Wading through Roe
Overall, I find pro-choice arguments unconvincing. They essentially boil down to either, “That baby is not a baby,” or “Okay, it is a baby but we have the right terminate it.” However, there are a few related issues that take a bit more Christian wisdom to address. Here are four questions I believe we should answer carefully.
When does human life begin?
The question of when life begins is a surprisingly easy question to answer. Life begins at conception. The real question I suppose is when does human life begin? The discussion leads to philosophical and semantic nuances on what makes us human. But since there exists no significant delineation between various stages of prenatal development, we simply must conclude that the life growing in a mother’s womb is human throughout its entire development.
Reducing a human to a fetus (from the Latin for “preborn baby”) is special pleading at best. Those who argue it is “just a piece of tissue” are either woefully ignorant or intentionally provocative. From a biological perspective, we are all just a “clump of cells.” Arguing that human life begins at birth is perhaps the most untenable of the arbitrary answers.
While from a civil standpoint, viability appears to offer some guidance, it is inconsequential to what makes us human. In addition, there is no consensus on when viability begins: 20-weeks? 22-weeks? 24-weeks? Even if there were a consensus, would anyone argue that at, say, 19-weeks and 6-days the baby is not a living human until tomorrow?
The Bible and common sense agree that human life begins at conception.
Should the government have a say over a woman’s body?
This is the strongest of the pro-choice arguments in my opinion. Since the baby exists within the body of another, what right has the governing authorities to demand a woman carry the child to birth? For example, we might agree that an expectant mother should not drink, smoke, or do drugs during pregnancy, but do we want the power of the State enforcing this? Should someone be jailed for it? Most would agree no.
But this is a far cry from providing abortion clinics and services. To say that a woman, or any and all citizens for that matter, are free to harm or care for our own bodies as we please, is very different than saying we have a legal right to access doctors who terminate babies through brutally intrusive means.
If a State or municipality decides through its representative officials, “We do not want this happening in our community. These clinics and practices should be illegal. This is a societal evil,” they should certainly have the right to do so.
What about birth defects or economic struggles?
Parenting a child with disabilities is not something I have had to experience. My heart goes out to parents who do. I have been honored to minister to many of the heroes who have. While these little ones are often among the sweetest, happiest, and most loved children I have ever met, no doubt there is a hardship attached to raising these precious kids.
However, what is unthinkable for a newborn, toddler, adolescent, or adult, is equally so for a pre-born baby. Killing the child is in no way an acceptable option. Apply this logic to any other stage of life, and the scenarios are blatantly immoral. While some ethicists have even argued in favor of infanticide (e.g. Peter Singer), most can see the evident evil of taking another’s life as a sort of escape hatch from hardship.
Economic concerns are even more obviously inexcusable, for the same reason. When one adds in the option of adoption, terminating babies sounds all the more gratuitous.
What about when the life of the mother is in danger?
Ectopic pregnancies, fatal birth defects, and cancer during pregnancy are rare but very real scenarios. I have counseled parents who have had them. I have yet to meet a single pastor or read a Christian ethicist who has argued that an ectopic pregnancy, such as tubal pregnancy, does not require the removal of the embryo to save the life of the mother. This seems more like a bogeyman concern to scare people into advocating for abortion rights.
The decision of whether to receive cancer treatment during pregnancy is likewise a situation I find no Christian leader saying anything other than this is a conversation between a family and their doctor. A pregnant mother of four who decides to go ahead with treatment at risk to the child to save her life has nothing to do with abortion. Likewise, a mother who decides to endure the risk and wait till the second or third trimester to begin treatment has equally made a decision she has every right to make.
The medical, legal and philosophical issues surrounding abortion can be hard to navigate, and pastors cannot be experts in every relevant field. What we can do is depend upon the wisdom of the Scriptures, pray, be informed, and try to love and care for people well.
Rick Harrington is a pastor at First Baptist Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He is the author of the books "How to Find a Church: Seven Steps to Becoming Part of a Spiritual Family" and "The Weight of Preaching: Heralding the Gospel of Grace". You can follow his writing on his blog The Lamp Post.
