I have lived in the PNW for 17 years and pastored my church for that entire time. Throughout my years, people would ask from time to time, “do you think you’ll ever move back to Texas?” We had thought about it at times but never followed through. In these last years when asked that question, the answer has been a resounding, “no.” If pressed further to explain why, my answer has been simple, “I have daughters.”

I am deeply saddened, but not surprised, by the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. And because the decision spells out the issue as a moral one, it falls squarely in my court to respond. You can disagree with me, as long as you do so respectfully.

I don’t think this decision is moral.

Let me begin by saying as a Christian, I believe in the sanctity of life.

As an American, I also believe that my personal religious beliefs don’t get to dictate what others are able to say or do. Freedom means they have the choice to do what they will, even if it offends personal deeply held religious beliefs.

I believe in the sanctity of life. In my reading of the Hebrew Scriptures, I understand that life begins when God’s breath is present. It is God who breathes life into human beings giving them life.

There is much debate about when life begins. For me, as a devout Christian, it begins with the arrival of breath. It ends with the leaving of the breath. I have been present at many bedsides to witness this sacred moment when the breath leaves, when the body changes, becoming lifeless and inanimate.

We can, as religious people, debate about this (when, exactly, life begins), but we have no right to push legislation or to take away the rights of freedom, privacy, and autonomy of women and families in making decisions about reproduction.

Sanctity of life is not just about existence; it is about dignity and thriving. It is about valuing people and helping them live to their greatest potential. We do not do that in this country. Motherhood is a hardship in the United States: We do not have universal healthcare, we do not have universal childcare, we do not have paid family leave, and we do not have adequate social programs to address child abuse, child poverty, children with special needs, or child hunger. We have a cultural narrative of shaming women who utilize what meager government assistance is available to survive. Women are shamed if they are pregnant outside of wedlock, shamed if they have abortions, shamed if they keep their babies, shamed if they need help.

Today’s Supreme Court decision does nothing to address the terrible hardships that women face, and it will not stop abortions, it will only make them more dangerous and deadly for women. If we, as Christians, believe in the sanctity of life, we must believe in the sanctity of a mother’s life.  

Making abortion illegal also removes abortion as healthcare, which it is. If you’ve ever had to sit with a mother (as I have as a chaplain), whose baby has died in utero and who is undergoing an abortion to deliver the baby and ensure she does not become septic, then you know the gut-wrenching choices many women (many of whom already have young children at home) make, often late in their pregnancies, to preserve their own health.  

In many states passing total abortion bans, there is little to no exception for the health of the mother and no exception for rape and incest. This is completely unacceptable.

In the state of Texas, which has enacted a total abortion ban, I might have the privilege and resources to get my daughters to another state where they could receive the care they need or at least be treated as whole human beings capable of making their own decisions. But many, many women and families will not have the privilege and resources to do so. So the Supreme Court Decision to overturn Roe v. Wade accelerates a system of ongoing inequity and injustice — a system where human life is not sanctified with dignity and the means to thrive. Therefore, it is my deeply held Christian belief that it is immoral, unjust and wrong.

And my deeply held beliefs will keep me moving forward to try to advocate and be a voice for those without one.

-Rochelle+