‘The battle doesn’t stop here’

On a warm summer morning, people filled the pews at Sacred Heart in Baton Rouge to celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

After Communion, pastor Father Miles Walsh led the congregation in a prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus after Communion. That visceral prayer seemed to be answered instantaneously.

Those in attendance would quickly find out the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade; 50 years of the pro-life movement’s prayers and hard work had been brought to fruition.

The media reported the rejoicing of pro-life advocates and the dissent of pro-abortionists. Bishops across the country released statements expressing their excitement but reminded Catholics to continue supporting women with unplanned pregnancies. 

Young adult Catholics in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, many of whom are LSU students and attend Christ the King Parish and Student Center in Baton Rouge, were also overjoyed with the June 24 decision.

“I cried tears of joy (when I heard about the overturn),” Jane Laville, 19, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Baton Rouge, said. “Life is precious and our world is in so much conflict. Life should take priority over all.”

“Now that it’s overturned, that’s one small victory for us,” Laville, an alumna of St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge and now a sophomore at LSU, said. “For every one Catholic that is so pumped and excited about it, there will be 500 pro-choice advocates that will be attacking it.”

Gracie Bott, 19, a New Orleans native and sophomore at LSU who operates a social media page tailored toward forming and inspiring authentic Catholic women, said her public outspokenness about controversial issues has generated a substantial amount of backlash.

“I’ve had a lot of people assume that I wasn’t educated and that I was stupid,” Bott said. “It’s hurtful because I’ve always held close to my heart all social justice issues.”

But she understands why the reversal might be scary for women who see abortion as a constitutional right.

“Roe v. Wade has felt like a safety blanket, even though it’s not,” Bott said. “There are still many resources to make this country better for women and children like pregnancy crisis centers, foster care reforms and education reforms.”

In addition to helping expectant mothers explore their options beyond abortion, Bott said it is vital that the pro-life movement remains charitable.

“It’s easy for Catholics to remain in a bubble and not talk with the other side,” she said. “We need to pray for the grace to have those difficult conversations.”

Laville said the secular world has used the abortion debate to take religion out of the world, especially the Catholic Church.

Laine Raley, 19, a Texas native who is also a sophomore at LSU, said she feels sorry for the women who are scared for their future without abortion.

“They’ve been fed this lie for years that they have a safety net to get out of pregnancy,” Raley said. “They’ve been promised something by someone evil who can never fulfill that promise. Abortion will never be that safety net.”

Many of the young adults at Christ the King believe the overturn is the first step for a complete reframing of what it means to be a woman. Raley said as daughters of God, he gave each woman four common identities: mother, daughter, sister and bride.

“I think motherhood is something that is taken for granted in society and twisted into this lie that you can choose to be any identity,” Raley said. “Just the fact that abortion is trying to take away motherhood just shows the (devil) is trying to take away our identity.”

In addition to a revitalization of motherhood, Laville said society has to reframe its perspective on sexuality. She said a fundamental misunderstanding on God’s plan for sex has incited the killings of more than 63 million children.

“Sexuality has only one purpose: bringing kids into the world,” Laville said. “Whenever it’s used outside of (marriage), it becomes mechanical and something people do without thinking. You enter into a sacrament where you’re ready to accept whenever kids come.”

LSU senior and New Orleans native Meredith McKeough, 21, said she believes it was no coincidence the decision was handed down on the feast of the Sacred Heart.

“It’s a message about life being sacred in every stage and how skewed American values are in that way,” McKeough said. “(Jesus is)  emphasizing how much his heart beats for us and loves at every stage of our lives.”

McKeough said she has been a passionate activist for the sanctity of life since attending March for Life in Washington, D.C. in 2017. She said despite the political turmoil, people should look to the Lord for comfort during this time.

McKeough also recommended looking to the example of St. John the Baptist, whose nativity feast was the day before the decision.

“St. John the Baptist was the first person to recognize that Jesus was God and he was an infant in the womb, which shows he had human capabilities while still in his mother’s womb,” McKeough said.

Laville, Bott, Raley and McKeough said every Catholic must “pray and pray big” as the U.S. enters an era without Roe. 

Bott said it is the mission of the faithful to show how Jesus wants to pour out his love for “every single one of us.” She said there is no loss of hope for women enduring the trials of an unexpected pregnancy.

“This is something that will make people very mad,” Raley said.  “But the Catholic Church is the center of love.”