First of all, I’m as pro-life as anyone who claims that label (and I hope that any ladies who read this will not be dissuaded from continuing with my essay.) After all, there was a time when I was a fetus, myself, as was Tim Tebow and as was Andrea Bocelli. I could cite certain passages from Scripture which we all know, plus Barnabas, Cyprian, Tertullian, Augustine, Martin Luther, et. al, but fundamentally, and regardless of that cloud of witnesses, I believe that human life begets human life, and that all human life is conceived in the image of God and is thereby sacred. I went through a very long process to reach these conclusions, and I’m sure not everyone draws the same conclusions that I did. Pro-choice have their opinions which I respect. I just beg to differ, though I readily admit I cannot begin to fathom what it is like to carry a baby to term, conceived after being sexually assaulted by a stranger
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;“
psalm 139: 13, 14
Because I believe in the sanctity of life, I feel that our interest and attention should not be confined to the first nine months of life in utero, but should be much broader than it currently is in the pro-life movement. I really don’t want to judge my fellow Christians. By and large they are caring people, and I hope to meet more of them some day in this life or the next. But I hope they will prayerfully consider what I’m suggesting, and I’m open to criticism if I am mistaken on some point or conclusion.
I see a contradiction where some would deny an impoverished woman an abortion, but would then turn a blind from the hunger and misery that the child would encounter while growing up in poverty. I also see a contradiction between people who would force a woman to bear an unwanted child, but would then take the same child from her if, when the child grows up, he or she commits a capital crime which warrants the death penalty.
“Thou shall not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born.”
Epistle of Barnabas
For the sake of expedience, I will try not to derail and go into “what ifs” or other specious arguments. I will also freely admit that I have not always been an example to others as far as what a Christian life should be. May God forgive me for that.
So, if we’re going to call ourselves pro-life, shouldn’t
the fathers of children (including teenage boys) bear a legal responsibility for the continued health and well-being of their future sons or daughters?
Too often, these fathers–or their parents if they are minors–find ways to escape the consequences of their actions and thereby leave the brunt of the consequences to the mother (girl.) Throwing cash at the parents of the teenage girl or threatening legal action may work in some cases. Instructing their son to deny any role or responsibility concerning the pregnancy may work in other instances. But this is the time to “man-up” and learn from your mistakes. It doesn’t take a shotgun wedding to find a solution. Adoption is always a possibility. But face it with the girl/woman you chose to risk having a baby with.
The courts need to be tougher on adults who do not assume responsibility for their offspring. I know many men feel that they can’t afford child support or their ex “trapped them” or they feel “confined or pressured,” but nobody forced them to run the risk of conceiving a child. Actions have consequences.
“I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.”
Hippocratic oath (before ab was legal)
If we’re going to call ourselves pro-life, shouldn’t we
support live-saving vaccines, and masks when indicated, particularly in the throes of a worldwide pandemic?
Here is a heartbreaking story from today’s edition of The Hill. Somehow, one segment of our population is willing to not only take risks with their own health, but with my health and that of others as well. The much toted “herd immunity” against COVID seems more and more like a pipe dream with barely half of the population fully vaccinated. Older people with acquired immunity are being replaced when they pass on from other causes, by infants with no acquired immunity. What’s worse, is that there are talk show hosts encouraging people to be confrontational when they see someone wearing a mask. There are signs near where I live saying “Take the mask off your children.” There are currently sixteen different vaccines and boosters that a person requires before they turn eighteen (nineteen if they go to college, and even more if they want to travel to certain places in the world.) Granted, this does not mean sixteen shots because some are grouped together and polio is an oral preparation. There are possible adverse reactions with each vaccine, but each one ultimately and overwhelmingly protects lives, particularly the vaccines for COVID-19.
If we’re going to call ourselves pro-life, shouldn’t we
support supplemental programs to end hunger among children in America?
We need to be sure that the children of America are adequately fed. According to a USDA report from last year, “10.5 percent (13.7 million) of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during 2019.” This should not occur. At least, not in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
If we’re going to call ourselves pro-life, shouldn’t we
adopt contemporary Medicaid guidelines so that poor children can receive minimum health care?
The holdout states are, as of July 2021: Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. In at least some instances and to some degree, federal funds are available. Medicaid recipients should not suffer for the sake of political statements. Ask yourself “What would Jesus do?”
If we’re going to call ourselves pro-life shouldn’t we
encourage adoption and provide incentives and tax breaks for families who do adopt a child?
Often the most difficult children to place are those with special needs. Parents may wonder whether they can deal with those needs, whether the child needing placement needs surgery in the future, has some sort of behavioral challenges or is developmentally impaired. Government should not be warehousing children. Parents who have adopted children likely have useful feedback on how government can help them.
If we are going to call ourselves pro-life, why not support
abolishing the death penalty for capital crimes?
Some of the more committed “pro-life” people I’ve met are equally fervent for applying the death penalty when capital crimes are committed. True, the Old Testament provides for the death penalty for some crimes, like witchcraft (Exodus 22:18.). But then who among us today would favor making sodomy, homosexuality, blasphemy, idolatry, manslaughter (or witchcraft) a Class A felony worthy of death? We have conflicts today between law and grace, justice and mercy, and this conflict is at the root of society’s dissension. Jesus, Himself, spared the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53ff.) from the death penalty that the law prescribed (Leviticus 20:10.). And what Christian who has been forgiven by God for his grievous sins could in good conscience sit on a jury and demand an accused (or convicted) defendant forfeit his life for his sins?
Statistically, not everyone who is sentenced to death has committed the crime he was condemned for. Prosecutorial misconduct (e.g., withholding exculpatory evidence) or incompetent representation, denies the poor and people of color justice. Juror bias can weigh heavily against a defendant named Tyrell, Tyrone, Diego or Mohammed.
I’m not naive. I remember when there was a moratorium on the death penalty. There was a riot at a prison in Ohio or Indiana. The “lifers” had taken hostages, and one or more of the hostages were killed in cold blood, probably because the bad guys asked themselves what was one more life sentence when you would never leave prison in the first place, and you could not be executed in any event. Some people seem to be beyond rehabilitation. But surely there must be an alternative to running 2,000 volts through someone or putting them in front of a firing squad.
If we call ourselves pro-life, should we not
care for the fauna of this planet and guarantee the security and survivability of the various habitats and species that God has created?
Because I believe in the sanctity of life, I feel that our interest and attention should not be confined to humans, alone. We should also care about whales, wildlife and their habitats as well. Why for the sake of short term profits, union demands or guaranteeing one’s re-electability do we sacrifice the wellbeing of God’s creation? God has made us stewards of the world He created, and that is a sacred responsibility. Yet, some studies suggest that Christian interest in environmentalism “is not increasing, and there are signs it is actually in decline.”
So, if we are going to call ourselves pro-life, then let’s be pro-life and stop cherry picking. As Psalm 24 notes, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
Citations
Indiana University. “Survey results show Christians becoming less concerned about the environment.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 January 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180123113020.htm>