Leaders in the pro-life movement in Maryland welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling striking down the Roe v. Wade decision that had made abortion legal for the last half century, but they cautioned there remains much work to build a culture of life.
“I think it’s good news for our nation,” said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “I think it is good news for the cause of life. And I also think it is a moment for us as Catholics, as believers, as people of goodwill, now to redouble our efforts to surround women in difficult pregnancies with love and care and services. So it is both a victory but also a day of challenge.”
The archbishop spoke to the Catholic Review while on a pilgrimage to Oberammergau, Germany. He emphasized that Catholics must work harder to convince everyone of the sanctity of life and “to love both the mother and the child.”
“I realize that this victory in the Supreme Court simply brings the issue back to the states,” he said. “In Maryland, abortion remains the law of the land, sadly. But I think our work is to win over minds and hearts right now and to surround mothers in difficult pregnancies with love, care, compassion and necessary services.”
Dr. Marie-Alberte Boursiquot, past president of the Catholic Medical Association and a parishioner of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore who is a Black woman, said the Supreme Court “correctly overturned a very bad law, which is within its purview to do.”
“Just a couple of centuries ago, it was legal in this country to enslave people who shared my ethnic background,” the physician said. “Had these bad laws not been overturned, I couldn’t possibly be where I am today.”
Jenny Kraska, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, noted that Maryland has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the country. She and other leaders of the Maryland bishops’ public-policy advocacy group in Annapolis will encourage lawmakers in the next legislative session to support bipartisan legislation to help pregnant women and their families, she said.
Kraska pointed to efforts such as the Catholic Conference’s “Helping Hope Bloom” initiative that provides resources for parishes and others to support women. There are numerous other pro-life efforts such as the U.S. bishops’ “Walking with Moms in Need,” the Gabriel Network, pro-life pregancy resource centers and Project Rachel that support women to choose life or assist those dealing with the aftermath of an abortion.
On the day of the landmark ruling, the Archdiocese of Baltimore launched a resource page on its website to provide information for assisting women in a post-Roe world.
“This day, as historic as it is, should compel all of us to do everything we can to do even more (to assist pregnant women and their families),” Kraska said.
In the weeks leading up to the high court’s decision, several pro-life pregnancy centers around the country – including at least two in Maryland – were targets of vandalism and violence. Kraska said she prays there will be no more attacks.
“The threat is very real,” she said. “I hope that cooler heads will prevail in the coming days.”
Gina Ruppert, executive director of Center for Pregnancy Concerns on Howard Street and a parishioner of Sacred Heart in Glyndon, said in a statement that the center “remains open and undeterred as we continue to protect the physical, emotional and spiritual lives of women and their unborn children in downtown Baltimore and the surrounding region.”
Ruppert said the CPC was in direct communication with local law enforcement, the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, national affiliate groups and other pregnancy centers in the area to share information and coordinate efforts. She said the CPC reviewed security plans and implemented additional safety and evacuation measures at its three locations. Due to the threats of violence, CPC suspended having volunteers coming to centers, including dropping off material donations.
“As faithful Christians, we believe in the Lord’s grace, his transformative powers, and his plans for our ministry,” Ruppert said in the statement. “… While we remain hopeful in our uninterrupted ability to continue serving women and families in need, we ask for your intentional prayers for the protection of our ministry, clients, staff and property in the coming days.”
The court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was highly anticipated in the wake of the leak of an opinion draft a month earlier. The ruling states that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States. It also overturns Casey v. Planned Parenthood, the 1992 decision that affirmed Roe.
“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely – the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court’s opinion.”
Christopher Gunty, George Matysek Jr. and Gerry Jackson contributed to this story.
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