It is an honor to speak and stand with you at the 2022 Celebrate Life Rally. I want to thank the Archdiocese of Denver and Respect Life Denver for this privilege.
We are here to add our voice and bear witness to the truth. Colorado Christian University joins with you to boldly proclaim the right to life. We are proudly pro-life, pro-birth, pro-baby, pro-mother, and anti-abortion. We believe that life comes from God. The Bible is clear that life and personhood begin before birth (Ps. 139:13; Lk. 1:41). Human life begins at conception–that baby is a little human being, not a clump of cells, but a little person. Human persons are entitled by God, natural law, and our Constitution to life! Abortion ends a human being’s life. Killing an unborn child is wrong. Doing it up to the moment of birth and beyond is inhuman.
On this issue, contemporary America has a massive justice blind spot! We are so immersed in the spirit of the age that we don’t even recognize our abortion extremism. We are blind to it. Up until 1973, (the year of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision) abortion was considered an unethical violation of Western medical ethics. But now, so many think nothing of inserting a tool into a mother’s womb to crush the head of her baby so that the baby’s lifeless body can be vacuumed out of her uterus. And we call this a right! Well, it is not right. It is barbaric!
We have become:
A culture that celebrates choice and convenience, but is blind to the dignity of the baby in the womb
A culture that has lost the basis for human dignity
A culture that has aborted 62 million babies since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973
A culture that puts no limits on abortion, pushes for federally funded abortions on demand, all the way up to the moment of birth, and even after birth if necessary
A culture where preborn bodies are being viewed as products; commodities for sale, but not gifts, with a government that forces everyone else to subsidize it!
We are living in an extreme age.
But this year, we may see a breakthrough. Many of us sense a change is coming as the nation awaits the Supreme Court decision on the Dobbs case. Will it bring a change in direction? Back in 1973, in Roe vs. Wade, SCOTUS took the issue away from the American people and imposed one policy on all 50 states. They superimposed a right to abortion onto the Constitution that does not exist! Their decision was wrong about the personhood of the fetus and hopelessly unscientific!
We are gearing up for when Roe vs. Wade is overturned. When it is, there will be some major changes. Most abortion policy making will revert to the state and local levels. Some states will outlaw abortion, some will add restrictions. Others like California, New York, Oregon, and Colorado will become travel destinations for women who come here to get an abortion. We will likely see an increase in abortion workers who come here to Colorado. Add to that the eventuality of abortion pills becoming more readily available by mail. So, our challenges will by no means be over, if the Dobbs decision reverses Roe vs. Wade. Rather, policy battles will become local.
What will then be our job? Much like now, it will be to speak the truth in love and point to alternatives. Much like now, it will be to provide support for women facing unexpected pregnancies, helping them choose life. Much like now, it will involve supporting those life-affirming pregnancy care centers that serve these women. Much like now, it will involve proclaiming the gospel, preaching God’s grace to sinners through the atoning work of Christ. Much like now, it will involve the spiritual weapon of intercessory prayer, relying on the One giver of life who knit us together, pleading for justice and change. However, unlike now, it will involve working for changed laws on the state level, and pushing legislation that promotes a culture of life and not death, as an example, the fetal heart beat bills that we are seeing passed in other states. And, our most important on-going job will be to work to persuade the minds and hearts of a new generation of young people, to winsomely but courageously contend for life!
On this latter note let me tell you that CCU is raising the next gen of pro-life leaders! We are preparing students to stand for pro-life policies in a post Roe Society. You may not know this but CCU is one of the most pro-life universities in America. Our board of trustees made advancing the sanctity of life a strategic priority of the university! I know there are other pro-life schools, but I also know of none where the board has done that and the administration and faculty are committed to that!
Our student leadership is pro-life. CCU for Life is one of the prominent student clubs on campus. Our students volunteer at local crisis pregnancy centers providing support for women. In 2020, CCU students were the only university students in America asked to lead the National March for Life in Washington, which is still the biggest annual human rights demonstration in the world. We sent 180 students, faculty, and administration leaders to this event and they were transformed! The university is also a voice in supporting pro-life legislation in our state through the work of the Centennial Institute. We will be working to stop the Reproductive Health Equity Act, an effort to enshrine unrestricted abortion in Colorado law.
We want to change America’s thought life and conscience on this issue! We are preparing our students to continue to stand for pro-life policies in a post Roe society! And so my message to you pro-lifers gathered here today is that you are NOT alone! God has placed us in Colorado, at this time, in this new season, for a reason. This is a time to stand together. We need teachers, mothers, fathers, pastors, artists, nurses, business leaders, politicians, writers, activists, all working together—to not be silent, but rather to address the sanctity of life, and recommit ourselves to work for change.
Thank you for what you are doing.
May God strengthen you, and bless you, and give you vision for the part you will play in the days ahead! Thank you very much.