- Overturning Roe will not stop abortions. It merely turns the decision back to the states to decide where we all know some will allow and some will restrict abortion. Even now state laws differ. In at least one state you can abort right up until the moment of delivery -- even though that is not what Roe decided either. So leave it up to the states like most laws are and should be.
- Overturning Roe simply admits the obvious -- the Constitution did not envision, did not foresee, and does not include any right to abortion. There is no such thing as a civil right for abortion so all the comparisons to the legitimate and laudable Civil Rights Movement are foolish comparisons. FWIW, nearly all of the leaders of that important and impressive movement were against abortion.
- Overturning Roe will not restrict doctors from the ordinary pursuit of their duties and medical responsibilities -- not even for those suffering miscarriage or the mothers whose lives are medically threatened by the continuation of the pregnancy. This is not about inserting police into a doctor's office or testing legitimate medical advice with attorneys present.
- Overturning Roe will not immediately end the death of these innocent ones. People will travel to places where abortion is legal and the changing of a law does not change people's minds -- we have witnessed that too often for anyone to question that truth.
- Overturning Roe will not make bring back the back alley abortionists. There are abundant alternatives available to a practice just as immoral as the abortions themselves. As I said above, people can travel and will even, as it might seem, on somebody else's dime.
And while I am at it, some foolish things people say about those who are pro-life and the churches who advocate for the rights of the unborn (along with others society is not so sure it wants or values).
- Those who are think that pro-life folks are only interested in preventing the killing of the child should remember that the pro-life are also, by and large, the same folks who are volunteering at food pantries, giving money to all sorts and kinds of relief agencies, rounding up their total at stores for good causes, and a thousand other things that improve the lives of those in need. It is foolish, stupid, and wrong to suggest that people want the babies but refuse to invest in the lives of their moms or families or the children.
- Those who think that abortion is health care need to remember that we do not reward doctors for killing their patients. Every OB doctor has two patients -- the child in the womb deserves every consideration as much as the mother. Health care is supposed to mean protecting life. It is about time that we saw through the lie that killing the child in the womb is good medicine.
- Those who think every child has a right to be wanted should look at the high statistics for infertility and the monies being spent every year in reproductive technology -- in large measure because abortion has eliminated the babies available for adoption. If every child aborted in a given year were suddenly available to adopt, everyone of them would be. If you are GLBTQ+, you might want to think twice about being pro-choice since this means babies would be available for you to adopt as well -- what with laws against discrimination and all.
- Those who think my body, my choice -- where were you when this business of Covid vaccinations and mask wearing and such were being mandated? That phrase works only when it conveniently fits your prejudice. Further, it is not your body. The baby in the womb is not merely another organ in the mother's body but has separate DNA and a life distinct enough from the mother so that not every disease the mother has is passed on to the child. Furthermore, wasn't it your choice to have sex or not? Wasn't that the choice you should be concerned about?
- Those who try to compare abortion to other things might recall that in abortion there is only one party consenting -- the one seeks to end the life of the other. The choice to abort, unlike the choice to have intercourse, is not mutual but completely one-sided -- not altogether unlike the kind of violence that would take away the choice and consent from the woman by rape or incest.
- Those who were wearing masks and social distancing for the past two years should have realized that if these things work, so does contraception. While contraception is not necessarily the best choice, it will at least protect us from having to kill the life of another because somebody did not think ahead or prepare for that choice to have sex.
- Those who think that the government has no right to force this on you might do well to remember all the things the government does force on us -- things that are supposed to save lives -- like a seat belt, for example. If saving lives is an important function of our government, how does legalized killing of the life in the womb square with that cause?
- Those who suggest that the child in the womb isn't a real child because they have not been invited to funerals for miscarried babies -- well, that is about the rudest thing I have ever heard. As a pastor I can tell you first hand of the loss, pain, sorrow, and suffering of those who endure a miscarriage. Some of them would be happy to have had the opportunity to have a funeral for their beloved child who did not live long enough to be held in their arms. If it were a customary practice, I know many who would have appreciated their loss being treated as a real loss with real grief. Instead they are subjected to uncaring comments like the child must have been damaged or it is natures way of fixing a mistake or there is always a next time. You are right, maybe we ought to honor the dignity of the grieving parents, grandparents, and siblings by holding a funeral for the miscarried babies and I will invite all those who think that the child in the womb is not real to come and find out how it hurts.
You know what is strange? We live at a time when a war is going on in Europe and people are dying over real estate and yet some folks think the world is coming to an end because they might have their access to a free abortion restricted in some way. Are our values so skewed by the demand for rights that we no longer pay attention to the cost of those rights or those who must suffer for us to have those rights?
I will admit that I am radically pro-life. I do not even understand why an innocent child should have to suffer in case of rape or incest. Why not punish the perpetrator of these crimes instead of the baby? Why not allow that child of your pain to bring joy to a family unable to conceive? Life is made cheap by the way we treat those least able to care for themselves. It is high time we acknowledged our error and try to make amends. From the baby in the womb to the aged in a nursing home, every life is sacred, precious, and the duty and responsibility of a compassionate society to protect and care for -- even when the cost is great! The mark of our nobility as people is shown not by the rights we demand but by the cost we bear so that those who require our sacrifice may live.
If you were looking for theological statements, I was aiming at another audience today -- one that does not listen to the Word of God but should see how unreasonable the arguments are which are enlisted to make the murder of the child int he womb a legal and moral right and choice. Abortion is the most illogical and irrational practice of our modern world -- even without arguments from the Word of God.
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