Day 7: Supreme Court Victory?

All my news feeds are chiming today with the news of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding "partial-birth abortions". If you haven't heard, the Supreme Court ruled today 5-4 to restrict late-term abortion procedures, specifically the procedures where the baby is partially delivered and immediately killed by crushing its skull. There are far more details involved and I'd suggest anyone interested to read the actual case and ruling, or at least some of the articles written about it. The Court ruled that the states did have a legitimate interest in preserving and promoting fetal life.

I read anti-abortion activist after activist claiming such a great victory at the news of the ruling. But don't ask me to be entirely thrilled at this "victory". Oh, no. Look, I believe in Jesus and I believe that life begins far before birth or even conception. Life begins outside of all our concepts of time. I truly think that abortion is sickening. But this ruling affects only a tiny percentage of actual abortions yearly in the United States. And here's the greater anger stirred in me: this means more money diverted into lobbying and bringing untold numbers of suits against various individuals, states, governments, etc. In other words, the Christian right, now emboldened by this victory, is going to sink untold millions, if not billions, of dollars on lawyers and politicians with the hopes of passing more stringent anti-abortion laws and pressing the issue further with the courts by filing countless suits.

That really pisses me off.

When is the religious community going to learn that it's impossible to legislate morality? Did prohibition reduce alcoholism in this country? Not significantly, and it increased crime and gave organized mafia syndicates a foothold in America they haven't yet relinquished.

The only thing that's going to turn the tide of abortion in this country is changing way we treat these mothers in the community and changing the hearts of the mothers who are considering abortion. I can't even imagine the mental, spiritual, and emotional anguish that goes along with that type of decision. But I've known some women who have, and I've seen some of the emotional and spiritual damage their decisions have brought. One was my own mother who aborted my older brother or sister some five years before I was conceived. The reason was simple, she believed she would be outcast by her family and society and she believed she had no other real choice. She believed she wouldn't be able to properly support a child. From my own personal research, this is the most common situation young women find themselves in when they're considering aborting. Societal and familial outcast coupled with economic fears.

Does anyone out there really believe that passing a law is going to change those factors? Do you really believe that passing a law is going to stop abortion? Really? I'm sorry, I don't. Case in point, my own mother. She had her abortion over a year before the Roe v. Wade decision. When the doctor told her she was pregnant, she replied that she couldn't have a baby right now, somewhat in shock. Do you know what his response was? He calmly made an appointment for her to see another doctor who would perform the abortion for her. Within a week, it was done, and with clinical precision. And all that time it was completely against the law!

Why does the religious community continue to sink untold millions and billions of dollars into fighting a 35 year losing legal battle?!?!?! WHY!!!! Can someone please give me an answer that makes even the least bit of sense? Can someone please tell me why we can't use that money to build shelters, adoption agencies, free OB/GYN clinics, provide first-class prenatal care for free, provide educational resources for free, college scholarships for free, day-care for single mothers for free???? The list goes on and on. Why must we continue to ostracize these women from our communities? (As an aside, I understand many churches are doing many of the above things and I applaud them for their efforts.)

Those of us who are against abortion should be the ultimate pro-choicers, we should be giving women all kinds of choices in addition to abortion. But instead we continue to spend millions and billions of dollars in a vain attempt to prevent women from doing something most of them don't really want to do in the first place! We march and we waive banners, and babies die. What kind of love is that? What kind of love gladly gives money, time, and support to a lawyer instead of a pregnant mother who thinks she's out of options? Shouldn't we really be spending more of our time, money, and support on the mother who's going to have to make the ultimate decision? I mean, shouldn't we be doing that anyway? Isn't that what loving our neighbors requires us to do?

I'm sick and tired of the admission of defeat by the religious community in America. That's what anti-abortion legislation truly is. It's an admission that they're no longer able to reach the hearts and minds of young women in America. It's an admission that there's no longer unconditional love within the churches of America. It's an admission that we can't love our own neighbors, so we better get the government to stop them from doing something we find offensive and wrong. Before you go out and march for anti-abortion, go ask your pastor or elder how much of your church's money has been spent to start a women's shelter, to provide free health care for single mothers, to provide daycare for single mothers, or scholarships for single mothers to complete their degrees. Then ask them how much money has been sent to some lawyer or action group in Washington, or your local state capital so they can lobby for anti-abortion legislation. Their answers just might shock you into sobriety.

Then ask yourself, how do you think Jesus would handle the situation? Would he give his time and resources to changing the laws of the government of the land, or would he spend his time loving and attending to the needs of the women who have run out of options? If you can answer those questions honestly and still feel good about going out and marching, then by all means go for it, let your voice be heard. But don't ask me to consider today's "victory" anything but an admission of absolute failure on the part of the Church in America. We've failed to do our job, we've failed to love, so now we demand the government to do it for us. But governments don't know how to love, all they know how to do is restrict and enforce, and all that breeds is resentment.

I serve a God who gave us all absolute choice, free will. It's interesting how so many who come in His name seem to be determined to restrict that choice, as if they knew better than God. What arrogance we've shown the world. Let's try to reach some hearts in love before we go demanding obedience in law. Pray that God will change hearts, not laws.