In this “Theology and Culture” (T&C) blog we are going to continue looking at the issue of abortion. Our last issue focused on abortion and covered topics such as an overview of some states and how they are handling abortion, to what the Bible says about when life begins to the scientific evidence showing us that human life indeed starts at conception.
In passing, we noted that there is a movement among the pro-life camp known, for lack of a better phrase, as “abortion abolitionists” or AA for our discussion. I have tried to keep up with the various cultural and Biblical discussions that are taking place on many topics, from theology to ethics, to how people view certain things in the Bible, including how they interpret Scripture.
I am just now becoming more educated on this movement regarding “abortion abolition.” Within those who would identify as such, there are different thoughts and viewpoints on what this means as far as definitions go.
Before looking at some things that may help us understand the thinking behind the approach taken to rid our world of abortion, we need to spend a little time discussing what I see as, believe it or not, a flaw in the pro-life movement. In fact, until recently I thought very little about what I am about to share as maybe being something I needed to reconsider, from a Biblical perspective.
Specifically, I want to address the issue of how states are handling the abortion issue, not from a political point of view, but from an ethical/moral and theological standpoint. Let me briefly explain. I never gave much thought to the fact that many states ban abortion after a certain point of a pregnancy. Whether it is outlawed after six weeks, fifteen weeks, or whenever, I considered it in some ways a “winning” situation because at least babies were being saved. Abortions were not allowed after a stated period of time so that was good.
The more, though, that I grappled with that I came to the conclusion that despite the efforts of many conservative, pro-life laws that are now on the books, there were enough loopholes and timeframes in which the unborn had no protection and could still be killed. I understand the thinking that we probably will never have a complete ban on abortion in our country, but as a Christian, and one who believes that life begins at conception (Psalm 51:5; Psalm 139:13-16), is a partial win because of laws that prohibit abortions after so many weeks supportable from a Biblical perspective?
This is where it gets messy. Pro-life groups are excited over the fact that abortion laws are changing and more children are being protected. I am happy about that as well. But here is something to consider and this is where things get difficult as far as where someone stands on this issue. These same pro-life groups have opposed laws that were brought to the political floor of some states that were advocating that those who perform abortions or who choose to simply take the life of a child because they do not want it should possibly face some type of legal accountability.
For example, in many cases as things stand now, doctors who perform abortions get a free pass as long as they take the life of the child within a certain time period. But what about those who continue doing so outside of the prescribed guidelines. Should they be prosecuted?
Should there be some penalty imposed when they take the life of a child in the womb? Is that murder? There is no doubt that a goal as believers is to show compassion and kindness to the women who are dealing with whether to have an abortion or not.
But what about women who simply see abortion as a form of birth control. There are the pressures put on them by society, the father of the child, friends and family, to at times not bring a child into the world. They are not given all the options and information available in some of the places they go seeking advice. How should we deal with these ladies?
In some cases, they simply have no problem having their child removed from the womb because it is not considered a human being, or has not reached “personhood,” however the culture subjectively defines that in our world today, and it is based on subjectivity. We will discuss that at another time.
We showed in our last blog that the abortion pill has major potential health risks for ladies, as does the process of having an abortion. With this as some background, enter the Abortion Abolitionists (AA). Again, what follows does not define all who would place themselves in this category and there are many organizations who are a part of this “newer” approach to how to handle abortion who would not necessarily agree across the board on what we will share in the remainder of this blog and a future one. In fact, AA became a more determined force for a reformation of sorts on this specific issue only since 2011 or so. That is where I can trace the roots to.
AA believe that the pro-life movement has compromised in their battle against abortion. As we noted earlier, it is considered a victory among pro-lifers when abortions are illegal after so many weeks of a pregnancy. But to many within the AA movement, abortion is murder, and thus, it is not about regulating when abortions can occur, but being more stringent regarding the prosecution of those involved in committing this horrendous act. The issue is who should those individuals be?
Some AA groups have painted all pro-lifers as secular and totally inclusive. I would not go that far though many pro-life groups fit that profile. Abolitionists believe abortion does not need to be regulated, but cut off at its roots. Thus, instead of allowing for incremental time periods of the allowance of abortions as many states do, there should be no allowance of that, with certain exceptions (again, according to which AA voice is speaking), such as saving the life of the mother. In fact, to some, this is the only exception.
The message of the Word of God is the key to all that is happening in our culture. Abortion is sin, pure and simple. But I oppose the idea of a theocracy, where we bring America back under Old Testament laws, as some promote, in “Dominion Theology.” Christianizing the country is not the issue. The hearts of people is what is at stake. That is why the message of the Gospel is so crucial.
The Gospel changes hearts and minds. When people have their lives transformed by the Good News about Jesus, it will transform how they think about life. That has always been the stance of many of us. We are here to tell others about Jesus. When one, by faith in Christ, becomes a follower of His, their life is changed. Things are different. Their worldview can be re-lensed by seeing life through the Word of God.
The questions that we will tackle in the next blog have to do with how we should handle some of the ideas that the AA movement is adamant about. Think about some of the following questions as you finish this article - Biblically, can Christians support incremental abortion (fifteen weeks, twenty weeks, heartbeat bills)? Should those who provide abortions be held accountable judicially for their part in taking the lives of children, some even ignoring the laws on the books? And how should the mothers of these unborn children be approached and treated? Should they go to jail as well?
As we shall see as we continue, the idea of sending every person to jail involved in abortion is not what AA is saying. I would agree that abortion needs to end, and incremental abortion needs to end. In our country, we have to do it legally. But the goal is not to Christianize America but to make every living being have the right to life, because all are made in the image of God (Gen. 1), including babies in the womb.
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