Just Life

The abortion issue is “red hot” again. The recent Supreme Court reversal of Roe vs. Wade has created an explosion of advocacy, conviction, and passion.

 

There’s no way to address the abortion topic without rubbing someone the wrong way. But “hang in” with me as I approach the issue from a different angle: consistency.

 

In sum, I’m calling for a consistent, comprehensive commitment to life, both before birth and beyond birth, across the continuum of our days.

 

Most folks, however, are inconsistent. We’re either passionate about life before birth or about life beyond birth. Thus, it’s inaccurate to refer to “camps” as either pro-life or pro-choice; both camps are pro-life but often fail to advocate a consistent life message.

 

For example, anti-abortion advocates (to use the traditional label) often fail to recognize that life is aborted not only before birth but beyond birth. Paraphrasing Shane Claiborne, we abort life beyond birth when we commit capital punishment. We abort life beyond birth when we are silent about permissive gun laws. We abort life beyond birth when we advocate war to settle conflict. We abort life beyond birth when we participate in racism, sexism, and ageism. We abort life beyond birth when we sneer at immigrants, especially those who are poor. We abort life beyond birth when we gossip and inflict other sharp outlays of our tongue. We abort life beyond birth when we pollute the ecosystem and discount creation care. We abort life beyond birth when we look away from thirsty, starving faces, care-less that food and water aren't available for all. We abort life beyond birth when we are more committed to “just-us” than justice for all.

 

To be consistent, we’re called to be anti-abortion both before and beyond birth, affirming that all persons are entitled to a life of equity, worth, respect, and shalom— “just life.”

 

Inherent to “just life” is justice. Yes, justice for the unborn, but also justice for the victim of rape, justice for the unwed mother, justice for the abused spouse, justice for the victim of incest, and justice for those with medical complications. Please hear me: justice does not equate to abortion-on-demand or other forms of indiscriminate life-taking. But justice does equate to second-mile empathy (not assumption or harshness), giving energy to creative, non-violent problem solving when unintended pregnancy occurs.

 

The Church of the Brethren 1972 resolution on abortion moves in this direction: “Merely condemning abortion is self-defeating. In our concern for the well-being of the fetus, we may add to the despair that has already driven the mother to seek a ‘way out’ of her problems rather than find a constructive solution. On the other hand, merely condoning abortion is equally self-defeating. In our concern for the mother, we run the risk of encouraging her too easily to make a decision that is callous of all human life in its destruction of the unborn. We must not allow ourselves simply to voice a position and then be satisfied that we have met our responsibility. Rather, as Christians we must actively and compassionately share in the burdens that lead women to seek abortions.”

An underreported data point is the connection between abortion and the burden of poverty. The Brookings Institute reports: “Low-income women are more than five times as likely than affluent women to experience an unintended pregnancy... [thus] unplanned childbearing is associated with higher rates of poverty, less family stability, and worse outcomes for children.” Not surprisingly, Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), reminds us that not enough has been done “to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish.” 

And so, accompaniment—not antagonism—is our focal point and priority. Not just toward those wrestling with unintended pregnancy, but toward any tempted to take life or employ violence when inconvenienced or offended. 

Disregard for the sanctity of life is rampant from “womb to tomb.” As Michael Gorman observes: 

“We live in a culture of violence, an ‘interlocking directorate of death’ from abortion to guns, to the death penalty to war, as Daniel Berrigan said. We... do not live in a culture that is even remotely pro-life in the broad sense of this term. Although there are some Christians and churches trying to embody a holistic pro-life vision, the Christian community as a whole... is not doing much better than the culture we inhabit. We are divided and inconsistent. The conversion that is necessary to protect human life in the womb also requires a commitment to protect human life on this side of the womb. To paraphrase 1 John, how can we say we love the unborn whom we have not seen, if we do not love the already born whom we have seen? At the same time, how can we worship the God who came to us in the womb of Mary without treating the unborn child as our neighbor?”

Consistency, then, is needed, seeing all human “form and frame” as neighbor, both before birth and beyond birth. And so, we march—but we march with Jesus for all of life, “just life,” across the continuum of our days. For as Eileen Egan observes: “the protection of life is a seamless garment. You can’t protect some life and not others.”