First Things

About the author: First Things is a monthly journal that discusses issues of religion and public life.

The Supreme Court's ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973 has created a society that endorses the large-scale killing of unborn children. The majority of the American public never supported—and still do not accept—"liberalized" abortion laws; therefore, the radical pro-abortion regime created by Roe is a violation of the democratic principle of self-government. Moreover, abortion is a monumental act of social and moral injustice that is comparable to slavery.

Twenty-five years ago, on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States, in what numerous constitutional scholars have called an act of raw judicial power, abolished the abortion laws of all fifty states. The news went out that the Court had settled the controversy over...