It appears that almost a half-century abortion is going to be illegal again in many states. Roe v Wade is finally going to be overturned. The prayers of many Christians in this country it seems have finally been answered.
As a Christian there is a large part of me that is happy at this development. If, as many of us believe, abortion is something tantamount to murder, for it to come to an end (or at least be more strictly prohibited in many places) is something to give praise to God. It appears that we are becoming a more 'pro-life' country after all.
But are we? In the weeks since the leak has come out that the Supreme Court is going to overturn Roe v Wade, I've thought a lot about abortion in a way that I've never thought about it before. In truth, it's never been a big issue for me. As a male who has been faithful to one woman and am grateful for the two children I have, I have not had to worry that my 'seed' has been scattered out in places where it should not be. I don't lay awake wondering if I have other kids out there by other women. In some ways for me abortion is more of a symptom of the problem of infidelity and casual sex.
But I also know that for many it's not quite this simple. While many abortions really are about convenience, there are others for whom it is a health issue for the mother, or a socio-economic desire to not stretch limited resources of a poor family, or about putting an end to the trauma of a rape or bad relationship. I would doubt that very many abortions are as selfishly considered as pro-lifers would have us believe.
And then there's the question of whether or not it's really murder. I've come to think that in the last 3-4 months of a pregnancy, when the fetus is now viable outside the womb, that murder isn't too strong a word to describe the termination of a pregnancy, if there are no other complicating factors. But in the first 4-5 months of a pregnancy, when the feteus is not viable, I'm not sure murder is at all a fair term. Is abortion in the fourth month of a pregnancy, perhaps not long after a woman unexpectedly realizes that she's pregnant, anything fundamentally different than taking birth control pills? My wife has used the little yellow pills (to great effect) since we've been married during the time when having a child was not desirable: in the first few months of marriage, in the time between pregnancies, and now as we are both squarely middle age and not at all desiring to have a child. Others have not been so lucky...even as they use accepted birth control practices, it is still possible to 'slip one past the goalie' and get pregnant...not something all families, even the most loving ones, desire. Should we punish them because some have this sentimental view that children are 'sacred', a gift from God?
Yet as I've thought about this issue the past few weeks, the one thing that I keep coming back to again and again with this issue is the idea of what it means to be 'pro-life'. That's a term that those against abortion have taken as their self-identifying label. But I've learned that it's a very particular type of 'pro-life'. While these generalizations are not true for everybody, they are more true than not.
-Many would identify as pro-death penalty. That is, a living human being deserves death for some crime that he/she has done.
-Many are very much pro-second amendment in that they want no restrictions on guns or firearms. Even though hundreds of people die in this country each day due to gun violence, they want no limitations on their guns because of their sense of 'freedom'.
-Many showed themselves during the pandemic of the past two years that they don't really care about the lives of others. Many 'pro-life' people were the ones most against mask regulations or social distancing or even vaccines that study after study showed saved lives. Even as over a million people died in part from the pandemic in this country alone, these were the ones who used slogans like 'my body, my choice' when it came time to refusing simple measures that would have kept people from dying.
-Many are very pro-military, not just in national defense but in American militarism. The very purpose of the military was summed up by the late Rush Limbaugh, who said that the purpose of the military was 'to kill people and break things'.
-Finally, many who have marched and demanded that abortion be ended care nothing for the quality of life of that child once he/she has been born. This is shown by their opposition to public school funding, expanded health care, and other programs that will enhance a child's life. The moment that child leaves the womb, for many pro-lifers, is the end of our responsiblity as a society to ensure that this child grows up healthy and prepared for what life throws at them.
Are these all overgeneralizations? Perhaps. Some people are consistently pro-life to their credit. But most people, especially those who proudly wear the label, aren't pro-life at all. They're hypocrites. And we need to call them out for what they are. If we are going to absolutize the value of a human life, shouldn't we do this across the board, not just as it applies to women's health issues? Because if we don't, 'pro-life' is in fact just a hidden way of controlling the lives of women and telling them what they can and can't do, even as 'freedom' becomes the absolute for so many in our culture today.
