In Part 1 of this series of posts, we discussed voting for the most vulnerable people in our nation—the 1,000,000 unborn who most likely will be aborted.
Like most issues, the subject of abortion cannot and should not be reduced to a slogan or a ballot box only issue. One of the underlying causes of abortion is that for many pregnant women, abortion seems like their only realistic choice … but not all choices are created equal … and many women believe they simply do not have the resources to a make a different choice.
Why is this so?
We must keep in mind that most women of childbearing age only know a post-Roe v. Wade (1973) America; they only know abortion as an option or choice. When an abortion-minded woman becomes pregnant she most likely will face one or more of the following:
- economic distresses and financial challenges to raising her child;
- failure of the father to take any responsibility for the child he helped conceive;
- lack of healthcare;
- work place discrimination (YES this still happens to some pregnant women);
- inadequate emotional and relational support;
- lack of childcare opportunities or options.
So increasingly many pregnant women see abortion as their only choice.
Ironically, we can ponder if a pregnant woman in America really even has a choice?
However, if we are going to be pro-life, we must be for both the unborn child and his or her mother, less we be guilty of this description:
Anti-choice people often call themselves “pro-life.” But the only life many of them are concerned with is the life of the fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus. They are much less concerned about the life of women who have unintended pregnancies or the welfare of the children after they are born.[1]
So to be fully pro-life, we must also be FOR the would-be, could-be mothers. We must learn how to serve them so they can not only see the value of the life that develops within them, but also help them see how they can raise that child to its God-given potential. Or show them that adoption is also a noble, viable, and in some cases, best choice for their child.
This is why the work of agencies like the Women’s Enrichment Center in Dalton and Chatsworth and the Calhoun Pregnancy Center is so important.
This is why we as Christ-followers must be open to adoption in our families and must support legislation that makes adoption easier.
And finally, this is why we must also consider how best to vote for the millions and millions of women who wonder if they really have a choice in how to handle their unintended pregnancy.
[1] http://newantichoicerhetoric.web.unc.edu/thewords/the-feminist-case-against-abortion/, as quoted from Planned Parenthood web site.