She's Only 13
Meet Alicia.* She's a 13-year old girl referred for counseling. She'd had an abortion after learning she was pregnant--her father raped her. Now she's in a foster home. She's severely depressed. She doesn't want to live. She misses her family. She's angry about being ripped away from her sister and the mother that didn't protect her. When you meet real people with real needs, morality become personal- relational.
Meet Alicia.* She's a 13-year old girl referred for counseling. She'd had an abortion after learning she was pregnant--her father raped her. Now she's in a foster home. She's severely depressed. She doesn't want to live. She misses her family. She's angry about being ripped away from her sister and the mother that didn't protect her. When you meet real people with real needs, morality become personal- relational.
Abortion is in the News
Most Americans believe abortion is morally wrong. That’s
the consistent finding from the Marist Poll of Americans. In 2013 the rate of
agreement was 62%. And all but 2% considered abortion a moral issue. In 2016,
six in 10 Americans agree, “abortion is morally wrong.” (Washington
Times)
Pew Research in 2017 reported public support for legal abortion at 57% in all or most cases and 40% opine abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.
Pew clarifies the data in terms of "absolute" positions. So, 25% say abortion should be legal in ALL cases and 16% say it should be illegal in ALL cases. Thus, most Americans consider exceptions.
Pew Research in 2017 reported public support for legal abortion at 57% in all or most cases and 40% opine abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.
Pew clarifies the data in terms of "absolute" positions. So, 25% say abortion should be legal in ALL cases and 16% say it should be illegal in ALL cases. Thus, most Americans consider exceptions.
When Does Life Begin?
Beliefs about when life begins might depend on the
wording of the question. Marist results indicated 53% believed life begins at
conception.
Pew researchers ask the question a little differently.
They asked if abortion should be illegal. The opinion depends on the category
of the faithful. Six-in-ten white Evangelical Protestants and Mormons believe
abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. In contrast, about 63% of
mainline Protestants believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Polls rarely get at the depth of beliefs about abortion.
Why do people believe abortion is right or wrong? Is the life in the womb a
child? If so, why have no jurisdictions declared the fetus is a person with
human rights—especially since so many people believe abortion is morally wrong.
In fact, why are people using the word abortion? After
all, if people are killing a child then the act is murder. Of course, many
people are unwilling to recognize the early division of cells as constituting a
living human being.
Moral Facts
Scientific advances have presented information about the
developing lives within a mother in incredible detail. With knowledge comes
increased responsibility. Although many Christians turn to the Bible for
guidance on morality, they obviously come away with different perspectives. The
general view is that human life is sacred.
In the case of abortion, science has provided relevant
moral facts about what features of a human being develop at what week of
pregnancy. We know when there’s a heartbeat and we see videos of a developing
person with recognizable body parts. When complications develop, medical
personnel are able to save the lives of premature babies at earlier stages than
ever before.
Moral Reasoning
So what’s your view on the morality of abortion? And why
do you believe what you believe?
People reason differently about the morality of so many
issues—abortion is no exception. As in previous posts and elaborated upon in A House Divided, most
reasons fall into one of six categories.
1. Who suffers harm?
At some point, there is good evidence the unborn baby
suffers pain during an abortion.
Mothers are in a bind. Depending on how you measure harm
(medical, economic, emotional, spiritual) mothers are at risk to experience
harm during pregnancy and as a result of abortion. Not all mothers experience
significant harm. It is impossible to form a judgment for an individual mother
based on group data.
Fathers and families also experience harm when the life
of an expected child is taken in an abortion or the mother experiences distress
during her pregnancy.
2. What is fair?
Justice as fairness is a common moral concern, famously
articulated by Rawls. Mothers ought to be treated fairly by society. But
children also deserve to be treated fairly. Again, we are back to the value of
the life of the unborn child. Fairness also implies a concern for rights. Here
we ought to be concerned about the rights of the father and other family members.
Indeed, we may also be concerned about a just society for all persons and the
implications for arguments about the value placed on other lives.
3. Isn’t Killing Babies
Disgusting?
Perhaps the most damning moral argument is really one
derived from the psychology of disgust. The prolife movement has found that the
portrayal of unborn children in the womb draws on our natural desire to protect
our young. And concomitantly, we are averse to scenes—pictured or
described—revealing the destruction or dismemberment of unborn children.
Christian Views
Christians quote Bible passages recognizing the sacredness
of life—especially children (e.g., Jeremiah 1:4-5; Psalms 22:9-10; Luke
1:41,44; Galatians 1:15). But some are troubled by other stories or passages in
which God appears to support the ending of a child’s life (e.g., Jeremiah 19:9;
Psalm 137:8-9; Hosea 13:16; 2 Kings 15:16).
Most Christians, like other people, are prolife. Some
support a woman’s choice—especially in cases of incest and rape. Integrity
requires Christians to be honest about the difficult biblical texts. To ignore
those verses that do not affirm the value of life for all people in favor of
supportive texts is dishonest and can only lead intelligent people to reject
Christian views.
Moral Arguments Include
Emotions
The arguments about abortion go on at some length but
most emphasize some aspect of concern for harm to mother and child and human
rights.
Although people seem to think they must have logical
reasons for being prolife or prochoice, I find the best reason for being
prolife is the natural desire in most of us to protect our young and react with
disgust toward the killing of our young.
Abortion is indeed a moral issue.
And a just society must demonstrate deep concern for women
who have become pregnant as a result of incest and other forms of rape.
It is natural to want simple answers to life concerns.
Unfortunately, simple answers only come at the expense of ignoring evidence
whether they evidence comes from science or contradictory reasons.
*To protect privacy, names and details do not match real people. Examples are constructed to illustrate a point.
*To protect privacy, names and details do not match real people. Examples are constructed to illustrate a point.
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Read more about
abortion and related issues in
A House Divided: Sexuality, Morality, and Christian Cultures
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In the U.S., 699,202 legal abortion were reported in 2012. The abortion rate was 13.2 abortion per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. This rate is a decline of 4% from 2011.
Most women who had an abortion were in their 20s.
Most abortions were performed before a gestational age of 13 weeks (91.4%).
Data from the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/
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