S. Constitution does not create a right to an abortion of an unborn child before viability or at any other stage of pregnancy. The NAE welcomes new opportunities to engage in creating policies that protect women and children, and will seek to engage in substantive conversations around the moral complexities that surround the issues of life. The NAE has long advocated for both protection of the unborn and family-friendly policies that support vulnerable mothers and children.
The NAE believes meaningful public discourse on difficult issues, such as abortion policy, is vital to a flourishing democracy. The Dobbs decision has evoked strong responses — from deep disappointment to elation. The NAE joins with others in calling for peaceful reactions that avoid violence, threats or vandalism. The NAE urges Christians who respect the image of God in all people and who confess our own limitations to listen respectfully and carefully to those who disagree with us.
Kim said, “The Bible reveals God’s calling and care for persons before they are born and for the entirety of their lives (Psalm 139). We must do all we can to support vulnerable women and children and to honor all life. We pray that God would guide our country into a deeper commitment to honor the precious gift of life and to strengthen families as the foundation for a flourishing society.”
Kim writes, “Under Roe v. Wade, our ability to consider policies that safeguard life at the most vulnerable stage was severely limited. …. The NAE welcomes new opportunities to engage in creating policies that protect women and children,”
I’m not buying this spin. Evangelicals’ ability to consider policy has never been limited at all, much less “severely limited.”
For 50 years there have been proposals for policies that would reduce abortions: increased access to contraception, comprehensive sex education, family leave, universal access to health care, pre- and post-natal care, subsidized child care, etc. Evangelicals and the Christian Right not only refused to consider these policies, they categorically dismissed them out of hand. Absolute criminalization was the only policy Evangelicals would even mention.
There is nothing special about this moment that presents “new opportunities;” they have been there all along. In fact, had they been taken earlier, this moment might not be so traumatic or even necessary (and many abortions would have been avoided). And there is no reason to believe that Evangelicals will be receptive to new policies now that they have gotten what they want (they are most likely to push harder on national criminalization).
Second this analysis.
Justin: All true. I think the Christian Right is lost on this issue. But the NAE has done a great job of coming to grips with some of its past. They have changed a lot of their positions over the years to reflect, what I believe to be, a more biblical approach. Whether it is trickling down to the masses is another issue.