Why We Should Celebrate the Anniversary of the End of Roe v. Wade: What the Doctrine Says
- latterdaysaintsfor
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
3 years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States of America overturned Roe v. Wade. Now, each individual state decides whether to permit abortion and in what ways they might restrict it.
Since then, we've heard many people—even members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—express disappointment or anger over the Dobbs v. Jackson decision of 2022.
How should we feel about it? Here are 3 doctrinal quotes that make it clear to us that we should be glad about the Dobbs decision...
"For the wrath of God is provoked by governments that... legalize abortion." - Russell M. Nelson
"We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society." - "The Family: A Proclamation to the World"
"If we say we are anti-abortion in our personal life but pro-choice in public policy, we are saying that we will not use our influence to establish public policies that encourage righteous choices on matters God's servants have defined as serious sins. I urge Latter-day Saints who have taken that position to ask themselves which other grievous sins should be decriminalized or smiled upon by the law due to this theory that persons should not be hampered in their choices." - Dallin H. Oaks
To be clear, there is still a lot to be disappointed about. The end of Roe v. Wade didn't mean an end to abortion in the United States. (Sadly, abortion has actually gone up nationally.) But what the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision did was allow the states to choose for themselves. Before, every US state had to legally allow abortiosn, with only some allowances for certain limitations.
Now, our voice matters more. Through who we elect to our state leadership and through state amendments, our vote matters more, and our influence matters more. There is hope for more lives to be saved, and for the blood of our children to not be upon our own heads.
So celebrate! Kneel and say a prayer of thanks to God today for this gift of hope. Then, let's stand up and get to work together.
Find over 300 more doctrinal sources to inform and inspire your pro-life views at our Doctrinal Library.
What if the Supreme Court made a decision that gave states the power to legalize school shootings? What if many states then enshrined a "right" to shoot up schools in their constitutions? Furthermore - what if even those states that ban school shootings nevertheless let violators free with no punishment whatsoever? Would we celebrate those outcomes? Of course not. We should not celebrate Dobbs for the same reason. Abortion should not be left to the states any more than school shootings should be left to the states. Yes, Roe was bad and unconstitutional. But Dobbs is not much better.