I don't know when or if there will be a "part 2," though I have a feeling there will be.
I just can't bring myself to say that I'm "pro-life." It's not that I in any way agree with abortion. I don't. In fact, I can't think of a single instance in which I could personally justify terminating the life of an unborn child unless the mother's life is in immediate danger, and even then I'm not okay with it, I just believe that it might be only slightly less of a tragedy if one of two deaths could be prevented.*
The problem lies not with the belief, nor the term itself. My problem is that "Are you pro-life or pro-choice?" trivializes an enormously complicated issue down to a single-sentence answer. For one thing, this question, regardless of who's asking it, is always a trick question, whether or not they intended it to be so. "Pro-life" has all sorts of nasty connotations attached to it: you're anti-woman, you're a religious zealot, or worse, you're not actually pro-life. Yes, I've heard the argument made that pro-lifers aren't actually pro-life; they're simply against abortion. And the sad fact is, there is a tiny but far-too-loud minority who truly is all of those things, and they create an ugly cultural association with those of us who believe that all life is sacred and worth protecting.
Which leads me to my second point.
Creating a "culture of life" goes far deeper than the pro-life/pro-choice argument. It goes deeper than legislation and bureaucracy. Criminalizing abortion is like damming a flood after it's already destroyed the town. We can't start with trying to convince a teenage girl to protect the new life holding court in her belly. We need to go further back than that, to teaching our young daughters that their bodies are worth more than the first cute guy who's willing to buy them a drink. We need to start setting the bar a little higher for moral standards for men and women. We need mothers and sisters to set an example of Godly femininity, and we need fathers and brothers to demonstrate how women should be treated. We don't need more grotesque pictures of aborted babies -- we need learned medical practitioners to tell the beautiful truth about what really happens during and after conception.
And what we really need (you'll notice I made this a separate point) is Christians willing to show Grace. We need to stop standing outside abortion clinics, screaming hateful obscenities and waving morbid signs. We need to stop labeling, stop browbeating, stop guilt-tripping, and especially stop condemning. However tempted we might be to look down on these women, they are still our sisters and we must still pray for their salvation.** Look at it this way: when was the last time you saw an abortion protester offering to adopt one of those unwanted babies? When was the last time any of us was willing to sit down with one of these women, hear their story, make them feel like they matter too? Convince them with proper Christian love and prayer that their baby was not a burden but hope for the future?
Just saying, I think we could stand to re-think our strategy here.
For the record, I think "pro-humanity" has a nice ring to it.
*This does not come close to describing how not-okay I am with abortion, even in this scenario. I don't know how common it is for pregnancy to threaten a woman's life, and I don't think I'm in a position to argue. And I most certainly do not want to get into a debate about whose life is more important when that is the choice to be made. That's a dangerous place to start making generalizations.
**I've said this before, I know. But I think it bears repeating. And repeating, and repeating, and repeating ad infinitum.
i respectfully disagree with your take.
ReplyDeleteI am 100% pro-life in all circumstances, and I like saying it, despite the few crazies who bomb abortion clinics.
I think women need to be confronted with their sin when heading in to Planned Parenthood to destroy a life inside them. This does not mean we do not reach out to help..yet, allowing unfettered and unhindered access to death mills is not extending grace, it is silently sitting on the side lines, speaking nothing of sin. If we are never confronted with our sin, we have no need for a Savior.
Of course, there are ridiculous people within the pro-life movement, yet I understand how they got there. Utter disgust for the disregard of human life.
Legislation needs to make abortion illegal, because killing a life needs to be punished criminally. Simply "allowing" it to be legal, has contributed to millions of abortions on demand. Allowing sin didn't help Sodom and Gomorrah, and it isn't helping us.
The work of people in the pro-life movement has led to the legislation in some states requiring an ultra sound before the procedure, thus saving millions of babies as women realize the lie that the feminist have put forth for decades-it isn't a baby, it's tissue.
Crisis pregnancy centers are the utmost manifestation of grace! Volunteers committed to helping women understand God loves them, despite their mistakes, their sin, and no matter how many abortions they've sought. Most Christians with a heart of Christ will help a woman heal after her sin, for she is no worse than I.
It's a heart issue. My heart is such that no young ladies and young men would have premarital sex, and thus no abortions. The fact? Most do have sex, many choose abortions, and even marriage is not sparing death for the unborn today. It's sinful in this place, and it's destroying us from the most innocent up to those who condone it.
So, as much as I don't care to be associated with groups or movements, I find this one is one I couldn't sleep at night not being a part of. The blood of the slaughtered unborn would cry out to me.
http://andreamomm.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-crisisabortion-is-in-news.html
If a pro-lifer spits in someone's face, or gets angry or yells obscenities, they are defying their purpose unto God. They are sinful, and they need to repent. However, I rarely see this acted out, but rather as a stereotype of the left and feminists. I'm OK with that, as I fit the bill for countless erroneous stereotypes already.
God Bless and thanks for welcoming dialogue on life.
Preach it sistah.
ReplyDeleteI feel that we who are "pro-humanity" (love that!) could do soooo much more than what we are doing now to reduce the number of abortions. Gonna get myself in big-time trouble here, I can feel it. Oh my. For example when we put our weight behind such things as "welfare reform" that reduces benefits to women and children, when we place all kinds of requirements and restrictions on them in order to receive benefits, we make it harder for them to choose life. When I worked for HeadStart I worked closely with many women in these situations and they are often put into impossible situations with impossible choices. I've always felt that the term "pro-choice" is a misnomer.. no one wakes up one day with the intent of getting pregnant so that they can have an abortion. No one chooses to have an abortion. Women have abortions because they feel they have no other choice. So I like to say that I am pro-choice... I want to make it possible for pregnant women to choose to carry their babies to term. If this means liberal benefits, then we need to be willing to pay the higher taxes that requires. We need to be willing to give our time and emotional energy to mentor young women and bring them into our homes and lives (even if they aren't Christians and don't share our values.) We must be willing to extend the hand of love to women who have aborted their little ones... without condescension and condemnation. After all, but for the grace of God there we are.
One can stand staunchly for the innocent unborn without aligning oneself with the American "pro-life" movement. Come over here dear... stand by me:)
I agree with all sorts of things here in the post and the comments. I do agree that when people stand outside abortion clinics screaming obscenities, it defeats the purpose. We would do better to pray for the salvation of these people -- the ones going for abortions and the crazies outside the clinics. I do think abortion should be illegal, though, as it is murder, and having it legal has opened the door to many many abortions. While pictures of aborted babies are gruesome, sometimes it is what is needed to make women realize what they are doing. As for mothers whose lives are in danger if they have the baby, well, you don't see that too often, thank goodness, and if it were me, I would hope I would give my life for my child if it came to that, which is as it should be (but I have never been confronted with this myself personally, I admit). I agree with Persuaded, too, that we should make it easy for mothers to keep their unborn babies by making sure that they have all the assistance they need. Churches cannot do it all, nor would many of these women want to take assistance from a church. Thank you for letting me comment.
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