South Carolina Baptist leaders responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case that overturned Roe v. Wade with jubilation — and a renewed resolve to protect life on the state level.

The Court’s decision, however, does not ban abortion, but rather returns the matter to voters in each state to decide. The fight to end abortion, thus, is entering a new phase, they explained, adding that there is still work to be done.

For 50 years, pro-life advocates have prayed for the day when Roe v. Wade would be reversed, South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Director-Treasurer Gary Hollingsworth noted. “While this is a great step forward for those who believe the unborn should be protected, the work has just begun,” he said.

“A great part of that work will be to help mobilize God’s people to be more proactive in caring for children whose lives will now be spared, which is why foster care and adoption ministries are so vital,” Hollingsworth said.

“This is a great opportunity for every church to find tangible ways to show the love of Jesus to the most vulnerable among us,” Hollingsworth urged South Carolina Baptists.

Recalling that he was only nine days old when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land, Wayne Bray, president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, said that fact “puts the impact of this evil in perspective” for him.

“That’s 49 years of the legalized murder of over 63 million unborn babies. It’s unfathomable to me how it’s taken this long for our society to correct this evil, but our stand for life must not end now,” said the pastor of First Baptist Church, Simpsonville.

“Christians across this country must now provide the care and compassion necessary to help make abortion in the individual states unimaginable,” said Bray, urging the Church to rise up in love and respond in grace.

“Yes, we are grateful to God for this answered prayer, but we must now be gracious to our fellow man,” Bray urged South Carolina Baptists. “The church must not push people away from the cross with antagonizing rhetoric or hateful aggression. No, now is the time to demonstrate that, like Christ, we are full of both grace and truth (John 1:14). This is what it truly means to follow Jesus.”

Tony Beam, director of the Office of Public Policy for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, rejoiced, “June 24, 2022 will long be remembered as the day the national nightmare of abortion came to an end.”

The question of how life will be protected in the womb is now in the hands of the states, Beam pointed out. “Reasonable, God-fearing people will move swiftly to extend legal protection to babies in the womb from the moment of conception,” he added.

Beam reported that South Carolina’s Heartbeat Bill is now in effect, and the South Carolina General Assembly already has several bills that will ban all abortion, beginning at conception. “Soon, our dream of a state where all life is protected … where the most innocent among us are allowed to flourish … will become a reality,” he predicted.

But the church’s pro-life work is not over, he concurred. “We must be ready as the Body of Christ to work together to increase, strengthen, and improve our foster care system. We must support and work to extend our Christian adoption centers and crisis pregnancy centers,” Beam urged. “We must be prepared to meet the needs of women who need our help as they embrace a new ethos of life!

“Now that abortion is illegal, we must continue to spread the Truth of God’s Word to make abortion unthinkable as more people embrace the Truth,” he urged.

On the national level, Southern Baptist leaders also were rejoicing in the Supreme Court’s decision as “a true turning point in the pro-life movement,” while refocusing on the pro-life work still ahead.

“More lives are now protected today than yesterday,” said Brent Leatherwood, acting president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “As this chapter comes to a close, we must understand this is not the end of our important work,” he continued. “A consistent, convictional pro-life witness is needed now more than ever in state legislatures and local communities.

“So let us rejoice that we live in a nation where past injustices can still be corrected,” he continued, “as we also roll our sleeves up to save pre-born lives, serve vulnerable mothers, and support families in our communities.”