Abortion Religious Right

Can Proponents of Unjust War Justly Call Themselves “Pro-Life”?

An editorial in the Tahlequah (Ok) Daily Press illustrates how difficult it is for some to be consistently pro-life. The occasion was the anniversary in January of Roe vs. Wade. (Emphases added.) First, the author attacks the hypocrisy of the very narrow “pro-life” focus that many activists practice in the US; then they go on to discuss some proposed Oklahoma legislation designed to actually help solve the abortion problem.

Anyone who participated in this week’s protests against Roe vs. Wade,” but at the same time is an enthusiastic proponent of the death penalty, assisted suicide, or unjust war, cannot honestly claim to be “pro-life.”

…. True “pro-lifers” honor the dignity of the human person, “from womb to tomb.” The notion that an embryo in its seventh week of gestation has more intrinsic worth than a frightened young man of 19 whose buddy has just been blown to bits by a suicide bomber’s rage is utterly without logic.

…. Abortion foes are often the same people who support cuts to social programs that encourage women to keep – or at least give birth to – their babies. This has been the case with many Bush supporters …. abortions tend to increase under such conditions.

The author mentions some pending legislation in Oklahoma, then makes this very strong statement:

Earmarking money for pregnant women, in [Oklahoma] House Bill 1696, is by far the most important proposal, because it’s the only real way society can hope to reduce abortions. Banning them outright won’t necessarily work: As we know from our experiments in Prohibition, bans may stop the legal procedure, but will reopen a lucrative – and dangerous – black market, and will criminalize desperate women.

HB 1696 … would allow taxpayers to divert up to $100 dollars of their state taxes to fund groups such as Birth Choice of Oklahoma and Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which provide aid to pregnant women and their babies. Tax dollars can also be funneled to programs for domestic violence shelters and rape crises centers.

The article ends with a good summary of the crucial issues – which, not surprisingly, are very much issues of attitude.

“Pro-Life Democrats believe, as [Pope] John Paul II said, that the only way to end abortion is to form a radical solidarity with the woman. Pro-Life Democrats believe that the only way to stop the tragedy of abortion is to love and help both the mother and her baby.”

Democrats need to … strip some of the false patina from politicians like George Bush, who talk the talk just long enough to get the vote. These Democrats have shown they’re willing to walk, too.

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10 Comments

  • As said above:
    Correction: Let us legalize prostitution, abortion, beastiality, and drugs. IF that is the case you make for abortion. THat it is an individual’s right to choose to do with their body as they will

    Why not? God gave us free will, and he told us that he alone is judge. So let him judge, and have Christians spend more of their efforts on paying for young un-wed mother expenses, or feeding the poor, or healing the sick. I’d rather have the Lord God judge me, than any court. I’m glad I’m not having an abortion. But I don’t plan on stealing either. God has given me a life where I don’t have to steal to live, as many do in many countries. He has given me good parents, and planted me in a good garden. I am glad I don’t belong to a gang for security, because the streets are not safe. I am glad my life is not so painful that I turn to drugs and alcohol. Thank You God, please help others. I trust you to judge them, in their circumstances, and in thier lives. I will try not to. Please help them, and Thank you for the gifts you have given me. God thank you for not making this country like the middle east, where if I make an offence, I don’t get a chance to repent, they just cut off a body part, or put you in jail. Thank you for allowing me to live in a country with free will. Please, PLEASE make it more free!

  • Both war and abortion are immoral, and I am not so sure there is any such thing as a morally justified war. But these are only just a few of the things Christians should avoid. Along with them are greed, envy, adultery, hatred, murder, stealing, lying, cheating, and a myriad of other sins based on a generalized lack of grace towards fellow man.

    The genuine Christian really has to be born again twice. The first time accepting God’s grace towards them, and later on (when they have learned humility and love) showing that very same grace to others (the second rebirth). When a believer has reached that second birth, then God can do something with them.

  • Connie: “screaming to make abortion illegal does not make the problem go away.”

    Exactly. It makes people hate/fight each other so that saving infant lives is not a priority. How about this: the people who claim to care about babies so much stand outside abortion clinics, not to protest but to stop any woman going in, and try to convince her to carry the child and let them take care of it? I mean, anyone who has time to stand outside and protest, directing other people’s lives, must not have any financial difficulty, right? So turn them into adoption clinics. Gee. And if you find a woman who refuses, even when shown a way out, well… then you may have found an actual murderer. But not like this. This… I think is more likely to make it a social taboo and force more women to do it in secret, thus making it tougher on anyone who want to actually adopt that way, difficult to even find her.

  • Let us legalize massive right-wing media corporations using their powers to purvey dishonesty and moral filth – in great floods! – to the nation and to the world in the name of their own freedom to make more and more money!

    Oops. My bad. We already do sanction that. Do we think that is wonderful, just because they support the radical right?

  • The point of this article is that screaming to make abortion illegal does not make the problem go away. It is against a mother’s nature to kill her baby just like it is against a young man’s nature to kill other people (often innocent civilians)… but they do if the situation is desperate enough.

    So, the point is how can we REALLY prevent babies being killed? And it is pointing out that there are some people that are using their heads to solve the problem rather than their self-righteous emotions.

    There is a book called, “STORMIE” by Stormie Omartian, which tells her story including two very ugly abortions she had in the 60’s due to her desperate fear of rejection by her boyfriend and loss of income. Later she became a prominent Christian and married a good man and bore two children she cherished. What we need to focus on is how to help these women so they don’t feel like they have to take desperate measures like abortion.