How vividly I recall the day when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. When I heard the news on June 24, 2022, I was overcome with joy to the point of tears, and I rushed to church to celebrate with my friends at daily Mass.

I arrived early, and the first person I encountered was a young priest, who was then the parochial vicar. I could not suppress my smile and my overwhelming joy.

“Isn’t this the most wonderful day?” I asked. He clearly understood what I was referring to, but his expression was somber. “I have mixed emotions," he said. These words felt like arrows piercing my heart. How could a priest have mixed emotions, when millions had been praying for decades for this day? Didn’t he know the bishops had established a special day of prayer and penance for the legal protection of unborn children on Jan. 22 each year? He then explained he was concerned about two of his male friends who were a couple. He was worried the Supreme Court might overturn the legality of same-sex civil marriage in the future.

I was completely baffled by his reply, which implied he didn’t agree with the Church’s teachings on marriage. When Mass began, I hoped he would announce the court ruling and offer a prayer of gratitude. Surely this was a day when every Catholic would be thanking God for this life-changing event. The priest didn’t say a word, however.

I drove home wondering whether I had stepped through the looking glass into an alternate universe, where a priest would not be rejoicing about this auspicious event. I live in a very liberal part of Georgia, so it wasn’t surprising when signs soon showed up on lawns in my neighborhood. The mottos were: “Regulate guns, not women” and “Women’s rights are human rights.”

My younger self would have papered her own lawn with these signs. As a radical feminist and atheist, I had little patience with the pro-life crowd. As a college philosophy instructor, I emphasized that the abortion issue centered entirely on the importance of a woman controlling her own body. I was strongly pro-choice and dismissed religious arguments about the sanctity of life as meaningless.

My support for abortion access took a different turn, however, when I underwent what I referred to as “the procedure.” The regret and sorrow that began festering in my heart that day continued to haunt me for decades.

It was only when I returned to the Catholic Church and went to confession that I found peace again. I remember asking the priest in tears, “Father, what happened to that little soul?” He answered so kindly, “God takes care of the little souls.” He also reminded me of Jesus’ words from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Soon after going to confession, my eyes were opened to the real nature of pro-choice arguments. These arguments rest on the false premise that choice is an inherently good thing. True, the word has an appealing ring to it, but when used by the pro-choice contingent, it hides something inherently sinister. The truth is that pro-choice people are supporting the choice to kill a child.

When I came back to Catholicism, I realized that the most amazing choice ever made was God’s decision to enter our world as an unborn baby. This miracle forever established the preciousness of a baby in the womb.

Jesus could have entered our world as a grown man. He could have miraculously appeared as a baby in a cradle. God becoming an unborn baby underscores his humility, since a baby is the most helpless being imaginable, completely dependent on others for everything. Little wonder that Jesus said, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.” He himself had once been “the least of these.”

Scripture contains a breathtaking encounter between two unborn babies, which further emphasizes the preciousness of life. When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy. How astonishing that an unborn baby was able to recognize God. How beautiful that this unborn baby experienced joy.

When Elizabeth felt her baby moving, she addressed Mary in a way that shines light on the sacred nature of Mary’s baby. “Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Elizabeth’s baby grows up to be called John the Baptist, and he later refers to Jesus as “the lamb of God.”

Lambs symbolize purity and innocence, and these baby animals were sacrificed in the temple. Every baby conceived in a mother’s womb is God’s lamb, pure and sweet.

Every baby has been given life by God and is a child of God. On Jan. 22, let’s pray for the protection of the little souls whose lives are still ended by abortion throughout the world. Let us pray for the people who fail to cherish these precious lambs. As Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”