A sudden vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court has thrust abortion even further into the spotlight for a deeply divided country facing a divisive election.
Southern Baptist leaders called for prayer for government authorities even as another forecast an “epic battle” for the high court and the White House.
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, died Sept. 18 of complications from metastatic cancer after 27 years on the high court. Nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1993, she received in her death high praise as a justice and colleague from both conservatives and liberals on the high court.
Religious leaders who often disagreed with Ginsburg extended their sympathies.
Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, published a video on Twitter shortly after hearing the news.
“I had some major disagreements with Justice Ginsburg, and we had some contentious issues before the court on matters of abortion and religious liberty,” said Moore. “But right now the most important thing for us to keep in mind is that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a human being. Her family are our fellow human beings and our fellow Americans, and we need to extend sympathy and pray for that family as they grieve tonight. And also I think we should pray for our country in a really divided time.”
There was no question Ginsburg was a member of the court’s liberal wing, and that status included the issue of abortion. She supported fully the abortion right enshrined by the Supreme Court in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Before Ginsburg’s death, the ideological breakdown on the high court was typically considered 5-4 in favor of conservatives, but that assessment has not always been reflected in its decisions, including on abortion. In June, for instance, the justices refused by a 5-4 margin to uphold a Louisiana law that required hospital admitting privileges for doctors who perform abortions.
Critical moment, prayer needed
Abortion has been at the center of more than three decades of clashes over Republican nominees to the Supreme Court. Despite GOP confirmation successes, no assurance exists there is a majority of justices to reverse Roe or that there will be if another conservative joins the court. Only one current justice, Clarence Thomas, has called in a written opinion for overturning Roe. Another conservative justice might result, however, in more favorable rulings on restrictions on abortion if not a reversal of Roe that would return the issue to the states.
With abortion rights and other matters in the balance, news of Ginsburg’s death soon transitioned into a debate on who should nominate her successor.
Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, described the current moment as critical because of its long-term implications.
“Southern Baptists are very concerned about the direction of our nation,” Floyd said Sept. 21. “Through the years, we have stood strongly in defense of the sanctity and dignity of human life, religious liberty and marriage as defined by Holy Scripture. This is why there is so much at stake in the current situation we face.
“Presidents come and go, but the appointments they make can impact generations. This is why we must pray for President Trump and everyone who will make this decision,” he said.
Read more at Religion News Service and Baptist Press.
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