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I know, I know. That's the least coolest thing I could've said. If I really wanted to be a hip young evangelical, I would've said poverty or the environment or pointed to some need in Africa (and certainly, these are very important issues). Recently, it’s been trendy to move away from “out-dated” and more volatile social issues like abortion or homosexuality. Oh well. I'm not much for being cool anyhow. Today marks the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in which seven Supreme Court justices gave us license to kill growing human fetuses in a mother's womb. Oooh, sound harsh? There should be nothing controversial about that last phrase because it accurately describes abortion. "To kill" is accurate because the fetus is alive biologically, so whatever it is, we're killing something that is alive and growing. That's supposedly the problem, right? "Human fetuses" is accurate because it’s in the fetal stage of development and it has human parents. Human parents are only capable of procreating something human. And of course, "mother's womb" is accurate because that's its location. Why is this the most important social justice issue? Well, we must first get clear on justice. There are two primary types of justice: retributive and distributive. Retributive justice has to do with when and why punishment is justified. This kind of justice demands the guilty are punished and the innocent go free. Distributive justice has to do with the fair distribution of resources. If humanitarian aid is being given to one of group people over another because of ethnicity, it violates distributive justice. (Side-note: Oftentimes, the issues we associate with “social justice” do not actually fit this category, strictly speaking.) Fundamental to the issue of justice is the issue of rights. A right is simply a just claim. The proper source of rights is our Creator. Jefferson summarizes in the Declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Yes, the issue of abortion is a human rights issue. Human beings have a fundamental right to life. This right is our most basic human right. Without this, all other rights are irrelevant. This right is God-given. When it is violated, we are obligated to act. On my view, the unborn child is fully human (of course, I have an argument for this view) and therefore, has a right to life. Abortion kills that life. Therefore, justice demands that we act. It happens everyday. It happens in our country. It happens right under our noses. Almost 4,000 each day. Almost 1.3 million each year. Innocent human beings killed each year is the greatest injustice in our country today. And that’s why abortion is the most important social issue of our time. |
Comments
I don't think many will disagree with you here. Abortion is a human rights issue, for sure, and I agree with your assessment of what is really is. But what I will point out is that the "hip young evangelical" you dismiss for prioritizing poverty may do so with the knowledge that the inability to care for their children is a reason many women choose abortion. And the orphan problem we see world-wide is a reason many proponents of abortion justify this detestable act.
"Therefore, justice demands that we act"
Agreed. So how do we act? How do we solve this?
Kristen
Abortion is indeed a very controversy issue. A lot of aspect must be considered when comes to abortion. Turbo Fire|Genie Bra|Procera AVH
-"It happens everyday. It happens in our country. It happens right under our noses. Almost 4,000 each day. Almost 1.3 million each year. Innocent human beings killed each year is the greatest injustice in our country today. "
I completely disagree with you here.
When Adam and Eve fell from grace that effected all of us. So really, no one is completely innocent in that sense. Anyone that is ever conceived or born into this world is marked with sin's curse. You have to remember what Paul says about this truth in Romans 3:10 +. The commandments were provided to show us how sinful we are.
I think its incredibly ironic that folks get bent out of shape over this when half of all child deaths worldwide are as a result of malnutrition. And the idea that our country should "know better" is totally bogus. I think most mothers anywhere want to have the ability to feed and provide for the children they bring into the world. Would it be better to have 1.3 million children born every year that grow up in less than ideal families and situations? Or even worse, to be completely abandoned after birth? To abuse the use of drop off centers? No. Forgiveness, and love are what we need to show to women healing from abortions. Let's donate time and money to feeding and caring for the kids that are already here- whatever the circumstances.
mriles,
Pointing out the Fall of Adam really does nothing to count against Brett's claim that abortion is murdering innocent people. Think of how silly it would be if, in reply to the report that my sweet old grandma had been murdered, the police investigator replied, "Lo! She was no innocent woman! She was a seed of Adam's Fall!" No, we'd rightly call her an innocent woman and we'd rightly call her murder a gross injustice. All the more are such judgments true of unborn human persons.
Regarding your second point, abortion-rights representatives standardly attempt to justify abortion by denying a certain set of claims concerning the nature of the human person (whether explicitly or merely as a logical implication of their views). Whence the problem: anyone who denies the claims the abortion-rights groups deny (or even merely concedes them on the belief that there are bigger issues at stake, such as social justice issues) thereby robs themselves of the very resources necessary to justify compassion toward any human person in any situation. Stated a little more plainly, Why be concerned about the malnourished, or the abuse of drop-off centers, or the plight of anyone at all if we are willing to grant that the value of human persons, at the end of the day, is not intrinsic to the person herself? Now, of course, there are many in the pro-choice (or even more strongly, pro-abortion) camp who are concerned over the plight of malnourished children, etc. The point is however that such people are acting in radical inconsistency with their some of their most fundamental beliefs. Living in that kind of mental fragmentation does not make for a flourishing individual nor a flourishing society.
"The point is however that such people are acting in radical inconsistency with their some of their most fundamental beliefs."
Exactly why WE, as pro-life Christians, should be acting so radically. I think the inconsistency goes both ways. If we rant about abortion and the right to life, and yet do nothing to feed, clothe, and house unwanted or parentless children, than we are equally not in line with our stated values.
Mama Manifesto,
“Rant” strikes me as a strange choice of words, since, however important you might take the right to life to be, it makes it sound not so important after all. Imagine a citizen of a 1940’s Allied nation similarly complaining that, although fighting Hitler is important, they’re getting tired of hearing people “rant” about the German death camps. I know you aren't like that, Mama M., but because of the aptness of the comparison, it is, I hope you’ll agree, a poor choice of words. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly agree that we mustn’t be such that we actually intend on “do[ing] nothing to feed, clothe, and house unwanted or parentless children.” (I think a strong case can be made that pro-life folks do the lion’s share of this sort of work, anyway, however.)
Contrary to your claim, I do not think the inconsistency goes both ways (at least not generally). No one, save perhaps the occasional sociopath, thinks orphans lack the innate status possessed by other human beings. Moreover, we do not have laws enshrining the right to terminate an orphan. The legal justification for abortion, however, is that the rights of unborn human persons (if there are any) are alienable, whereas for the orphan and you and me they are INalienable—though even this is beginning to change (cf. the trickle down effect from the writings of Peter Singer and James Rachels if you don't believe me on this). The emphasis on clothing and feeding the orphan is enormously important; I hope you understand that we see eye to eye on that. But if we wish to safeguard the rationale for clothing and feeding the orphan, then it is necessary to defend the view that even the embryo is human, and, like all human beings, its humanness indicates the kind of rights it has—rights that cannot be any more changed by court order than can the courts suddenly declare that triangles have four sides. This is why the abortion debate is so important. It’s not just that we have a soft spot for sweet unborn babies. It’s that if humanness no longer grounds the rights for an unborn human being, it will not—logically will not—ground the rights for orphans or you or me.
TK,
I believe that the law should remain, because frankly, even if it were abolished, women would still find a way to have one if they really wanted to. This could result in unsafe practices spreading on the internet, or the abuse of abortion medicines.
Remember, that God can take bad situations and turn them for good. Imagine what would happen if every child conceived everywhere were born. Do you remember being conceived? Do you remember your birth? I think there is a good reason why our capacity to develop lasting memories is delayed. I think God knew that abortions would be a fact of our existence, and I know that he has a plan for these children. I find that to be extremely comforting.
Also, since you would like to be the judge, please tell me how exactly you would enforce any 'law' against abortion, and also how these evil, murdering women should be punished.
I would suggest the death penalty, or at least life in prison, because after all, they are cold blooded murderers. Not scared women who made brash decisions and mistakes that mainly effect their own conscience. That would fill up our prisons, and consequentially we would be wasting our taxes on incarcerating women who need guidance, direction, and love from us (please keep your daughters in mind if you have any). I think you should check out "What My Pot-Growing Neighbor Taught Me About Theology" by Carolyn Arends here: http://www.conversantlife.com/blogs/carolyn+arends
mriles,
Thank you for the reply, but none of this responds to my point.
I'll respond to several of your points. First, abolishing abortion law may well result in all the untoward consequences you mention, but why think that a reason—a sufficient reason, even—to keep abortion legal? There could be all kinds of untoward consequences of ending abortion, but it wouldn't follow from that that it's therefore wrong to end abortion! For all we know, the Nazi's might've been able to find a cure for cancer had we not intervened to stop their medical experiments on the Jews in the death camps, but it was no doubt good and right to stop the madness nonetheless, right?
Moreover, back alley botched abortion stories are widely known to be little more than urban legend cooked up by the abortion industry itself. Let’s assume, however the stories are all true, and that your prediction is well founded; even if such abuses did become reality in the face of an overturned Roe v. Wade, would there really be 1.3 million such deaths per year? And even if there were, remember that the right- and wrong-making properties of our decisions don’t rest solely on the outcomes of our choices—often, they have very little to do with the outcomes.
I do know that God can take situations and turn them for good. From this it does not follow that we sit back and let evil run its course; especially evil of this magnitude. No. We intervene here like we do anywhere else—that is, based on the best available knowledge we have about the situation. To bring justice and mercy, etc. to the world (especially to the weakest members of society--and who is weaker than an unborn child) is actually part of what it is to bear the image of God, by the way. And no, I do not remember being conceived or born, but why is that important? I understand that it’s comforting to you that if the unborn person is not yet conscious, then they might not remember an abortion. But from this, I hope you don’t conclude that abortion’s not such a bad thing after all! Clearly being unconscious doesn't render someone incapable of being wronged.
And you say: “Also, since you would like to be the judge, please tell me how exactly you would enforce any 'law' against abortion, and also how these evil, murdering women should be punished.”
Ironically, you’re judging my actions by this very statement, so if I need a rationale for the simple act of judging something right or wrong, you’ll likewise need a rationale here then, too. Nevertheless, there’s nothing wrong with judging per se. We judge all the time and are right to do so, provided we understand to some reasonable degree the basis for judging. That’s one of the functions of legal code, as a matter of fact, and any virtuous society presupposes the existence of citizens who are good at judging all sorts of things. Now, I’m not endorsing just being a judgmental person if that’s what you’re worried about, but there's a difference between saying something is wrong and being mean-spirited. I have a huge amount of compassion toward those who’ve gotten an abortion, I assure you.
Regarding how I would punish those who received an abortion, assuming it were illegal: I have no view on this at present, though I think compassion, mercy, and counseling will generally be important. (By the way, my view that abortion is murder does not commit me to the idea that these women are "cold-blooded murderers". Be hesitant about making these assumptions when trying to make a point. It comes off strawmannish.) Like every other crime handled in a court of law, the type of punishment will depend upon the particulars of the case. Just because we aren't clear on how to enforce the law doesn't mean we shouldn't make abortion illegal. That’s silly. I can know something should be illegal without knowing what we should do with the lawbreaker.
Lastly, I’ll turn the tables on you here, quoting the philosopher Doug Geivett: "Suppose abortion IS the murder of an innocent and defenseless human person; what do YOU think should be done about it? It’s silly to say that because nothing should be done about it, it isn’t murder. You’ve got the reductio ad absurdum turned inside out."
Geivett’s post, ironically, is in response to a pro-choice blogger who thinks this is a real stumper for the pro-lifer. I hope it is clear why it is not. Find Geivett's post, and check out the comments, one of which is from someone who knows a bit about the relationship between legality and punishment, at http://douggeivett.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/how-to-stump-anti-abortionists—bloglogic-from-daniel-florien/#comments
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You do realize that Adam and Eve did not exist, you realize that they are merely used as a way to understand the world around them. You cannot take that story or some other stories to be true because they are more symbolic then anything to teach a lesson.
Is that 1.3 million a year in the US alone?
Although I would agree with most of what this article says, I do disagree with the argument that it is the *most* important social justice issue today. I would argue that there are other things that could be catagorized as such--AIDS, to name one. 8,000 people died from it each day in 2001 (not an attempt to minimize the above stats, but 8,000 is staggering).
Then, there's human trafficking. The estimates are that, right now, there are approximately 29 million people sold through human trafficking at this moment. Perhaps they aren't all being murdered at this very moment (there really aren't stats for that that I could find), it's still happening.
Abortion is important, but I think it's also important to not lose perspective.
Also, just a note--there are many references to taking care of the widows and the orphans, and we can't forget that. Let's not belittle that by calling it the "trend" of the "hip, young evangelicals". WE ARE CALLED TO THIS, TOO, in fact, in even more specific terms. I think it's heartbreaking that Christian's taking note of poverty, illness and destitution outside of North America is being branded as a TREND.
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Abortion is a big issue that cannot be taken lightly and termination of baby fetuses seems like the simple way out. I believe that one simple and effective solution would be for all those struggling mothers to give their children, not to orphanages but to families without children to raise. So many people are unable to have children and even more people want the chance to raise a life. This solution seems like a way that will not cause disputes among the people.
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I think everyone or almost everyone is aware of the social injustice existing today, the question is, did they make themselves part in solving it?
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It happens in our country. It happens right under our noses
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