Pro-life: the only logical option

I had a short exchange with someone on Facebook about abortion. It isn’t really the place for debates. There are too many obstacles, and it’s easy to forget you’re typing to a human. Without a face to remind us, it is very easy to resort to name-calling and sarcasm. Other people inevitably join in, with or against you, clogging up the message line and taking things off track. But I have to say that it’s where many taboo topics come up.

I try to stay out of it, because it feels futile. Humans are defensive. We tend to ignore reason and truth so that we can walk away from a debate convinced of our victory. But sometimes things get said, and they stay said into all eternity. Comments that in their essence mean, “Hey, cutting tiny humans to pieces is my right,” are too vile to go unchecked. I ask myself, “Why the heck am I even responding to this ridiculous comment?” But inside me I think of the prophet Jeremiah, and how he was asked to speak God’s word even though not one person was listening. God’s word begs to be spoken, even if only the fish will listen.

So, I got into it.

“Fetuses aren’t alive, in my opinion. It’s not like I like abortion, I think it should be a last resort, but it’s a sad reality.”

Can you see the problems in the statements? Firstly, and most obviously, every fetus is a human, and alive. That’s science, and to be blunt, obvious. When the debater wrote that, I kind of gave in to cheekiness, and responded that I would wait while they got out a dictionary and defined “life” for me before going any further. If they were going to ignore science, I didn’t have the time.

The second problem fits with the first: “In my opinion.” This kind of defines the pro-choice generation. There is no way a reasonable, honest pro-choicer can remain pro-choice when confronted with facts unless they resort to their own opinion. When people of the past rallied for opinions that were absolute fantasies, they were labelled insane. Today it’s encouraged.

“Sorry if it sounds rude, maybe some issues go beyond manners, but your opinion and my opinion are irrelevant,” I wrote. But that doesn’t translate in a world that raises children to believe that “their truth” is the only truth that matters.

Problem number three is one that many fail to notice. The debater wrote that abortion was a “sad reality” and should be a last resort, in the same statement that declared fetuses as non-living. If a fetus was a non-human, or not alive, then what is it that makes it sad? What possible reason is there to think it should be a last resort? There is no reason. It should be thought of as nothing more than having an appendix removed, which, unless I’m not in the know, is not something people debate about on Facebook. It’s something people mention casually at the water cooler. They lift their shirts and show off the scar, because an appendix is not human, or alive. So, if it’s sad and should only be a last resort, it’s because there is something to be sad and cautious about.

Inside every pro-choicer must be the scary knowledge that a baby dies with every abortion appointment. But for some reason they know they must deny that truth, or ignore it. Most certainly they must celebrate that it’s allowed. They aren’t sure why, but they are not going to think anymore about it.

The fourth problem is that when the first three are pointed out many people shake the logic out of their ears and just walk away.

The debate ended with, “Well, it’s legal, so, meh.” Yes, it is. So was slavery. So was taking babies away from their native families. So was sterilizing the mentally ill. Legally, women were once considered non-humans too. Meh?

Jan. 28th marks the 31st anniversary of the complete legalization of abortion in Canada. This coming Sunday’s readings from Jeremiah give us a fair grasp on God’s point of view: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Did you know that these words are being spoken to you? These words are spoken to all children, wanted or not. Before we were formed we were known. We were thought of. We were loved. Before we were even formed, Christ said that we were worth dying for. And then he did it. Our purpose is one that no other can fill, and every child aborted leaves a purpose unfulfilled, and a woman wounded. We are appointed as the prophets to the nation. Please pray to end abortion.