From safe, legal, and rare to good. . ..

In March of this year VP Kamala Harris, now the Democratic candidate for President, visited an abortion clinic and the press recorded it was “the first time a sitting US president or vice president [had visited] an abortion provider.”  It was in Minnesota, perhaps the first state to enshrine abortion rights following the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court -- oh yes, and also the home of Gov. Tim Walz now the running mate of Harris.  Later the state eliminated all health and safety protections for women, removed the 24-hour waiting period, permitted taxpayer funding of abortion, and repealed the state’s protection of children born alive after failed abortions.  Walz signed both abortion bills.  Whatever else they might have in common, it is clear that both Harris and Walz are on the same page with respect to abortion.

In the annals of history then President Clinton had introduced the idea that abortions should be safe, legal, and rare.  That was 1992.  Sixteen years later it became the phrase used by his wife, then presidential contender Hillary Clinton, in her 2008 bid for the top spot.  Now sixteen years later nobody seems to care if abortions are safe -- safety is a lesser concern than access.  Furthermore, the battle to make them legal seems to have fueled everything from state constitutional amendments to a desire by now President Biden to reshape the Supreme Court in the wake of Dobbs and a few other decisions.  Finally, the whole world seems to have forgotten entirely the whole idea that abortions should be rare.  In fact, in the wake of the Dobbs decision removing this right from the federal arena and shifting it back to the states, the actual number of abortions has gone up -- not down -- even though 14 states now ban it, 3 have a ban after 6 weeks, and 2 ban after 12 weeks.  

Now the Republican Party has practically removed abortion from its party platform and has moved from the most pro-life party to one silent on the issue -- except, of course, for the affirmation that states should decide.  Trump himself has left us hanging on the issue of abortion as he seems not to know his own mind on the issue.   Furthermore, the states that have no restrictions on abortion are not necessarily the saltwater or liberal bastions one might presume for some with a libertarian streak have decided to say nothing on the issue and leave it up to the individual (such as in Alaska).

Clearly the pro-life cause was not simply about changing a right.  Neither can it be satisfied with changing a law.  If we are to affect the rate of abortion we must change the minds of people about the very nature of life itself, where it comes from, and what duty is ours to preserve and protect it.  For the abortion issue is but one front on an overall war against the sacred character of life and a move to let people decide in general and as individuals its value, when it begins, and when it should end.  This is the realm not of the state or the federal government but of the Church.  There are significant voices within the American churches who insist that on this moral issue there must be no ambiguity and yet the reality is that in the pews there is exactly that -- ambiguity.  Apparently, we like the principle but find it hard to apply.  The churches opposed to abortion outnumber those in favor and yet we have not simply failed to make our case at the ballot box, we have failed miserably in the pews.  Our people are listening to our rhetoric but they hearts lie elsewhere -- especially those under the age of 30.  

We have watched as the once solid political and religious pro-life alliance has faded and become silent.  We have watched as the one party that seemed solidly in our camp has decided not to say much in the hopes of gaining the halls of power by this silence.  We have watched as the courts unhitched the right from the federal arena only to have it championed successfully by states.  We have watched as politicians seem to have paid little political price for their pro-abortion stance or their silence on the issue while anti-abortion folks struggle.  What that ought to tell us is this -- don't put your eggs in one basket.  Even more profound is the sobering thought that the cause of life begins not at the statehouse or Capitol but in the pews in front of the preacher and in the classrooms where the faith is taught.  Politics, government, and law cannot change the heart but the Word of the Lord is able to convict, convince, and convert by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We have our work cut out for us.