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Pro-Life or Anti-Abortion

Pro-Life or Anti-Abortion

Last updated on: December 13, 2020 at 4:23 pm by Eric Scot English

Pro-Life or Anti-Abortion 2020-12-13T16:23:50-05:00 Eric Scot English

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I think most people would agree that life is precious and, oftentimes, precarious. So fragile is this balance, that we are given 70 years (if we are lucky) to leave our prints upon the records of history. Without life, the universe and everything contained therein is devoid of meaning. Therefore, life and its persistence is not just important, but also necessary.

And not just a particular kind of life, but ALL human life is of special importance.

Ever since Roe v. Wade the most significant political agenda for many Christians is the issue of abortion. For many of the so-called “pro-lifers”, the issue is simple, maybe even axiomatic. And, because the issue of abortion is a legislative one, that also means religious folks (from whom most of the “pro-life” movement consists) must align themselves with those politicians who can legislate for them to ensure a “pro-life” agenda. For many of these individuals (usually conservative Catholics and Evangelicals), there is no greater sin than to cast your vote for anyone other than a pro-life Republican (see fellow columnist Grayson Gilbert)

As the election of 2016 showed us, it makes no difference how sinful the candidate or their policies are, as long as they are deemed “pro-life”.

Up to this point, you may have noticed that I carefully qualified “pro-life” with quotation marks. This is because I would like to suggest that many of these individuals are not “pro-life”, they are anti-abortion. The reason that “pro-life” is a misnomer for many is that the life that they advocate for is very specific – the unborn. What’s more, many of these individuals and groups believe that even the mother’s health is oftentimes secondary to that of the unborn.

What Does it Mean to be Pro-Life?

To be pro-life in a non-parenthetical way means that you support all measures that aid in the persistence of innocent life. The irony of many in the anti-abortion movement is that the unborn takes primacy above and beyond all other types of life. I have included a few examples below.

Adoption – The number one alternative that anti-abortion supporters advocate for is adoption and yet, on any given day there are 428,000 children in the foster care system.

Immigration – According to PEW there were 10.5 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. in 2017. A large percentage of these people come to the U.S. to preserve their lives. Gang violence and government corruption are most often the reason for their escape. And yet, many who claim to be “pro-life” also advocate for sending these people back to their hopeless violent communities where many (including children) will die. To make it even more egregious, many of these immigration policies also apply to those who have lived in the U.S. for years.

Poverty – One of the leading reasons women give for having abortions is that they cannot afford to have a child. There are currently 11.9 children in the U.S. who are impoverished. Of those 11.9 million, 2.5 million children in the U.S. are homeless.

There are so many other categories that overlap with the pro-life issue. Outside of adoption, immigration, and poverty, pro-life issues also affect health care, education, economics, and even racism. The problem is that many “pro-lifers” support party beliefs that diminish life in each of these areas, instead of promoting them.

What Does it Mean to be Anti-Abortion?

As previously mentioned, the pro-life/anti-abortion distinction is an important one. Previously, those who were “pro-life” presented their argument on account that God favors life over death and abhors murder – which they believe abortion to be.

It also changes the overall tone of the belief. No longer are they “pro”. Instead, they are now “anti”. This not only changes the overall tone but also creates a marketing problem. Before, they were “for” life. Now, they are against the “taking” of life. All of these subtleties add up to create a belief that is different – and more negative – in its overall message.

Some Final Thoughts

Perhaps the most egregious hypocrisy of it all is that more than half of all abortions are performed on religious women. It is stats like this that demonstrate that we must take a humbler approach to the issue of abortion. I think it demonstrates that some are not willing to take their advice and live by the same moral standards that they so vocally force upon others.

However, there is something even more important that this stat illustrates. Namely, there is a person behind every decision to have an abortion. There is a story. There are various reasons why a woman will seek out an abortion. Many times, the decision, the procedure, and the fallout are life-changing. The last thing a woman needs is to feel alone and judged during this time. We must care at least as much for the mother going through this experience as we do for the unborn.

For someone to claim they are pro-life means they don’t cherry-pick which lives they think are worthy and that they actually care for all innocent life. That starts by actually supporting policies that reduce abortions and provide a higher quality of life for children born in this country.

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