Earlier this year, our country commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortion on demand legal in the United States. Even as the mainstream media ignored the March for Life, the abortion discussion will not go away.
This issue is of continuing importance to the Christian Church around the world, because God has commanded us to protect life. In Exodus 20, God commands the Israelites that "thou shall not kill" and since then, the Church at its best, has had a commitment to the protection of life. The Westminster Divines interpreted the 6th Commandment not only as a preventative motion against the taking of a life, but a proactive commandment to protect human life. When Jesus came, God took on human flesh and validated human life. In His resurrection, Jesus proves the future of the human body. Human beings are not just human beings if they have capacity to think and act for themselves. The embryo, the fetus, the aged, the sick, the handicapped are all human beings and all reflect the glory of God and are all valuable as life. Theologian Jurgen Moltmann, in the book, The Way of Jesus Christ, captures this nature perfectly. He writes:
Every devaluation of the foetus, the embryo and the fertilized ovum compared with life that is already born and adult is the beginning of a rejection and a dehumanization of human beings. Hope for the resurrection of the body does not permit any such death sentence to be passed on life. Fundamentally speaking, human beings mutilate themselves when embryos are devalued into mere ‘human material’, for every human being was once just such an embryo in need of protection.Abortion, murder, euthanasia create such problems because they intrinsically involve degradation of the human form, which is made in the image of God (Gen 1:26).
Before we discuss this any further, we need to make a point, because not all abortion is equal. There are times when abortion is medically justified to save the life of the mother. If our overarching directive is to preserve life, then, no matter how tragic it is, sometimes life must be sacrificed to preserve life. But most abortions that occur in the United States are not performed to save the life of the mother. Most are performed for other reasons.
Today we are going to to look at some of the reasons. Recently, MSNBC commentator Toure Neblett offered an account of his personal experience with abortion. He intended it as an apologetic for the pro-choi ce position, but what emerges is a disturbing look at his thought process. I will confess at the outset that I am very unfamiliar with Mr. Neblett, but we shall use his own words to create a discussion. The text in full states:
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| Toure Neblett from MSNBC |
Touré: This week brought us the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and made me reflect on a moment from 15 years when I was in a committed relationship with a woman who I knew was just not the one. She also knew it probably wasn't going to work out and then she got pregnant, and I was terrified. I have always known the importance of family and building kids into strong adults and I know I would not be who I am if not for growing up under the watchful eye of two people who loved me and loved each other. I knew that pregnant woman and I were not going to be able to form a lasting family. She decided it was best to have an abortion and days later she did, we did, and in some ways that choice saved my life. I was not then smart enough or man enough to build a family or raise a child, and I only would have contributed to making a mess of three lives. Years after that I met another woman, married her, and after we decided to get pregnant, I went to her doctor's appointments, our doctor's appointments, with joy. It was a thrill to watch that boy grow inside her, but I must admit during that second trimester as we watched him move around on 3-D sonograms I saw how human and they were my life long belief in abortion rights was – let's say – jostled. It was life colliding with belief system. I had to rethink my position, but in the end I remain committed to being pro-choice because I cannot imagine arguing against a woman's right to control her body – and thus – her life. I believe in, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, “a woman's autonomy to determine her life's course.”Yes, there is a reasonable and unsolvable medical debate about when exactly life begins, but I find something undeniably misogynist about the impulse to deny a woman's dominion over her own body and limit her ability to shape her life – and impose another sense of morality on her. Family building is at the heart of nation-building, and taking away the ability to choose means the ability to build lasting families is challenged. Richard Florida finds the higher a state's abortion rate, the lower its divorce rate. But even though abortion is legal, ever since Roe was passed the right has been working not just to overturn it, but also to constrain it. Today was the 40th annual March for Life in D.C – and 87% of counties there are no abortion providers and in several states it's nearly impossible to get an abortion. In over the past two years 130 laws have been enacted restricting abortion rights and curbing the number of abortion providers. I want abortion to be legal, safe, and rare, but restricting access makes it rare for the wrong reason and drives many women to self-administered abortions that endanger their lives and their reproductive future. In a nation where 40% of children are born to unwed mothers, we are hurting our nation by making family planning harder. I thank God and country that when I fell into a bad situation, abortion was there to save me and keep me on a path toward building a strong family I have now – and I pray that safety net remains in place. People who have children when they're prepared leads to stronger children, stronger families, and thus stronger adults and a stronger America. original text here
Let's begin where he does, with his relationship with this woman. He admits that he was in a "committed relationship with a woman who I knew was just not the one." Romantic nonsense aside, what does he tell us here? He continued a relationship with a woman that he he had no intention of marrying. So, then, why exactly was he in the relationship? Obviously this was a sexual relationship, so it appears that he kept himself in the relationship for personal gain.
Then he attempts to remove personal responsibility by the use of the passive sense, "she became pregnant." Wait....how did that happen? Did she have some sort of immaculate conception? Did she accidentally bump against somebody and then became pregnant? No...we all know what happened, but the use of the passive sense here is a means by which Mr. Neblett can avoid the responsibility of "I had sex with a woman I had no intention of marrying and I impregnated her." People don't 'become pregnant' anymore than the gun 'just went off'. People have to decide to a course of action that leads to pregnancy.
Mr. Neblett then tries to couch the next decision in moral language. "I have always known the importance of family...." He wants to prepare the reader by putting this in context. Because he and this unnamed woman could not perform their moral responsibility to this new life, it is better that the new life is destroyed.
And so, we are told, "she decided to have an abortion." Mr. Neblett again absolves himself of any wrong doing. It was all her fault. Roe v. Wade does create an interesting legal situation. It takes two people to make a child, but after conception, the child belongs only to the woman. Of course, men are more than happy to be absolved of most responsibilities these days, but it is amazing in this narrative how Mr. Neblett disappears from the stage altogether.
Mr. Neblett then goes on to say that this decision, "saved my life." Pause for a second to reflect on that choice of phrasing, because it's deliberate. The notion here is that the unwanted baby gave his life in a noble sacrifice for Mr. Neblett. Was Mr. Neblett mortally injured or critically ill? No! Then how did this abortion save Mr. Neblett's life. We have to conjecture here. By eliminating this unwanted child, this saved Mr. Neblett's financial resources and allowed him to persue a career in broadcast. Thank God that this woman decided to have an abortion, otherwise this man would have had to get a job and take care of his responsibility and raise a child.
Later on in his life, Mr. Neblett did marry and decide to have a child. It is interesting to read his reflections on that. No where does he try to deny that the unborn child is a human life. In fact, he remembers with joy as he "watched with joy the boy growing inside her." He talks about how this experience "jostled" his worldview about abortion. But thankfully (or so we are led to believe) he remained committed to keeping abortion legal.
He summarizes his position towards the end of this quote by saying "I thank God and country that when I fell into a bad situation, abortion was there to save me..." Notice again these use of the passive voice. It is almost as if he is saying that he had no choice and this situation was thrust upon him...he was an innocent who found himself in a 'bad situation.' But abortion was there to save him. This is an interesting choice of words and imagery. One can almost here the echoes of old timey religious language, but instead of "Jesus Saves," we are encouraged to believe that "Abortion Saves."
Of course the question we have to ask is: 'saves who...from what?' In this case, Mr. Neblett was saved from a life of providing for his child. He was saved from financial obligations, he was saved from having to grow up, he was saved from putting his career on hold and he was saved from the hard work of being a father. Thank God for that!
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| Mary Elizabeth Williams |
Ultimately, abortion does create two classes of people: those who have rights and those who do not. As Pro-Choice Advocate Mary Elizabeth Williams recently put it, "All life is not equal." She explains: "A fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides." (Mary Williams) For Ms. Williams, just like Mr. Neblett, an unborn baby is a life worth sacrificing to the greater cause of people not being hampered down in their responsibilities. Ms. Williams exclaims that is she found out she was pregnant,"you bet your a** I'd have an abortion. I'd have the World's Greatest Abortion."
The Church has no choice but to be pro-life because God is pro-life. Celebrating abortion as a means of salvation from moral responsibility has no place in the church because it necessarily involves taking a human life...a human life who as no voice.
This year, let us strive to strive to live out the truth that Bishop Oscar Romero taught us, "that those who have a voice must speak for those who are voiceless."
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