My heart has been heavy since sometime during the March for Life a few weeks ago. There continues to be speculation and encouragement about how the justices will rule in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the Mississippi case currently before the Supreme Court. Presumably that’s all been decided. But it’s not over until it’s over.

We saw fairly clearly in last year’s Fulton religious-liberty decision over foster care and adoption in Philadelphia that what was once probably meant to be the majority opinion (Alito) in a unanimous case became a concurrent one in the end. Dobbs will not be unanimous, of course.

Which is all to say: Pray and prepare. I know some who are urging that we pray and fast on the 22nd of every month. (Roe was decided on January 22, which is why the March for Life is always in the cold of January.)

Don’t prematurely celebrate. And know that if Roe is overturned, there is much work to be done, as the pro-life movement enters its next stage — and the opposition to protecting the most vulnerable unborn will be fierce in states like New York, New Jersey, California . . .

Some of the Sisters of Life have encouraged this prayer (there are other ideas at www.prayfordobbs.com):

Holy Trinity, Source of Life and Truth, we entrust our nation to You. We ask for mercy for the decades of legalized abortion that has been permitted in our land and for healing for all those who have been wounded by it. We ask that the sacredness of every human life would be protected and upheld both in law and in culture. In a special way we commend to you the Justices of the Supreme Court. Please grant them clarity, wisdom, and courage to judge according to truth and right reason. Overthrow, at last, by Your power, the scourge of abortion in our land and usher in a new era of protection for the unborn. By the power of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection, may Your justice be established on earth. Amen.

And about preparing: Do an examination of conscience about what more you can do to help mothers and families. Do you know the options for pregnant women in your community? Does your church or civic organizations you are involved in? Post-Roe is going to require an all-hands-on-deck approach so women know they have options that are not abortion. Pregnant women tend to know where they can get an abortion. The alternative options, not so much. We need to change that. Each and every one of us. This isn’t work for someone else.