The pro-life movement makes a very simple and compelling case to end abortions, and one way of expressing it is in the following way:
- It is morally wrong (wicked) to murder a human being
- An unborn baby is a human being
- Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill an unborn baby
For the pro-lifer, the argument centers around the fact that unborn babies are created in the image of God, and thus should not be targeted for death. Sometimes, when this belief is expressed, those with an opposing viewpoint (the pro-abortion supporters) make arguments that actually do not address the validity of the pro-life position. Instead, they attack the pro-lifer. The pro-lifer has no real obligation to answer these objections, but because they are so easily answerable, I am going to answer them.
Objection #1 – Men Just want to control women’s bodies
This objection makes an ad hominem attack and does not affect the validity of the prolife position. Nevertheless…
There is no pro-life position that advocates for men to have any kind of general legal control over women’s bodies. I know that this is personally not a consideration at all for me, and I know of no other man in the pro-life camp who wants to make abortion illegal in order to fulfill an authoritarian impulse towards women.
IN fact, the opposite case is actually true. The pro-life position is that women do have control over their bodies and thus are responsible for sexual activities in which they voluntary participate. Because women are responsible for their sexual behavior, they are responsible for the consequences of that behavior. The pro-life position exhorts women to act responsibly with their own bodies and take responsibility for the reality that sex is the biological means by which new human beings come into the world.
Because for multiple generations we have been teaching that sexual expression is a sort of unconditional right of the individual, the idea that responsibility should in any way be associated with sex may be shocking. But sex is actually a grown-up act and it can result in grown-up realities, including the conception of a child. The pro-life position is that once a child is conceived, those who conceived her must take responsibility for her.
Perhaps an analogy will be useful. If a surgeon begins an operation on a patient, the surgeon may not decide to exit the surgery simply because he no longer wants to perform surgery. He may refuse to do the surgery from the start, but he may not abandon his responsibility to complete the surgery. He is morally culpable for causing harm to his patient if he does not complete the surgery he began. The pro-life position is that if a woman chooses to engage in sex, then she must be prepared to take responsibility for the results of that decision.
Objection #2 – It isn’t fair to ask a woman to accept this responsibility because the man doesn’t get stuck with the baby.
This objection does not address the validity of the pro-life argument, but instead relies on a perceived injustice to excuse abortion. Nevertheless…
In all of our egalitarianism, we haven’t been able to get rid of that one pesky reality underlying the differences between the sexes: women’s bodies were made to have babies. Abortion is the feminist’s final hope for a level playing field, should the contraceptives fail. But the contraceptives often fail, and even abortions can fail. Life finds a way.
It is also true that men do not experience the same consequences as women experience for their sexual behavior, because women can have babies and men cannot. The consequences are biologically disparate. The pro-life position believes that a man who fathers a child should bear the responsibility of his sexual choices as well, including the financial support of the mother and child. (If the pregnancy took place as a result of a sexual assault, the man should be charged and tried for the crime.)
For Christians, all of this simply reinforces our belief in a sexual ethic that includes monogamy. We guard our daughters and teach our sons. We never delude them into thinking that libertine sexual freedom exists, much less is anyone’s right. We don’t pretend our daughters live in an “equal” world, because that is just foolish. While the consequences for sexual activity are disparate – an unavoidable biological reality – the pro-lifer believes in the father taking responsibility for his actions just as much as the mother.
Objection #3 Pro-lifers don’t care about children after they are born, so why should they care about these babies before they are born?
This objection makes an ad hominem attack and does not affect the validity of the prolife position. Nevertheless…
Out of all of the objections to the pro-life position, this one may be the most patently ridiculous. The argument usually goes something like, “If you care so much about unwanted babies, how many have you adopted?” It is usually asked with the same amount of self-righteousness as exercised by Torquemada. “Ha! Take that you scumbag!”
But if anyone cared to listen, the facts speak for themselves. Christians (who are the heart of the pro-life movement) have a long and storied history of caring for unwanted babies going back to the Roman Empire, where infanticide was common. In almost every city of size, there is a pregnancy care center that is NOT supported by taxpayers, but by Christian pro-lifers. Christians adopt, feed, and care for children all over the world. And while not every pro-life person brings a child into their home, many – including my family – have done that very thing. In fact, Christians are 2X to 3X more likely than atheists, agnostics, or people of other religions to adopt or foster. Many (if not most) churches would gladly help and support a young couple or single mother, and many Christians are looking to adopt and simply cannot afford or navigate the complexity of the adoption industrial complex.
This is not to say that there isn’t more work to do, but the charge of not caring for babies after they are born not only misses the point of the pro-life argument, but is false at its core.
Conclusion
There is still much work to be done in the pro-life community as well as in the Christian Church, but these oft repeated objections to the pro-life position generally miss the mark. Life is a gift from God to be treasured, and the safest place in the world for a baby should be the womb of her mother.
Nathan Writes 