Clapper to Roe: ‘We are grateful to God you are gone’

Goodbye Roe v. Wade.

For 49 years, five months and two days, you hurt our nation.

Through fabricated statistics and the manipulation of vulnerable women, you emerged from a lie to legalize abortion in all 50 states, in all nine months of pregnancy and for virtually any reason (or no reason at all).

You authorized abortion-on-demand in our nation, robbing us of over 60 million citizens who could have given our world so many gifts and blessings.

You permitted millions of moms and dads to be hurt by what was supposed to be just a choice.

You dehumanized our nation, elevating violence in the womb to a constitutional right. The reverberations of your impact have brought more destruction to our streets and communities.

You led men and women to depend on abortion to escape a “problem” rather than accept responsibility.

You divided us. Mother from father. Parent from child. Political party from political party. State from state.

Before you, abortion was certainly an issue. But you dumped jet fuel on the fire. We can only imagine that if you had never shown up, our nation could have handled abortion without the division of nearly 50 years.

But now you have been shown the door. Your time’s up.

And we are grateful to God you are gone.

Babies now have a right to their life in Louisiana and many other states in America. Once pro-abortion frivolous legal proceedings fizzle out, businesses that specialize in taking human life will close.

We should applaud all the pro-life people in this archdiocese, both living and deceased, who have given so much of their lives to make this day possible. Thank you for all you have done to pray, witness, give, vote, march, counsel, organize, support moms, and so much more.

But we know our work is not done. Our love must fill the gap where legal abortion was before.

We must support mothers, fathers and children in their time of need, both before and after birth. Without a doubt, we have been doing this in the pro-life movement since 1973 through pregnancy centers, adoption agencies and so many other private and public social services.

But we need to step up even more. Not only do we have to continue to bolster these ministries, but we also must carry out this mission of love in our own communities and parishes. As Archbishop Aymond has said, the U.S. bishops’ program called “Walking with Moms in Need” is a very important ministry to implement in your parish. Each of our churches needs to be a loving oasis for moms and dads both before and after birth where we can connect them with material support, medical services, housing, transportation and more. Each of us must communicate to the wider community that these resources are available. We encourage you to act now so that your church is a welcoming place of support.

After Roe, we can’t let the flame of the pro-life movement go away. We can’t forget what legal abortion has done to human lives and our society.

We must enhance our education to young and old alike about the dignity of each human life and the beauty of our God-given sexual dignity. Remember, it only takes one legislative session in Baton Rouge to enact a law to legalize abortion. It only takes one generation for public opinion to swing away from life. We must remain vigilant and proactive.

We must promote the loving option of adoption as a life-giving alternative for the mom, the baby and the family waiting for a child. We must provide healing to those hurt from past abortions. We must lend our voices to help other states protect life and even enact federal protections. Our mission to safeguard the rights of every precious baby can’t stop at the Louisiana state line.

There’s a lot left to do. But we are in a new era full of possibilities to protect life and support moms. With God’s grace, let’s march forward together to build an abortion-free America and a culture of life and love.

Ben Clapper is executive director of Louisiana Right to Life. He can be reached at [email protected].