Are pro-lifers really lowering abortion rates?
The problem (the “elephant in the room” as Craig Schwarze would put it) is that the pro-life movement has failed - completely and spectacularly. Despite 30 years of protests, political action and even violence (albeit from a militant minority), western society has embraced abortion. Despite the efforts of the pro-life movement, support for abortion has increased since the early 1970s. While pro-life people argue and agitate to make abortion illegal, a considerable majority of people wish to keep it legal. Moreover, voting for politicians who support the pro-life camp has resulted in absolutely no change at all in abortion laws. For example, from 1994 until 2006, the US congress was controlled by conservative Republicans who had been voted in by the American people to enact conservative legislation - which included support from pro-life groups. Despite 12 years of congressional control (of which 6 years were spent under a conservative president who would not veto conservative legislation), Roe vs Wade was never repealed, abortions were not reduced and public opinion of abortion did not swing enough towards the pro-life position (if it swung at all).
One Salient Oversight argues (much more eloquently than I have attempted to do on here) that having a pro-life political stance may not be the best way to reduce abortions. He points out an interesting study that shows that countries where abortion is legal actually have lower rates of abortions than those countries where abortion is illegal. If you truly consider yourself to be in the pro-life camp, this is a must read post.
January 29th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Something about all this reminds me of the war on drugs and the pro-legalizers. What are your thoughts on drugs?
January 30th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
It is refreshing to hear something at least a little bit fresh in what has become, for many of us, a pretty tired debate. There are things that I like a lot about this blog post, but I do have some questions. I am with the author that the goal of those of us who identify as pro-life should be zero abortions (as opposed to prohibiting abortion by law.) I also agree with the idea of the failure of the pro-life movement and that a change in strategy might well be called for.
However, the second part of his post concerns me. He says,
“Now I realise that might go against certain assumptions - yet it is clear that low abortion rates and legalised abortion do actually go hand in hand. For those who wish to make abortion illegal, it seems logical (though hard to accept) to assume that making it illegal will actually increase it.”
Ignoring for a moment that the first statement in the above paragraph is not supported at all by anything else in his post, and is only ambiguously supported by the data of the study he cites, the question that I want to ask is, “How is it possible that legalizing abortion would lower the abortion rate?” It seems to me that making abortion more accessible couldn’t possibly make it more rare.
Citing that the abortion rate is higher in Latin America (where it is largely illegal) than in Western Europe (where it is mostly legal) certainly does not mean that if abortion were suddenly prohibited in the US then the rate would rise.
I am interested in what others think of his reasoning, and especially about how we should go about taking the next step toward reducing the abortion rate rather than making the same (unsuccessful) appeals for prohibition.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
hey there - i’ve been a reader for awhile now. thought i’d pipe in on this one. my husband and i talk about this topic quite a bit. my husband’s a pastor and we have a lot of people in the church who get very riled up when talking about abortion. but these are the same people who question us about adopting children in the future. “you don’t know what you’ll get,” is a common, and horrendous, statement we hear a lot. we need to bring these unwanted children into our homes. and no, i’m not saying every christian needs to adopt, but more should strongly consider it. if we as the Church are so anti abortion, are we also willing to take in these babies? what do your politics mean if you’re not willing to act on them?
January 31st, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Hi Marcy, I literally have given NO thought to legalizing drugs! None at all! I don’t know a thing about the arguments on either side. Sorry to disappoint you! Do you have thoughts on the issue??
Scott, I understand what you are saying about how that doesn’t quite make sense that it is the actual legalization of abortion that causes a lowering in the rate. I have a theory that the more “liberal” countries that have both legalized abortion and freely teach birth control practices. Our country is not quite ready, in my opinion, to teach the prevention of pregnancy, although it seems we Christians might consider pulling our heads out of the sand and realizing that it would prevent the killing of those made in God’s image if we helped prevent unwanted and unplanned pregnancy, even if we do teach people how to safely have sexual relations outside of the bounds of marriage.
Kate, Oh bless you! I am so with you! Not that I have adopted, but truth be told, it has been in the back of my mind, well, forever, and it isn’t out of the picture as a possibility yet. One of the families I really respect in our church is a foster family. Their attitude is that once a child is in their home, he is there to stay (if needed). I love that. What a pro-life message!!
February 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Hi there! I’ve recently found your blog and enjoy reading it. I’m a 20-something public high school teacher in SC, and my upbringing was in the same conservative circles most people associate with the area. I’ve always been surprised by people who will insist that Jesus - not government - is the only answer for mankind, and yet vote like eternity rests on the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I could not agree more with you that our best hope for change is focusing on hearts of individuals . . . AND remembering there are really many other issues besides abortion where lives are at stake. Sharing God’s unconditional love for those around us is the only way to demonstrate how much He (and we) should value life.