Abortion–AHHHHHH!

Last updated on: May 9, 2013 at 6:20 am by Faithful Democrats

Abortion–AHHHHHH! 2013-05-09T06:20:03-06:00 Faithful Democrats

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mention

abortion to many faithful Democrats, and that is the reaction you’ll get. They’ll go screaming from the room. Let’s be honest folks, the Republicans have,

as my grandma would say, “whipped our petuties” on this issue in the faith
community. They have been smart, and
we’ve been not so smart in how we talk about it. As any
of us who have tried to avoid imagining a pachyderm knows, framing can win a
debate. The Republicans have framed this
debate, and we keep insisting on fighting on their terms.

“Choice” kind of sounds nice, but given the alternative of “choice”
vs. “life,” which one will you choose?
Of course you will *choose “*life.” But the framing advantage is deeper than
that. To the vast majority of Americans
on both sides, this debate has little really to do with “choice”; it is rather
solely about when human life begins and when it becomes murder to kill a
baby/fetus. For all but the most extreme
in our society, that is the only real issue at stake with abortion. “Choice” arguments stand no chance of winning
over anyone who believes life begins at conception; to them, talking about a
woman’s “choice” sounds incredibly selfish and immoral.

Democrats
MUST change the way we approach the difficult and often painful topic of
abortion. As Senator Clinton eloquently
expressed in a speech to NARAL last year, Democrats must be willing to express
a heartfelt concern about the number of abortions in our country. One in four
pregnancies in the United
States ends in abortion. That is a tragedy and serious problem no
matter one’s view on when human life begins.
We should all be able to agree that it is in society’s best interest to reduce
the need and the numbers of abortions in this country.

When
the debate shifts from when human life begins to how we reduce the need for and
numbers of abortions, this shifts from a Republican strength to a Democratic
one. Talking about abortion reduction is
a Democratic winner because most of the public policy prescriptions for
reducing unwanted pregnancies and reducing abortions are straight out of the Democratic
platform. Like internet porn , this is an example of an issue where our political fortunes intersect
with what is best for the country. We
win and Americans win if we shift the debate to focus on solutions rather than
the rhetorical straw men we currently spend our time talking about.

According to the CDC, only 1% of pregnancies ending in
abortion are the result of rape or incest and less than 1% of abortions are
performed in the third trimester of pregnancy. Yet you hardly ever hear a pro-choice Democrat
talk about this issue without mentioning rape and incest and you hardly ever
hear a Republican talk about it without mentioning late-term abortions.

There
is an opening here for Democrats if we’re willing to change the way we talk
about abortion. Clergy and religious
people of all types are increasingly frustrated with the rhetoric of the
Republican Party, which uses this issue as a political football and does little
to address the number of abortions.
Americans are receptive to a practical argument about how to reduce the
need for and number of abortions (Stan
Greenberg did a great poll on this). We must continue to emphasize that
abortion is merely an end result of a long string of social ills that affect
millions of Americans. And we need to
start shifting the debate from the loser for us of “life vs. choice” to the
winner of how we address the problem.

I’ll leave you with a couple fun (if depressing) little
facts. Reducing unwanted pregnancies by
10% in this country would lead to fewer abortions in 3 days than outlawing all
late-term abortions (again, I’m citing a favorite source for great data on
social issues: Third Way).

And as
we know, if Roe were overturned, the decision on outlawing abortion would be
turned over to the states. What could we
expect if that happened? Based on the
voting record of state legislatures and adding in any states with greater than
45% of their population self-identifying as “Pro-Life” (two of the best
indicators for whether a state would outlaw abortions), you come up with between
10-16 states that would be likely to outlaw abortion. Going with the larger number, those 16 states
account for less than 10% of abortions in this country (their legislatures
already make it difficult and the population is less inclined toward that
option). So even if there was 100%
enforcement and none of the women from these states crossed the border to get
an abortion in a state where it was legal, overturning Roe would only reduce
abortions in this country by around 10% (Catholic Democracy Alliance Abortion
Study, 2006). On the other hand, based on 25 years worth of
data, we know that reducing poverty in this country by 10% would lead to a 30%
reduction in abortions.

We’re
clearly talking about the wrong things.
And we’re losing this debate.
It’s time to change the focus.
Kudos to Reps. Ryan and DeLauro and the Democrats for Life for their
bills that would do just that!

Campaign Blog

Previous Post

September 18, 2006

In Memory of Governor Richards

Next Post

September 18, 2006 Being Straight Makes Me a Better Christian?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Us About Us Action Center Advertise Ask a Theologian Ask a Theologian Blogs Books Campaign Blog Candidate Spotlights Commentary Donate Facebook Featured Writers Fellows Fellows From the Pulpit General Information Hillary Clinton Interfaith Blog Latest Media Center Media Center Media Center MyBlog MyBlog News Newsflash Newsflashes Our Team Reader Blogs RSS Sermon of the Week Shop Social Networking Static Items Support Talking Points Test blogs The Basics Theology Uncategorized YouTube

Select a Month November 2020 October 2020 February 2020 August 2019 July 2018 July 2017 March 2017 February 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 January 2006 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who stopped the sun from setting during a battle?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Joshua Elijah Samuel