Reflections On the 34th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade

Today (January 22, 2008) is the 34th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history, the Roe vs. Wade Supreme court decision of January 22, 1973 which forced every American state to strike down their laws preventing abortion on demand. Because the simple phrase “34th Anniversary” doesn't really carry the weight it should, here are some comparative statistics that should put the effects of that decision in a more stark light:

Population of Iraq: 26,074,906
Population of Afghanistan: 29,928,987
Population of Canada: 31,006,347
Population of California (the most populous US state:) 35,484,453
Total Number of Legal Abortions in the USA since 1973: 48,589,993

If abortions continue at anything like their current rate, in less than a decade we will have topped the death toll for the costliest conflict in human history, the Second World War, which killed 54 million people. Americans, will have legally conducted the greatest bloodletting in human history at home in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

So to mark this sad anniversary, here is a sermon I preached reflecting on the subject and what we can hope for!