There was much celebrating among Christians in America when on 24th June 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and returned decisions regarding abortion from the federal government to state government. I wonder how they might feel knowing that led to France enshrining the right to abortion in their constitution.

If anything demonstrates the way culture transcends national governments and the way nation states respond it might be this sequence of events. After all, there is no Christian right in France that has for decades been campaigning for the overturn of abortion rights. It is both disconcerting that President Macron can call the decision ‘French pride’ but also that they felt the move was necessary to resist some kind of cultural infection from America.

And if anything demonstrates the toxicity of American Christianity in secular Europe it should probably be this sequence of events. That doesn’t mean what Christians in America have fought for was wrong but it is worth us reflecting on a world where fewer abortion rights in America leads to increased abortion rights in France!

For those of us who live & serve Jesus in Europe it is also a stark reminder of just how far the WEIRDER nations have travelled from anything remotely like a Christian view on the sanctity of life.

In the UK the contradictory way people think about the unborn was recently clearly revealed. The government made a decision that couples that have suffered a miscarriage before 24 weeks can receive a ‘baby loss certificate’. The contradiction of aborting a foetus and grieving a baby both of which might die at the same stage in life was not lost on Christians at least (see Matt Hosier, Stephen Kneale, Mary Harrington).

However I’m not sure I see it as a sign, yet, that culture is moving back towards a Christian view of things. Governments may struggle to legislate contrasting views coherently but people have no trouble at all in believing them. Consistency of principle or belief is not something I think people think about, much less care about. And even if it was a sign of something, the road back is likely very long indeed. Decades if not centuries.

But just because the road is long and the work is hard is no reason not to undertake it at all. We must recover the long term view of time and of ministry and trust that the God of the generations and of the nations will continue to work out His purposes.