Supreme Court ruling is great news for free speech and for life

The Supreme Court continued its busy week yesterday. One of its rulings related to a California law requiring pro-life clinics to inform clients about state-funded abortions. Imagine a law requiring a Christian pastor to instruct the congregation about Islam or a Jewish rabbi to inform synagogue attenders about Buddhism.

The law violated the free speech of those who staff pro-life clinics, forcing them to deliver a message with which they personally disagreed. And, as best I can tell, it applied only to pro-life clinics. Abortion clinics were not required to notify patients of pro-life options.

I’m grateful to report that the US Supreme Court struck down this onerous law.

Making abortion unthinkable

The ruling highlights two facts.

One: It’s always too soon to stop fighting for life. Even though abortion has been legal in the US since 1973, pro-life supporters continue to make legal and cultural progress.

Abortion rates have fallen to their lowest rate since Roe v. Wade, and significant legal victories continue to be won. However, there is much more to do. More than 926,000 lives were lost to abortion in 2014, the last year for which data is available.

So long as abortion is legal, we must continue to pray and work to make it unthinkable.

Two: The courts are critical to our society. Just this month, the Supreme Court issued rulings on issues ranging from religious liberty to voter registration to redistricting to the president’s travel ban. As we pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), it is vital that we regularly intercede for those who lead and serve in our judicial system.

While yesterday’s ruling is enormously significant for free speech and for life, it points to a reality that is even more transcendent.

“This world is not our permanent home”

Paul taught us that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). “Citizenship” (politeuma) is derived from polis, the Greek…