May 3, 2022

How to talk about the abortion controversy in America

Within the last 24 hours a 98-page draft opinion of the Supreme Court was leaked to the public regarding abortion. The draft suggests that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade.

The History

Roe v. Wade: On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court ruled that women have a fundamental right to get an abortion. This was a federal ruling, which means it struck down abortion bans at the state level.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey: On June 29, 1992 the Supreme Court upheld the ruling in Roe v. Wade. The court restated that a woman’s right to an abortion is rooted in the due process clause of the 14th amendment. Additionally, the judgment adopted what’s been called an “undue burden” standard. This essentially means that a law is considered invalid if it places substantial obstacles in the way of a woman getting an abortion before “the fetus attains viability.”

14th Amendment: On June 13, 1866 the United States Congress passed an amendment that conferred equal rights to African Americans. Section 1 declares that no state within the United States can “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The Supreme Court, in both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, argued that a woman’s right to an abortion is rooted in the 14th Amendment. Essentially, the argument is that women do not have equal rights with men, and are not granted equal protection under the law, if abortion is banned.

The current case: The Supreme Court is considering abortion laws in the state of Mississippi. If they uphold Mississippi’s authority to ban abortions after 15 weeks of gestation, then this ruling would set a precedent that each individual state has the authority to regulate and/or ban abortion within their jurisdiction. This would essentially overturn the ruling of Roe v. Wade.

Aesthetics and Ethics

As a general rule, our culture largely accepts that aesthetics and ethics are positively linked. In other words, if something appears beautiful (aesthetically pleasing), then it’s probably good (ethics). Wise thinkers like Alasdair MacIntyre have successfully shown that our culture is driven by a kind of “emotivism,” which means our culture’s moral arguments are basically built on emotions.

This reality is working against abortion right now because the increasing growth of technology continues to show that babies are indeed more than just a clump of cells. Babies are beautiful. Though secular academics like Peter Singer have influenced some intellectuals to believe that babies in the womb are just humans, but not actually persons, the everyday man or woman can look at a sonogram, hear a heartbeat, and know that a human person is in the womb.

Essentially, abortion is intrinsically ugly. It involves the eradication of life. And so even though our secular culture rejects religious doctrines like the Imago Dei, abortion is still becoming more unfavorably viewed, or at best treated as a kind of “necessary evil,” because the optics on it are so ugly. If beauty = truth, then abortion stands on shaky ground in our emotion-driven culture because modern technology shows in hi-def what it looks like to kill a baby.

Sex and Abortion

You can’t talk about abortion without talking about sex because our culture’s abortion problem is part of our sex problem. Abortion has been cast as a women’s rights issue because of the biological, reproductive, and physiological differences between men and women. In other words, men can have casual sex outside of marriage and get a women pregnant without having to carry a baby for 9 months. It’s easier for him to walk. Not so for a woman.

This is why abortion has been treated as an issue of women’s reproductive rights. But, of course, babies don’t come to us from storks. Babies are conceived through sex, and the right to an abortion enables a woman to have the same experience as men: casual sex without the baby. “My body, my choice,” as it’s been colloquially framed at times.

But the reality is that abortion is more than just a woman problem or a man problem or a baby problem. It’s a sex problem. With all due respect, anyone who says otherwise is spinning a narrative. For example, in the year 2019, 629,898 abortions were reported to the CDC. Women aged 20-29 accounted for 56.9% of those abortions. By contrast, girls who were 15-years-old or younger, and women who were 40-years-old or older, combined only accounted for 3.9% of the total. Essentially, the abortion industry is driven by casual sex outside of marriage.

Sex and Identity

This problem is further complicated by the rise of what’s now commonly called “expressive individualism.” This is a term that basically describes how modern people in a secular world tend to find their sense of identity. We don’t look to our family, heritage, faith, or some other traditional authority to define who we are, but instead we look within ourselves, and then we express our “authentic” feelings and desires. And from there, we look for a supportive community of people who will validate those desires and participate in our self-image.

Because of the sexual revolution, and before that the historical and philosophical developments that led to it, our culture is accustomed to aligning sexual activity with identity. It’s a means of expression, of finding oneself and becoming a whole person. From this perspective, sex is more than just an activity: it’s a marker of identity. Our culture tends to scoff at someone in their 20s or 30s who is sexually inexperienced. That’s a “sheltered” person, a “naive” person.

Theologian Carl Trueman has masterfully illustrated how our secular culture has fused sexual activity and sexual preference with personal identity. This, of course, drives abortion problems because if sex is more about individual expression and becoming a whole person, and less about practicing covenant love within a biblical marriage, then many babies are going to be conceived outside of marriage. And without the framework of a committed marriage, babies are quite often viewed as problems instead of persons, as the abortion numbers clearly show.

A Christian response

Christians are “chosen exiles,” as Peter puts it. We are resident aliens. We live here, but our citizenship is in heaven. However, heaven is not an escape pod. Heaven is the renewal of this world. We look forward to a renewed earth. This means we have a rich and complex relationship with the world around us.

We should care deeply about the world around us, but it’s not our reward: Jesus is. We should care about justice, but we trust ultimate wisdom and judgment to The Judge. Complete assimilation into the world is radically unfaithful, but so is complete separation. We as Christians have something to say about abortion, but it matters very much what we say and how we say it.

My encouragement is to consider the following categories of thought to help you engage in meaningful, truthful, courageous, and graceful conversation as our culture debates about abortion in the coming weeks and months.

Imago Dei: Every person is created in the image of God (Imago Dei). Therefore, abortion is sin. We have no right to casually kill an image-bearer of our Father in heaven. We don’t have that kind of authority. Declaring that a baby is only a human, but not a person (according to academics like Peter Singer), is not a solution. We are not people based on what we can do, but simply who we are. To be human is to be a person, regardless of disability, age, or development.

Sin: The wages of sin is death. All sin leads to death. All sin. Gossip and abortion. Envy and sex outside of biblical marriage. Telling a lie and murder. These sins are different in their scope, consequence, legacy, and more – but they all have this in common: They stain us before a holy God, and they make us rightfully guilty. God is right to be angry at sin, and He is right to judge it impartially. Sin destroys the goodness and beauty of creation.

Forgiveness: Through true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, all sin can be forgiven. All sin. This is scandalous news, and it is the Good News of the Gospel. Jesus Christ died a torturous death on the cross to atone for sin. All who trust in His life, death, and resurrection are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, and redeemed from the power of sin and death. Abortion, or any other sin, is not a red “A” that counts someone out from God’s grace, to use Hawthorne’s literary device.

Gentleness and Respect: “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

Spiritual Warfare: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Courage: “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head – Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15)

Identity: “Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27)

Holiness: “Stay away from every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:22)

Prayer: “Devote yourselves to prayer, stay alert in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)