In case you do not know, Roe v. Wade was an American court case which rose up in the ranks to make it all the way to the Supreme Court to make abortions legal. This case involved Norma McCorvey (aka Jane Roe) who at the age of 21 years old found herself with an unwanted pregnancy. Her friends convinced her to lie and say she was raped so she could get a legal abortion in the state of Texas. It did not work, and Norma herself later admitted she had made up the story.1
At this same time two lawyers, Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, were seeking women who were interested in having abortions to build their case which they took to the Supreme Court. Norma signed their affidavit, but never appeared in court once. She gave birth to a daughter who she gave up for adoption.1
Norma became a Christian in 1994 and began to work for a pro-life movement called Operation Rescue. In a book she wrote in 1998 called Won by Love, she described the moment her view of abortion changed.1
“I was sitting in O.R.’s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. ‘Norma’, I said to myself, ‘They’re right’. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that’s a baby! It’s as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth – that’s a baby! I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn’t about ‘products of conception’. It wasn’t about ‘missed periods’. It was about children being killed in their mother’s wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit, I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion – at any point – was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear.”1
Can you imagine being a part of a legislation which has legally allowed 60 million human babies to be killed? She actually just passed away about a month ago, but she once said, “I am dedicated to spend the rest of my life undoing the law that bears my name.”2
Maybe you have heard about Norma McCorvey and maybe you haven’t. Are you surprised? I know I was. I couldn’t help but think about Paul who persecuted Christians and stood by to observe as they were stoned to death. Later, Christ opened his eyes to the truth of Him. Here is someone who once thought of abortion one way, but God opened her eyes to His truth. I love my God who is in the business of redeeming anything no matter how big or no matter how small.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norma_McCorvey
2 http://www.lifenews.com/2013/01/22/woman-behind-roe-v-wade-im-dedicating-my-life-to-overturning-it/