Hi,<\/p>\n
Thanks for the site that you run. On more than one occasion I have gone there to read your responses.<\/p>\n
I wanted to follow up on the question of abortion because first, as someone who was raised as a Christian, I do believe it is wrong. I am not extreme on either side. I do not think it should be outlawed nor do I believe that it should be easily accessible like Tylenol. It should be used as a last resort. However, when the church protests (and here I mean evangelicals who stand at clinics protesting), they assume that we can legislate morality on the country.<\/p>\n
As you have mentioned prior, most women who seek out abortion services are single and do not have the means of taking care of that child. And when you look at states which disproportionately fail to expand social services, it is the ones that have trigger laws on the books or will have outright restricted it in the next few weeks and months. Additionally, it is those same states that have high rates of maternal and infant mortality. So I find it hypocritical when anti-abortionists say abortion is wrong – but then I ask, where are the resources to help raise that child by that single mother (or both parents). Within my own circle, I know individuals who did choose to have the child, but again, the stigma, the lack of support, etc. are a daily reality. You can’t be anti-abortion and then after the child is born, you cast it away. As a country and some states, we have not made it economically viable to raise children, again the stats speak for themselves, (probably with the exception of Utah and perhaps Nebraska) the rest of the states (particularly rural and south) have the infrastructure to help raise kids compared to other states i.e. New England.<\/p>\n
Second, what about incest and rape? Is God so evil that He would willingly punish the victim who sought out abortion services after they had been raped? Is the church so callous, so lacking in compassion that we would willingly let a child of 12-13, with barely a mature body, suffer the consequences of her rapist? I assure you, that does not sit well with me. So then, what is the biblical solution? Because I assure you, if the parent’s decision to have their daughter seek out the procedure, is the anti-abortionist going to protest them that right? Although, you can disagree with them and their choice, they have a right to exercise however they wish to do so.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, the most distressing thing about this all is the utter lack of compassion and presumption to legislate morality that has been the case of Evangelicals for the last 50 years. I find it utterly arrogant that we should choose to legislate morality. The church cannot. Last I check, we are called to witness. The church is not God. And America is certainly not the children of Israel.<\/p>\n
This is just my two cents.<\/p>\n
Thanks and etc.<\/p>\n\t
The argument that you can’t legislate morality is false. We have laws that say it is wrong to murder, to lie on an affidavit, or to take someone’s property without permission. These are all moral rules. The fact that laws have been passed to allow human life to be taken prior to birth (or in some cases shortly after birth) is an enforcement of a moral standard as well — one that I object to. However, what we need to recognize is that morality is being legislated — it always has been. See:<\/p>\n
You referenced David Tant’s article, “Thoughts on Abortion<\/a>,” where he stated: “Statistics show that most abortions are performed on single, unmarried women. A recent report indicated some 626,000 abortions in a recent year’s survey. One report stated that some 86% of abortions are for single women.” However, you added a false premise that single women “do not have the means of taking care of that child.” You offered no evidence that your assertion is true. Most women are quite capable of taking care of a child, and given the multitude of government programs (See “Most Helpful Government Assistance Programs for single moms<\/a>,” SingleMothersGrants.org), they have adequate support without including the additional support of family and community. There are exceptions, but my point is that your blanket statement is not true. Besides, if a woman does not want the responsibility of a child, there is always adoption.<\/p>\n I agree that there are people who don’t behave as Christian ought to behave. Sins of people don’t justify murder. See “For Such a Time as This<\/a>” for a point of view of a woman who went through a situation similar to what you describe.<\/p>\n The argument that abortion is justified in the case of rape or incest violates the basic principle that evil cannot be fixed by additional evil. See “Is abortion wrong except in the case of rape?<\/a>” The answer to the emotional hypothetical situation of a child being impregnated is similar. First, very few females are able to bear children at such a young age. It is rare enough that Wikipedia is able to give a list of females who had given birth at an early age<\/a>. Instead of justifying murder as a solution to this problem, it points to the need for punishment for males who would do this to a child (which does happen).<\/p>\n