pro-choice but anti-abortion
There is a new camp in the abortion debate that is growing among some Democrats and politically progressive Christians. It is the "pro-choice/anti-abortion" position. It is the position we hear defended by Rudy Gulianni, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The argument usually goes something like this: "I personally don't like abortion. We should be doing everything we can to help women with unwanted pregnancies get the help they need in order to avoid abortion. Better yet, we should focus our energies on reducing unwanted pregnancies with educational programs that focus on contraception rather than abstinence. But I am pro-choice because I don't think the government should invade women's right to privacy. I don't want government making such a difficult decision."
Usually the person goes on to site what they believe to be legitimate cases for abortion like rape, incest and the health of the mother. They assert that while they are morally against the idea of ending what they call "potential life," they wouldn't want government to tell a woman what she has to do, particularly in the afore mentioned cases.
This all seems fairly legitimate...at first. But let's do some homework. I wonder how many abortions are actually done in such tough cases such as rape, incest and the woman's health?
According the a study found here, 0.33% of abortions are done because of rape or incest; 1.2% are due to maternal health problems; but 98% are done because of personal choice.
Those statistics are staggering. That means 98% of the abortions in the U.S. are done out of convenience. And of that 98%, only 32% are done because the potential mother believed she was too young. That means an incredible 66% of all abortions are done by people who consider themselves old enough to have kids but simply don't want one.
The days of arguing that abortion should be legal for crisis situations is over. The truth is that they aren't done for crisis situations. They are done because humanity is selfish. If abortion was legal for crisis situations only, the abortion rate would drop 98%. If people who claim that they are "pro-choice but anti-abortion" really were "anti-abortion" they would have found a way to work with pro-life people to make that happen long ago.
People with the "pro-choice/anti-abortion" view are often concerned with issues of social justice. They are often proud of their concern for human and civil rights. But for some reason, when it comes to the unborn, their burning hot passion for justice runs cold. If we want to be a truly just society, the laws need to change. We can't be a just society when we allow the murder of unborn babies all in the name of "convenience." Social justice and human rights demand that the government end our society's practice of killing unborn lives.
posted by Mark @ 8:09 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I think you're making this a little too dichotomous, Mark. I understand that abortion sucks but what's being done now about it is not working. People are still having abortions but only doing it in back alleys. Kids are still having sex and not learning about comprehensive sex education.
True, everyone should have an opportunity to live but does that continue on as the fetus is born?
I see SO MANY Christians saying they care about the fetus but hardly give anything after the fetus is born. It's a "God Bless" and then we spend our money on selfish crap, leaving the woman and the child on their own.
Also, I think your stats are a little off. Even if a woman says that she "chose" abortion, it's not like the woman wanted it.
She feels scared and forced into it by circumstances (losing a scholarship she needs, unable to support a child, pressure from family, lovers and friends, a fear of rejection (which the church does WAY too much.)
Which is why the church needs to be proactive in supporting the woman and her unborn child every step of the way, not just a few dollars to ease our troubled minds. Every single one.
The stats are from research done by an unbiased group called The Guttmacher Institute. You can find their website here if you still doubt the stats: http://www.guttmacher.org/
I think the knee jerk reaction is to think the stats are off because they are not what we hear from the media and our culture. We always are told that abortions are done mostly by women in a terrible crisis like rape or incest. But that is not the truth. Those are VERY rare cases.
Instead, the truth is harder to accept. The truth is that 98% of abortions are completely elective, not under crisis situations.
We are also told that all "pro-lifers" care about is getting women to not have abortions and then they forget about the infant child after that. This is also a lie.
Christian crisis pregnancy centers do more for new mothers than most other non-profits in the U.S. They not only try to prevent abortions, but they also help with adoption processes and help single mom's with financial, material and moral support.
One such center is located in Reisterstown, Maryland. It's called the Alpha Pregnancy Center. You can check out all that they do at: www.alphapcc.org
A nationwide Christian pregnancy center that is good is called Care Net. To check out all that they do, go here: www.care-net.org
Through pregnancy centers like this, Christians are on the front lines of caring for women with unwanted pregnancies.
Being pro-life does mean more than being against abortion, and Christians all across this country are living up to that challenge. It's a lie from the media and from the pro-choice camp that "pro-lifers" are inactive and uncaring to mothers. It's just not true.
"We always are told that abortions are done mostly by women in a terrible crisis like rape or incest. But that is not the truth. Those are VERY rare cases."
Maybe. People know that women aren't likely to report rape or incest so there is still a chance that the numbers for rape cases are higher.
Also like I mentioned before I believe that many of these women feel pressured into making such a heavy decision. I don't think it's much of a "choice" on their part. Or they could be uninformed.
If you are right about support being there for these women, then we need to promote it more and give more. I mean being in the delivery room with them. I mean helping with babysitting. I mean offering scholarship money. These children deserve just as much as any child born with two parents. And it's not enough to just give clothes when the baby is born. We need to surround the child and its mother not just before and after he/she is born but YEARS from now. We must offer more time and energy. If this is happening, Mark, where is it? I see clothes and counseling but what about friends, Mark?
Plus, I went to one to volunteer and they offered clothes in exchange for church programs. I don't think they meant anything by it. It just made me feel uncomfortable.
You asked: "...what about friends."
And this is what Horizon is all about. This is why we focus so much on relationships and community at our church. We believe that we should be there for people in all kinds of life circumstances.
I have no doubt that Horizon folks are there for their friends. Whenever there is a pregnancy, single mother or anything else like that, I have seen the Horizon community step up time and time again.
And I really believe that the church in cooperation with these pregnancy centers are doing more for women with unwanted pregnancies than other "pro-choice" groups.
Hmm I guess. But they have to "come in" before they fit in. This may be on another topic but we gotta get the community aspect "out there". Not everyone will come to Horizon. We gotta go to them.
Very true. It can't just be them coming to us. We must go to them.
Post a Comment
<< Home