Today, Donald Trump is joining anti-abortion activists to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, ending abortion rights in many states.

The pro-choice position is consistent with Christian ethics. As the United Church of Christ has long maintained, Jesus affirmed the moral agency of women. Those of us who are Christian should follow that example. That means, like Jesus, we trust women to make their own decisions.

The Bible, however, offers no clear guidance on abortion as we understand it today. So while many opponents of abortion point to vague passages to justify their stance, they are just bending the text to fit their concerns.

As an example, pro-life activists often quote Psalm 139 ("For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb." v.13 NRSV) as evidence that God would oppose abortion. However, this text, in which the author reflects on humanity's relationship with God, has nothing to do with abortion.

In considering abortion, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ has repeatedly noted that reverence for human life is what the Bible advocates. Such reverence must extend to the life and well-being of pregnant women and the life of a child after birth.

Returning the United States to the pre-Roe v Wade days did not end abortion. It would merely returned abortions to the back alleys, where women risk their health and even their lives. How is that be pro-life?

Abortion rates dropped dramatically during the Obama administration, as access to family planning, sex education in schools and contraception expanded. If you want to reduce abortion rates, support family planning. Many pro-life politicians and religious leaders do not support family planning or sex education in public schools. In essence, pro-life leaders help create the "crisis" they claim to despise.

We should also do everything possible to expand support for mothers, families and children. No one should be feel forced to have an abortion out of financial concern. That is no real choice at all.

Efforts to expand adoption services should also be a priority, not because a woman should ever be forced to carry a fetus to term, but because adoption is a choice for many, and it remains underfunded.

Yet, again, too many pro-life politicians and religious leaders oppose child care tax credits and food assistance to support newborn babies and their families. The efforts to ban abortion — by mostly male politicians — are a political effort. Some involved have a genuine concern for babies' lives, but for many, that concern ends once the baby is born.

For these men, it is about having control over women. For Jesus, it was about trusting women.

Jesus tells us to put concerns for the least of these — children, those living in poverty — ahead of other matters. But, unfortunately, I am convinced that the primary concern is control over women for many pro-life politicians and religious leaders, not a reverence for life.

Congress must codify abortion rights to protect women and families.