Deeply flawed and alarming. That was my reaction last week as I read the leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion that would repeal Roe v. Wade, unravelling nearly 50 years of judicial precedent and placing abortion rights into the hands of state lawmakers.

If the final ruling mirrors this leaked draft, as many as 28 states are likely to outright ban or severely limit abortion rights. This decision would deeply impact women and pregnant people, especially low-income people and people of color who will be disproportionately harmed.

As a Christian, I believe we must protect the rights of women and pregnant people to make their own reproductive health decisions, a right that has been protected since 1973 by the Supreme Court as a fundamental liberty under the 14th Amendment. As a Christian, I also want to ensure there are fewer unwanted pregnancies by ensuring everyone has access to holistic health care and the economic support to care for their children. I wish these two sentences weren’t so controversial, but they are.

To many on the Right, my support for women’s rights sounds like I’m dismissing concerns about the rights of an unborn child. To many on the Left, acknowledging that I want to decrease the number of abortions sounds like a slippery slope argument that will result in the erosion of the right to choose and will further stigmatize those who elect to have an abortion. But like many Americans, my views on abortion are complex, comprising a both/and perspective that’s been increasingly unable to find a home in our polarized politics.

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