Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, public opinion about abortion has changed dramatically. There’s been a softening among those who previously favored a total ban and greater intensity among pro-abortion voters. Today, more of the religiously unaffiliated say they won’t vote for any pro-life candidate. And this summer, for the first time in 40 years, the GOP released a platform that didn’t call for national limits on abortion. Despite the victory at the highest court, Americans increasingly reject the pro-life message. For pro-life believers, this reality can feel overwhelming. It’s hard to know how to respond personally, politically, or as a church community. 

That’s why I found Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra’s recent story about Heidi Jenkins so encouraging. If you ask Jenkins what brought her to the Lord, she’ll tell you it was the guilt she felt after her second abortion. Jenkins immediately regretted it. “I was completely traumatized,” she told Zylstra, “Sad and angry at all the people who had advised me [to abort]. I was ashamed, guilt-ridden, anxious, depressed.”

Around that time, Jenkins’s sister invited her to hear Chuck Colson tell how he’d accepted Christ while in prison. “Although he’d made choices he regretted, he radiated a peacefulness and a joy I was envious of,” said Jenkins. At Colson’s invitation, Jenkins prayed to receive Christ. Then she was discipled through Bible Study Fellowship and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Today, Jenkins is a trained biblical counselor who has provided care for hundreds of pre- and post-abortive women. 

Isn’t that incredible! What sparked the change in Jenkins’s life? Simply hearing a fellow sinner tell how he’d found forgiveness in Jesus. No matter how far our culture falls, we put our faith in the powerful message of Christ’s pardon. Our God continues to pursue sinners to the depths. Though we live in a world where death reigns, we can keep sharing our faith. Let’s do the plodding work of everyday discipleship because our confidence is in him.