SKILLET's Jesus-Loving Frontman Celebrates Repeal Of Roe v. Wade: 'God Does Miracles When You Don't Expect It'

John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band SKILLET, has expressed his joy as he celebrated the June 24 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout the United States 49 years ago.

Cooper described the ruling as a "miracle" and as a moral victory that will save countless future lives.

While he rejoiced that years of pro-life advocacy had paid off, he also hinted the decision did not go far enough and expressed his belief that there will eventually be a national ban on abortions.

During a recent episode of his "Cooper Stuff" podcast, the Memphis, Tennessee-born Cooper, who lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, weighed in on the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have actually believed that one day Roe was gonna be overturned. I actually believe that abortion is going to become illegal altogether in every state in America. I've believed that for a long time; I just didn't, like, 'believe it' believe it [laughs] — apparently — because when it actually happened, I'm freaking out and I'm texting everybody: 'Can you believe this?' The incredible grace and mercy of God on this nation.

"I don't even know what to say," he continued. "This is unbelievable. We do not deserve this. We do not deserve this, because we so greatly deserve the judgment of God on our nation.

"I just wanna give a sincere — this isn't mockery; this is a sincere… For those of you who have been in this fight for years, decades — we're talking about decades — those of you who have been in this fight. You have given money, you have given time, you have been praying, you have been counseling women before and after abortions. And I say that because it's a complete lie that Christians don't care about women and stuff like that. A lot of you people watching this, you've given your time to counsel women who did have abortions. They need to be counseled. They need to understand that there is a God that will forgive them because his mercy… as I said, and I do every single morning, he is a God of grace. There are those of you people who have been faithfully praying and believing for this. And I wanna give it up for you. I wanna say thank you. I mean it with all of my heart.

"My church has been praying every single Monday for seven years — pro-life prayer, we call it," Cooper added. "Guess how many times that I've gone in and faithfully prayed. Zero. Why? 'Cause I'm pathetic. A lot of times I'm not here, but I'm not making excuses — I will not make excuses for this. So I'm being honest with you. I have not prayed into this as I should have. I've not gone to the prayer meetings for this. I haven't gone to the clinics and given my time. I've given money — a little bit, let's just be honest. Have I sacrificed for this movement? Not that much. I've said things on my podcast. It's cost me some business; it's cost me some friends. I haven't sacrificed; you have, and I want to give it up to all of you faithful people.

"Look at what God can do. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, the Bible says. Phew! Come on now. This is what God does. God does miracles when you don't expect it.

"What I know is this: the power of prayer cannot be exaggerated, and this should prove it to people.

"I wanna thank all of you people who have been out there praying against this great evil. We're all gonna be able now to experience this mercy of God on our nation," John said.

"If you wanna have justice in a nation, can you think of a better place to start than, 'Hey, we don't legalize the murder of people.'"

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court's ruling came in a case involving Mississippi's request to overturn Roe v. Wade — the court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States — and uphold a state law that bars the procedure 15 weeks after conception.

Roe v. Wade affirmed the right to receive an abortion under the 14th Amendment, ruling that abortions were constitutionally protected up until about 23 weeks when a fetus can typically live outside the womb.

Friday's decision overturned what was previously a federal legalization of abortion and has returned the issue to individual states to decide the matter for themselves.

As a result of the Supreme Court's decision, terminating a pregnancy is expected to be banned or significantly curtailed in roughly half of all states in the nation — including nearly every state in the Midwest.

According to Bloomberg, at least 22 U.S. states have laws on the books that will now outlaw abortion in all or most cases, and four others have indicated they will likely move in a similar direction. People living in those places will have to travel an average of 276 miles each way to access the procedure in parts of the country where abortion remains legal, according to Bloomberg News calculations based on data from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health researcher.

According to a CBS News/YouGov poll, a 59% majority of U.S. adults disapprove of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, with 41% approving. About half (52%) call the decision a step backward for America, with 31% calling it a step forward and 17% saying it's neither. Among women, two-thirds (67%) disapprove of the ruling, with just 33% approving. A 56% majority of women say that the decision will make the lives of most American women worse.

According to a Forbes, Americans largely oppose harsh abortion laws, with 75% against policies that make it a criminal offense to perform an abortion, 69% opposing policies that ban abortion six to eight weeks into a pregnancy, 80% opposing laws that allow private citizens to sue anyone who aids or abets an abortion and 63% supporting "safe haven laws" in Democratic-led states that would protect people who travel in from other states to get an abortion.

In various interviews over the years, John has said that he "always had faith in God" and that his mother was a "Jesus fanatic." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

Another Christian rocker who apparently agrees with Cooper is STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet. Two years ago, Sweet publicly revealed his views on abortion while discussing how he decides which presidential candidate he gets behind. He told Slabber.net in an interview: "It's not anything new for people to hear from a Christian that they support pro-life. We want to see children that are unborn, live. The other side of that argument, for example, if the woman is raped and she loses her right to have an abortion, that's a terrible thing as well, and I agree with that. You would think in this case a woman should have the choice to keep that baby or not keep that baby. It's a tough argument. There are pros and cons to both sides of this argument. For me, as a believer, as a Christian, the pro-life pros outweigh the cons. Therefore, I'm a guy who typically gets behind whoever is the candidate that is pro-life as well."