Abortion, 3 Perspectives

The way I see it, there are basically 3 main positions that people take on abortion:

#1: "Just Tissue"
People who take this position do not believe that a developing human fetus is equivalent to a human life. They are convinced that the fetus is merely "tissue" that has the potential to develop into a human being, but that there is no reason to grant it the same status and value as an adult. I believe this position to be tenable or logical, albeit based on a faulty premise. If the fetus is not a human being, then there would be no reason to think that aborting an unwanted pregnancy would be morally wrong.

#2: "Human Life"
This person believes, as I do, that the life of a human being begins at conception, and that a person is still a person even if they are not viable. (Just for the record, the 9-month gestation period still doesn't make a newborn baby viable; they need constant care, feeding, etc. or they will die. Just wanted to put that out there...). This person raises the question of who gets to decide the imaginary line where a "fetus" becomes a "human". It seems to me that there are two possible choices: birth or conception. Most reasonable people, even those who support early-term abortions, understand that the only difference between a 1-day old baby and a 40-week fetus is location. Thus, the only conclusion this group is left with is conception; a human life begins at fertilization. Therefore, abortion is a moral wrong, equivalent to killing an adult human.

#3: "My Own Personal Belief"
This is the position that befuddles me. Perhaps to best way to summarize this position would be by quoting the oft-heard statement: "I'm personally opposed to abortion, I just don't think we should be imposing our personal beliefs on someone else." This person wouldn't choose to have an abortion if they became pregnant unexpectedly, but they don't want to support laws that would prohibit other women from doing so if they choose. This position is also held by a lot of men who don't want to be seen as overstepping their bounds and imposing their opinions on women.

But let's take the above statement and put a different spin on it:

"I don't think that CEO's should cook the books and steal money from their shareholders; I'm just not going to impose my personal beliefs on them."

"I'm personally opposed to rape, but it's just wrong for me to impose my beliefs on what certain men want to do with their own bodies."

"I'm morally opposed to shoplifting, but this is a free country where people can choose to do as they please."

As you read those statements, you probably had a response along the lines of "But there's a victim involved. Someone's life, or freedoms, or rights are being infringed upon!" But for some reason, when it comes to the subject of abortion, a certain subset of people don't seem to follow the same logic. They do believe that a fetus is a human, but they don't think that the government should step in and protect them from being aborted (see: killed). In my opinion, the people who make these kinds of statements have been completely and utterly distracted from the real issue at hand to something that is only tangentially related.

The Role of Laws (Bad Choices vs. Illegal Choices)

We enjoy certain personal liberties in our nation. I am free to screw up my life in a myriad of ways: massive debt, artery-clogging diet, overuse of alcohol, or cheating on my spouse. There is, however, a difference between a bad decision and an illegal decision. Our society has spent the last 233 years wrestling over which decisions are so detrimental to society that they should be considered illegal instead of merely bad. I might be personally convinced that there is nothing wrong with driving 60 mph on Lake Otis Blvd., but society (through elected officials) has decided that the maximum appropriate speed is 45 mph. In fact, society has deemed that if I decide to go faster than 45 mph, it is not merely a bad decision, it is in fact an illegal decision. That law was put into place to protect the other people (and myself) who are using the road systems.

Our American culture automatically defaults to a "live-and-let-live" position on many things. In fact, it is built directly into the fabric of our society by the founding fathers, who were opposing the absolute power of the British kings. But the problem is that, in America, we've become confused on what the role of law is in our modern society; we've attempted to separate "laws" and "morals." EVERY SINGLE LAW ON THE BOOKS IS A MORAL DECISION! For the government to tell me that I can't burn trash on my property is a moral decision. For the government to tell me that I must pay taxes to support the rest of our society is a moral decision. When we attempt to separate "laws" and "morals," as we do in the abortion issue, we end up with the muddled, asinine, and vapid statements like the #3 position outlined above.

In the end, the debate really does come down to whether or not a developing fetus is truly a human being. That is what the discussion needs to truly be about, because, as I said earlier, position #1 and position #2 are at least logical, but based on different premises. The problem is that the majority of the discussion takes place in the #3 realm, which leaves everybody confused, frustrated, and no closer to any sort of resolution. I believe (and recent polling data confirms) that a growing majority of people actually believe that the aborting of a human fetus is morally wrong, but they've been convinced that to say so is somehow infringing on the "rights" or "freedoms" of someone else.

Don't Be Afraid To Be Heard

The abortion debate isn't "cool" anymore, if it ever was. It's much easier to find common ground on other issues of social justice. Everyone agrees that the practice of using child soldiers in African wars should be ended. Everyone agrees that it's a good thing to help provide clean drinking water to communities around the world. Everyone agrees that the exploitation of young girls worldwide for the purpose of sex-slavery should be eradicated (except for the people who are currently making it the 2nd largest illegal market in the world, behind drugs.) But somewhere along the line, people who believe that abortion is an issue of social justice have gotten nervous or ashamed to talk about it publicly. I guess we've been afraid of being lumped in with the clinic-bombers, or the paint-throwers, or the insult-shouters.

If you are convinced that the life of an unborn baby should be protected, go ahead and say it. You might find that you're in more company than you have previously thought.

Don't be a jerk.
Don't shout at people.
Don't call names.
Don't be weird.
Don't be inflammatory.
Don't let the clinic-bombers or the whack-jobs define you and your beliefs.
Do be loving.
Do be compassionate.
Do be firm in your convictions.
Do be articulate and informed.
Do be involved.

In the end, I believe that every single human being has immeasurable worth, dignity and value because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. From the richest king to the poorest drunk, every human life is worth something. I actually believe this. My hope is that you would find the ability to believe it, too - first about yourself, but extending out to the entire human race, including the "least of these," the unborn.