First Things

About the author: First Things is a monthly journal published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education organization whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society.

The Founding Fathers built the United States on the premise of "ordered liberty," or liberty that stems from a moral truth. "Disordered liberty"—liberty derived from the denial of moral truth—is contrary to the Fathers' vision of America, and it threatens the constitutionally protected human right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The most pervasive example of disordered liberty is the power of the courts to establish laws without the consent of the governed, most notably in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion. Americans must work toward reversing Roe...