On the Vexed Question of Abortion

Last updated on: September 27, 2024 at 8:38 am by Ben Witherington

On the Vexed Question of Abortion 2024-09-27T08:38:53-04:00 Ben Witherington

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For a Christian person, the issue of abortion is a difficult one, even if one is very much pro-life, and not just pro-birth, as I am. I believe Christians should have a consistent life ethic, which includes the issue of any sort of violence done against other human beings, including shooting and killing them. In principle a Christian should be against war, against abortion, and against capital punishment….. BUT is there such a thing as the lesser of two evils choice one sometimes has to make? My answer to that question is yes.

I ran into some Calvinists in seminary who insisted that God would never let a Christian be in a situation where they had to make a lesser of two evils choice. I’m afraid that is frankly not true as many thousands of devout Christians can attest. We live in a fallen world, and there are often lesser of two evils choices necessary, in some difficult circumstances. One such circumstance is when a woman has a life-threatening pregnancy, and she and her family must decide between saving her life or that of the unborn child. These choices are rare, but nonetheless real. Rarely but sometimes abortion is a way to save the life of the mother, and in that instance it is a form of health care for the mother. And a good case can be made that the same is true when a 12 year old girl is raped by her step father, as the recent much publicized case of Hadley Duvall here in Kentucky attests.

On the other hand, from a Christian point of view there are bogus arguments for abortion that a Christian should not agree with such as: 1) the unborn child is simply part of my body as a woman, and I should have an inalienable right to do what I want with my body for instance if I have an an unwanted pregnancy. This is a very flimsy argument. Surely, my rights end where someone else’s life is at stake. The right to life of the other person over-rides my right to do what I want with my body. And one can also ask ‘unwanted by whom’ when it comes to a pregnancy? There are thousands of parents and families standing in line to adopt newborns and infants. The unborn child is not unwanted by all and sundry. 2) equally flimsy is the argument that the unborn child is not really a person yet, just some tissue growing in a woman’s body. This is simply false. The only sound argument is that human life begins at conception, and thereafter we are dealing with a person who has potential, not a mere potential person. The fact the child in the woman is still growing and maturing is irrelevant. So are infants, and children, and young adults outside the womb. 3) abortion on demand is a bad slogan, not least when we are talking about late term abortions. BUT abortions should be available under certain limited circumstances as a possible less of two evils choices if— the life of the mother is genuinely in danger from the pregnancy, or in the case of rape or incest. At the same time a mother who is not a child can and may choose to prayerfully carry the baby to term, praying that God will spare both the mother and the child— and this does happen in many cases. Me personally, if I was counseling a couple who already has children and now the wife is pregnant again but the doctors are warning it is a very dangerous pregnancy, I agree that they should be able to choose an abortion. Why? Because if they make the other choice and the mother dies, both the husband and the children are deprived of an essential member of their family— someone they love and need in their lives. I would also say, that if they decide to have an abortion, since abortion involves taking a human life, they should pray for forgiveness for taking a human life, even in a lesser of two evils situation. Why? Because they had a choice about the matter, and the Bible still says, ‘thou shalt not kill’ which probably means ‘thou shalt not deliberately murder’ and as Jesus says in the Sermon of the Mount, the Christian should be committed to non-violence.

It is true that the majority of Americans think that abortion should be safe and legal, and it is necessary for Christians to bear in mind that our country is not a theocracy. The nation would need to be persuaded to take a more Christian stance on this issue. Christian morality cannot be forced on an increasingly non-Christian nation, or if it is, we should remember what happened in the 1920s when prohibition happened due to Christians lobbying. It failed miserably and created the whole illegal moonshine industry (and allegedly was the pre-cursor to NASCAR in my home state of N.C.).

The issue of abortion should not be decided by thoughtful Christians on the basis of pure emotion. It is a difficult issue and should be carefully and prayerfully thought through, and different devout Christians will come to different conclusions. So be it. The Bible affirms that every human life is of sacred worth, everyone is created in God’s image. And for certain, the life of another person is a higher ethical concern, than the right of someone to choose to terminate a pregnancy.

Finally, I must say to my fellow devout Christians, it’s no good just being pro-birth. You must also be pro-child care, pro-education for children, pro affordable medicine to deal with childhood diseases, and against any child having to live in poverty or in a situation which involves homelessness. Remember the song we learned as a child ‘Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world….’

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Every human life is of sacred worth

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