I am a pro-life Christian, because I believe God is pro-life. And I am glad He is! But I am pro for all of life, from womb to the grave, so it influences my views on war and capital punishment and social justice issues. This does not mean I do not have compassion on pro-choice advocates, and though I disagree with Obama and Biden and the Democrats on this issue, (and I pray they might one day see it differently), they are right on so many other key issues that I am going to vote for them in November. More than one issue affects people in this election, and it takes more than being against abortion to be fully pro-life. Pro-life should also be a cradle to the grave life stance.
A little self-disclosure – I am a registered Republican. But the party has left me with its deceitful campaign tactics and apparent aversion to honest governance. I guess you could say I am an Eisenhower Republican, and there are very few of us left these days. But I seek to be fair to all people, and I have many Democratic friends, and I have become convinced that Obama is a more fully pro-life candidate (from the cradle to the grave) than McCain or Palin, and certainly than George W. Bush has been as president.
My friends who are pro-women’s choice have made their case with me. They talk about the idea that having a child is a personal choice that affects a woman's body and personal health. They believe that both parents' and children's lives are better when the government allows women to have abortions, thus preventing women from going to desperate lengths to obtain illegal abortions. ( I am old enough to remember the coat hanger and coke bottle self abortions that killed or maimed many a young girl before 1973.)
More broadly, pro-choice advocates frame their beliefs in terms of "individual liberty," "reproductive freedom," and "reproductive rights." The first of these terms was widely used to describe many of the political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries (such as in the abolition of slavery in Europe and the United States, and in the spread of popular democracy), whereas the latter terms derive from changing perspectives on sexual freedom and bodily integrity.
Many pro-choice individuals often do not consider themselves "pro-abortion" because they consider abortion an issue of bodily autonomy, and find forced abortion (as has been done in China) as legally indefensible as the outlawing of abortion. Indeed, some who are pro-choice consider themselves opposed to some or all abortions on a moral basis, as I do, but believe that abortion bans imperil women's health. Others have a practical acceptance of abortion, arguing that abortions would happen in any case but that legal abortion under medically controlled conditions is preferable to illegal back-alley abortion without proper medical supervision. Others ask what is the difference between qbortion and ANY form of contraception, since all essentially destroy life or its possibility. The debate has many facets. I counter with scriptures about Jeremiah and John the Baptist, adn the fact that thte Bible considers them persons in the womb.
However, remembering the back alley abortions that young women attempted in my childhood and youth, I personally do not think turning back Roe vs. Wade is the answer -- people need a change of heart that a mere change in the law cannot bring. But I think Christians need to proclaim the message that all life as special and sacred, and be fully pro-life in all areas, not just the womb. What about the babies and children and the elderly? And as Rep. Ron Paul says, “How can you really be pro-life and also pro-war?” And I might add, how can you be pro-life and against decent, affordable health care for all children and adults? True pro-life folks should really be like the Prophet Amos, crying for social justice to flow down like rivers.
But Please do not forget the unborn. They are not just so much waste, even though some people treat them that way. Anyone who has ever looked at a sonogram knows they are fully alive human beings! The unborn are innocents who need someone to speak for them.
And if a young girl or woman bravely chooses to keep her child, when the biological father and others desert her, society and the churches need to be there to help and support them. Fertility is a blessing and a gift from God when God created us, as human beings capable of creating life ourselves. The moment where there is existence of life in women, where women can feel another pulse and heartbeat.. is extremely amazing.. how wonderful and powerful women can be here.. bearing a life within themselves.. What an awesome privilege! Yet some feel so overwhelmed and afraid they give up that precious and fragile life. Pray about this issue. It is a very complex situation for those who consider abortion. They need love, support and compassion
But so do the unborn children.
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