Safe and Legal Abortion?

The following views are my own.

As part of my personal preparation to participate in the 2020 election, I spent some time reading the Democratic Party platform. While there are many things that Christians can support in the platform (or at least agree to disagree on), there is one glaring paragraph that cannot be reconciled to Scripture or to a fair and just society:

Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. We oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to women’s reproductive health and rights, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment and protecting and codifying the right to reproductive freedom. 

The Democratic Party Platform accessed at Democrats.org

Reproductive freedom is upheld by both parties. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are telling anyone that they are not allowed to reproduce, unlike Communist China. It is important to point this out because some believe that pro-lifers want to tell women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. This is not true. Pro-lifers desire laws that tell women and men what they cannot do with the bodies of others, namely the girls and boys developing inside of women. Amazing advances in science have shown us that a human baby growing inside of the womb has a distinct and full set of chromosomes, half from the father and half from the mother. Therefore, to forcibly remove the child growing in the womb is not like removing the gall bladder or appendix, but to remove a genetically distinct human being. Violently. Unjustly.

While most are aware of the complex (and sometimes unjust) social factors that lead a woman or couple to seek an abortion, none of these provide a rationale for the perpetuation of injustice by taking the life of another. In a situation such as an ectopic pregnancy, where the child will not survive and the mother’s life is in mortal danger because of the presence of the child, the abortion of the child is essentially an act of self-defense. I do not personally know any pro-lifers who would object to taking such an action. And I know of multiple situations in which pro-lifers have surrounded with loving compassion the mothers (and fathers) who have had to go through such a heart-wrenching trauma.

Sadly, some perceive pro-lifers to only care about the lives of people and children before they are born, but not once they have grown up. And sadly, some pro-lifers are responsible for giving that impression by not taking seriously the challenges facing the poor and (shrinking) middle class in getting quality and affordable healthcare. Other pro-lifers give the impression by acting as though rising gun violence is simply an American way of life and a necessary consequence of protecting the Second Amendment. And still others give the impression by callously dismissing the deaths of black men and women at the hands of the police (or their neighbors) as unfortunate, but also unpreventable, tragedies. But while these perceptions are more often caricatures than actual representations of what pro-lifers believe, even if they were not caricatures, that would not make abortion a moral option. In reality, pro-lifers are heavily involved in providing pregnancy resources for mothers in need, foster care for children taken from unsafe homes, adopting children whose parents are unable to raise them, and giving to charitable causes that support the well-being of children, mothers, and others who are in need.

Some, including John Piper (one of my heroes), have objected to supporting Donald Trump in this election because of his unChristian character and the deleterious effects that his character has on our nation. I understand and sympathize with that position. Christians should not downplay or dismiss the excellent points Piper raises, and I would not seek to bind any Christian’s conscience to vote for President Trump. Having said that, in his first term Donald Trump has become the first U.S. President to personally speak at the March for Life in Washington D.C. He has appointed three Supreme Court Justices whose records suggest they will help slow the progression of violence against children in the womb. And he has once again chosen Mike Pence as his VP, a man whose Christian character and commitment to the cause of life have been impeccable. In this election, Christians can look at each candidate’s past record and their statements about what they want to accomplish going forward. In the area of justice for the unborn, the Democratic Party’s past actions and stated intentions for the future are unconscionable, and any candidate who is not committed to the protection of life in the womb should not be elected to any public office, regardless of their party affiliation.

Others object that the president cannot really do anything to affect abortion in this country and that voting for a presidential candidate because they are pro-life is narrow-minded. On one level, I agree that our expectations of what a president can accomplish in this regard should be tempered by reality and the fact that the president is (rightly) limited in the exercise of his powers. However, the accomplishments of President Trump’s first term demonstrate that the president does have significant influence over the future of abortion in our nation. Clearly, abortion supporters are concerned about what another pro-life presidency would mean for their cause, and they are right to be concerned. Can the president overturn abortion? No. Can the president make a difference? Yes.

Abortion is not safe and it should not be legal. While there are many problems in the United States, and there are many problems with Donald Trump, abortion remains the most egregious state-sanctioned injustice in our nation. To the degree that I am able to use my vote to influence policy in any way toward the protection of the lives of those who have no vote, I will do so.