Posted: April 5, 2024
First, the Christian-nationalist right attacked the religious freedom and autonomy of women by repealing Roe v. Wade. Now, religious-right leaders are showing us the next ugly step they want to take: Prosecuting them for seeking abortion care.
On a recent podcast, prominent Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler said that it's "morally insane" to not seek criminal sanctions against "activist" women who feel insufficiently ashamed of their abortions.
That's right: Mohler wants to prosecute women for exercising their God-given freedom to control their own bodies. Given that one out of every four women will have an abortion by age 45, that's A LOT of women -- as well as trans and non-binary people who can get pregnant -- who could end up in jail.
Comments like these show that Christian-nationalist leaders are not concerned about the well-being of women or families. What the patriarchs of the religious right like Mohler, Donald Trump, Paul Weyrich, and James Dobson care most about is seizing power for straight Christian men, and that's always been the main motivation behind their attacks on women and abortion.
Mohler's call for criminalizing women who have abortion has "whipped abolitionists into a frenzy," according to Religion News Service. (So-called "abolitionists" are anti-abortion extremists who want women who have abortions to be prosecuted.) In response to his podcast, one of Mohler's supporters even posted on Twitter/X that "both parents should die" after an abortion.
We cannot let Mohler's dangerous call to prosecute women go unanswered. Let's speak out as Christians and tell Mohler that women seeking medical care deserve Christ-like compassion and respect, not prosecution.
Sign the petition:
Love thy neighbor.