Can Christians Support Legal Exceptions to Abortion (Part Two)

In this election year abortion is on the ballot. One side supports a woman's right to choose without restriction. Abortion should be legal they claim until birth, which goes beyond the recently overturned Roe v. Wade decision. Some favor abortion until the time of birth and even allow for a period of time after birth when infanticide is permitted. The other side the believes that a child's life should be protected except for rare occasions. 

For Cristians the issue of abortion is particularly significant because it has to do with how we view both God and man. It is a fundamental theological issue. How does God view life, and what is our obligation to the unborn? The original Roe v. Wade decision was argued as a civil rights decision. The basis of the argument was that a woman is free to make her own private decision about her own body. The justices found that there was an "implied right to privacy within the language of the 4th Amendment of the U.S Constitution, and since the 14th amendment language applied protection for the life of those who "are born," they found no right to life for an unborn child. 

After Roe, legal challenges and defenses of abortion were argued from two positions: Those who argued that there was no implied right to privacy implied in the 4th Amendment, and therefore, the government could limit freedom of choice to preserver the rights of the community.  Further those who argued that the 14th Amendment requiring a legal process to take the life a person did apply to the unborn. The Dobbs decision rejected Roe's argument that a woman's right to bodily autonomy was absolute. There are things government can require people to do with their own bodies. They can outlaw nudity, or certain sexual acts." They can prevent someone form viewing certain forms of pornography. They can deny access to certain drugs. They can restrict people' activities in a public health crisis. Dobbs argued that the "right to privacy,' did not give a person the right to abort their child. The Dobbs decision; however, left for the states to decide whether the "due process clause of the 14th Amendment applies to a fetus:

No State shall... deprive any person of life... without due process of law.

 The meaning of person in this Amendment is unclear since the Amendment speaks to those "born in the United States." The issue of when an unborn child's life can be taken was left to the states. 

Clearly the unborn have some legal rights. If a person murders a pregnant woman, they can be charged with killing two people. A drug addicted mother can be charged with abuse or neglect of her unborn child. State do have the right to take a life. Christians are divided on the issue of life, too.

A proper translation of the sixth commandment is "You shall not murder." God gave governing authorities the right to take life judicially, and the Bible recognize a right of self-defense. The one incident where the Bible speaks of a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) that occurs as a result of an altercation it is called an act of man slaughter rather than murder (Exodus 21: 22-24the believer is whether abortion is murder under every circumstance. If it is not, then under what circumstances can a mother take the life of her child?

While serving as a hospital chaplain I was called on to counsel a pregnant woman "who had aborted one of her preborn twins to save the other." Had she committed murder? Is it appropriate to label all elective abortion as murder. Do we alienate women in crisis by treating them as murderer? The extreme rhetoric on both sides of this issue makes it difficult to consider the situation dispassionately. While every elective abortion is homicide, it may not be murder. Many women who have abortions are facing tremendous life trauma and moral perplexing moral dilemmas. While the Bible prevents murder it allows for homicide in some situations. A biblical ethic considers whether there are situations in which abortion, though never desired, can be permitted? What is the moral and legal status of the unborn?

 Although the Protestant and Catholic churches have historically considered any abortion as homicide. With the rise of the civil rights movement in the 1960's and 70's and the social justice movement into the 21st centuries some Christians actually argue that abortion is a God ordained right. Both Protestants and Catholics have taught that the unborn child is a living being and therefore sacred, and most Christian churches oppose nearly all abortions. Both Protestants and Catholics have historically affirmed that the unborn child is a living being. Though Protestants and Catholics have traditionally differed over the mother's role in complicated situations. Make no mistake, though, the historic view of both Protestant and Catholics has been that the unborn child is a living being, abortion is the taking of a child's life; it is homicide. 

In recent years some Christians within some denominations have asserted a "holy abortion" theology.  Some of those involved in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s began to argue that it was an injustice to prohibit a woman from aborting a who was burdensome, or who was conceived as a result of an act of violence done to her. Some of them argued that the Bible did not teach that the unborn child possessed a soul.  A small group of liberals both Protestant and Catholic in supported a woman's right to choose abortion at the time of Roe. Since the church was commanded to help relieve the burdened, the weak, and the oppressed, the church had a responsibility to help the mother end a burdensome pregnancy.  In 1967 the Rev Howard Moody of New York, ordained in both the American Baptist and United Church of Christ, formed The Clergy Consultative Service on Abortion, a Christian pro-choice advocacy groups. At the same time several liberal Protestant and Jewish groups advocated for the liberalization or elimination of abortion laws.  Conservative churches were mostly silent about the issue. The predominant biblical theology of conservative churches in the United States at the time of the Roe decision was that kingdom matters were separate from earthly matters. They remained passive about the issue. Most liberal and mainline churches perceived abortion as a "social justice issue." Most liberal churches were conflicted about the issue. 

Many Conservative Protestant groups believed in one degree or another that the church should not attempt to influence politics.  Some conservative churches took no stand on the issues because of their separatist theologies. Kingdom matters were separate from earthly matters, and the church did not engage in the politics of civil or reproductive rights. After Roe most Conservative churches began teaching and a doctrine of the sanctity of life, and most adopted a very strict view that abortion was murder, and always prohibited. Most conservative reaction to both Roe and Dobbs has been reactionary, rather than based on a thoughtful understanding of biblical anthropology and the issue of abortion.  While many churches have adopted a Sunday dedicated to "the sanctity of life. The abortion decision is clearly a decision involving fundamental moral issues. The Dobbs decision did not end the debate.

(Some Christians actually argue that abortion is a God ordained right. The book HOLY ABORTION: A Theological Critique of.  the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice - Why Christians and Christian Churches Should Reconsider Abortion, by Michael Gorman an Ann Loar Books is a critique of pro-choice theology that I am referencing for this post. This post will review argument of the Religious Coalition of Reproductive Choice, a liberal Christian abortion advocacy group, in order to try to fairly contrast the prochoice and prolife views from a biblical perspective)

Following is a brief history and critique of the "abortion is holy" movement:

In 1967 the Rev Howard Moody of New York, ordained in both the American Baptist and United Church of Christ, formed The Clergy Consultative Service on Abortion. At the same time several liberal Protestant and Jewish groups advocated for the liberalization or elimination of abortion laws. Many Conservative Protestant groups believed in one degree or another that the church should not attempt to influence politics.  Some conservative churches took no stand on the issues because of their separatist theologies. In 1973 several mainline denominations formed "The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice" to advocate and advance support abortion among people of faith. The views promulgated by RCRC are representative of pro-choice theologies:

    According to Gorman and Lore RCRC advocates for abortion rights based on the following biblical assertions. Pro-choice Christians believe:

1. Reproductive and sexual freedom is a God-given attribute. Sexuality is a blessing, not a curse, and that men and women created in the image of God have the moral authority to make choices about sexual activity, and whether to allow for pregnancy or end it. The image of God is preserved in the choice, rather than in the outcome. Free moral agency requires liberty to follow God, reject or disobey. 
2. Moral acts are isolated acts of the individual. Rev Howard Moody said, "the act of having an abortion is the most deeply personal act dealing with a woman's feelings about life, the power of creation and the survival of the species.' United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert asserts "I feel obliged to make this assertion because choice acknowledges that in the final analysis each individual must decide and act ... that it is fundamental to our faith ..[that the] the individual ... must search his/her own soul and act on his or her own conscience. 

3. The unborn child is a trivial mass without sacred dignity Biblically life began when God breathed life into a person, and that God's image is infused with the breath of life into the person. A child is not a living person until they take a breath. The unborn child does not possess the "imago De. A fetus has high value, but do not believe a fetus possesses the same divine value as one who has taken the breath and enters the world.

4. Since the fetus does not possess the dignity of a living person abortion is acceptable, not only in crisis, but for birth control. RCRC place the argument for abortion and birth control is a means of achieving social justice. Abortion and birth control are a fulfillment of the biblical vision of a new heaven and new earth as referenced in (Is 65:17 -25). In this vision infant mortality and threats to children do not exist, and children are only born if they meet the criterion of "being a blessing." Thus, if having a child is a burden and abortion brings blessing, or relief of liberation from trauma or oppression "abortion is holy." The claim is the sovereignty of God is reflected in the co-sovereignty" of the pregnant woman over her body. It is holy righteous and just to alleviate the burden of an unwanted pregnancy.
5.  Abortion is a holy act, because it elevates the dignity of the human to make their own choice, which is reflective of the image of God. Thus, freedom of choice reflects holy character.

1.  

    A Pro-choice theologian teaches that the God of Scripture blesses all decisions. In a "Ceremony of Closure After an Abortion" a Unitarian Universalist Minister proclaimed "We have gathered today to honor the importance of decision... we give them [an unmarried co-habitating couple] our support in which they release the energy and creativity, which might have been their child from the bonds of grief and guilt...to the other incarnations in the infinite womb of the universe from which nothing is ever lost

Gorman and Books summarize pro-choice theology as follows: "Abortion is a divinely blessed and guided act that can be practiced by a sovereign, isolated moral agent without regard to any moral or legal restraints and without concern about the moral status of the target of the act. (page 30)"

When Christians people argue for abortion base on the right of choice, they are assuming some or all of the premises' stated by RCRC. Those of us in teaching roles must understand that abortion applies fundamental theological issues to life. Issues of life, birth death must be addressed if we claim to teach "the whole counsel of God." It is my position that the "abortion in holy theology is" contrary to a biblical world view and the historic teaching of both the Protestant and Catholic churches. There you have it the liberal Christian view of abortion. Biblical Christianity takes a very different view of our personal moral agency and freedom and its application to abortion.

Freedom and choice are viewed differently in the Christian tradition. Choice is always made in relationship to covenant and commandment. Choice in the biblical sense is never separated from responsibility to love God and love other. The prochoice movement views the mother as the autonomous owner of her own body, and the fetus is a product of her own bodily functions, and as long as it is in her womb can only be sustained by her body. It is her property, and hers alone. Neither the father, nor the state have any claim on the unborn child. 

 The biblical perspective makes parents the creative agent of God. The child is the product of pro-creation. God is the creator and the owner of all things even our children. Parents are stewards of children and raise them with accountability to God and man. This has seemed clear from the childhood narratives of Jesus. The Holy family raised Jesus as one who was responsible both to God and man:

[39] And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. [40] And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him... [52] And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:39–40, 52ESV)

Our bodily decisions are seldom autonomous. Human beings are not isolated morally. Liberty or freedom for the Christian is not a choice between two pathways. It is freedom to love God and neighbor or live in alienation and separation from Him and his people. It is the freedom to obey or disobey? Choice is never exercised in isolation. Freedom for the biblical writer is not private experience but communal reality; Karl Barth said. "The decisive point is whether freedom in the Christian sense is identical to the freedom of Hercules: a choice between two ways on the road. This is a heathen notion." We are free to choose but biblically not all choices are equally valued.

[15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15–17ESV)

Paul clearly saw are daily choice as wise, or unwise, good of evil, so though we have freedom, not all choice are of equal value. Liberty is not isolated form our responsibility to God and community. Bodily autonomy and moral anarchy are foreign to the notion of Christian morality. The idea that a woman is able to decide to how to use her body without regard to how that choice affects a potential person developing and growing in her womb in untenable.  

 Absolute autonomy of the kind pro-choice Christians advocate does not exist in a civil society. To claim that we can do whatever we want with our bodies regardless of how it affects a person growing in us results in nihilism not civilization. Choice is not justice, nor is equity. Justice is the application of equity to moral and civil acts. The Bible calls us to protect the weak and the powerless but is an unborn child a person. This leads to the inevitable question of how the bible view the fetus? 

There are several passages that speak of God knowing forming and having intention for the unborn. But the defining evidence that the unborn are living being is that Christ's redemptive work began with conception. Christ became a man through the birth process. This was not necessary. God could have formed a second Adam (second Adam is one of the ways the New Testament describes the incarnate Christ) from the dust of the earth, as a fully adult male. But he did not!

[30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. (Luke 1:30–31ESV)

God became incarnate in a single cell human embryo and grew from infancy to adult hood. He called the embryo implanted in her uterus, " a son, and gave him a name." "Son" is a personal term. He had gender, he had family status, and a name from the point of conception. In this way he was different from Adam who never experienced maturation.  The redemptive work of Christ began at his conception because the human being is sinful from conception. The depravity of the human soul from conception implies that the soul (the ability to communicate with both God and man) is present at conception. The single cell embryo maturing in a woman's body is a person distinct from its mother. Incarnation had to occur at conception or Christ would not have been fully human. The embryo is human. Life begins at conception. 

The decision to abort cannot be separated from the moral value of the child. The maturing embryo in the woman was so important that the redemptive work of Christ encompassed it; his identification with man began at conception, The embryo is a living person. Abortion is homicide. Christian morality always places love of God and love of the other above yourself. The mother must always consider the impact of her decision on the life she bears above her own. Christ like character is willing to deny your rights and needs for the sake of others. "You shall not kill." Is a social imperative. It demands that you consider other in your choice of how to treat your body and others. A bible teaching church defends the sanctity of the unborn  

The church cannot be passive about abortion. Taking the issue of abortion to the states now localizes it. Roe avoided the moral and religious issue, arguing in 1972 from an inability to determine when life began. The court argued that a "fetus" was merely a "product of conception," and did not warrant 14the Amendment protection until it became "viable." The Dobbs decision does not end the tension that Roe created between biblical world view and the social justice advocates it localizes it. Abortion is no longer an issue in Washington it is now at our front doors. The Great Commission mandate is to "teach people to obey" rather than affirming their right to choose. As believers we endure hardship an take up our cross for others'

Even in desperate situations where a mother's life is in danger, or the birth is the consequence of some oppressive or violent act, one must ask whether loving God and loving others justifies harming and killing a child. It is also important to realize the in the infancy narrative belies the choice argument. Mary was not given a choice whether to bear her child. She was inconvenienced and disgraced as a result of her pregnancy. Obedience to God required both trauma and a major life-altering burden for her. Was it unjust of God to force her to bear a child that she had not planned. I would argue that while an unplanned, undesired pregnancy may be the result of oppressive or burdensome circumstances. God alone is the author of life. The fetus itself is not a perpetrator of injustice and deserves protection. 

 Yet God is clearly compassionate toward the mother. What relief does the Bible give a woman in crisis? Hagar, the concubine, whom Abraham impregnated then abandoned was certainly a woman in crisis. 

7 "The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, 'Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?' She said, 'I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.' 9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.' 10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, 'I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude...[13] So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing,' for she said, 'Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.' (Gen 16:7-10, 13ESV)

The angel of the Lord, who was probably the pre-incarnate Christ, redeemed this woman in crisis restored her to covenant relationship with God and with her community and went with her through the process. The woman in crisis, and her child needs to be redeemed and cared for rather than ostracized and alienated. The church too often disciplines or ostracizes the pregnant woman rather than attempting to restore them. 

Post the Dobbs decision what can we conclude about abortion. Abortion is the taking of the life of an innocent unborn child. It is homicide. While parents have freedom to choose, our choices are not libertarian. When faced with a crisis we choose whether to obey and to live in covenant or a choice to walk away. The church while being faithful to moral teaching is to help the woman be restore to relationship with God and community. The choice a mother in crisis makes is church or to oppress a weaker person or to redeem them. And a disciple making church is a one that enables the woman to obey. We recognize as Christ did "the hardness of man's heart" the difficulty and suffering having a child sometimes brings. How do we save the child in a manner that is both redemptive to mother and child? Second, abortion for the believer is not, and can never be birth control. God is the author of life, and the purveyor of death. How are we to react in a culture that does not value life? Can we support politicians and policies that do not comply with our moral view. We will explore those questions in other posts.

 

”