Women and Babies: Let’s Choose Both

May 20, 2019 at 5:15 am 1 comment

It’s been a watershed week for abortion law in this country. Last week, the state of Alabama passed legislation outlawing abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered. Just three days later, Missouri passed a bill that outlaws abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy. These restrictions follow on the heels of a series of “heartbeat bills” passed this year in Ohio, Georgia, and Mississippi, which ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable.

These bills have sparked angry debate as a yawning chasm has opened over the issue of abortion. Governor Kay Ivey, who signed Alabama’s bill into law, tweeted last Wednesday:

Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act. To the bill’s many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God.

On the other side, progressive firebrand and New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted shortly after Governor Ivey:

Ultimately, this is about women’s power. When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy. It’s a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body.

The talking points for both sides are set. The arguments are entrenched. The legal battle is being staged. And there’s plenty of animus to go around.

Personally, I uphold the value and dignity of life, whether that life be in the womb, out of womb, young, or old. So, when a third-world despot subjects his people to disease and starvation, I shudder. When another story of another school shooting makes headlines, I am angered. And yes, when a child’s life is taken at the hands of an abortion doctor, I am grieved.

All of this does not mean, however, that I am unsympathetic to women who, when they darken the doors of an abortion clinic, are often confused and scared of what having a baby will be like. Neither does this mean that I am unsympathetic to women who, after having and abortion, often struggle deeply with feelings of guilt and regret.

As with many debates in our current culture, caricatures that fall largely along “either-or” lines have been developed for the sake of simplicity and tribal identity – either you care about the wellbeing of women or you care about the life of the unborn.

I care about both. And I have a hunch you might, too.

The Psalmist calls us to “defend the weak” (Psalm 82:3). Babies in utero are most definitely members of the weak. It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to defend them and to speak up for them. But women who are pregnant and scared, along with women who have had abortions and are ashamed, can also feel weak. It is critical, therefore, that we love and help them by offering hope for joyful lives beyond their most frightening moments.

We should care about both babies and women, for, ultimately, we are called to care for all. In a political moment where anger burns hot, loving both babies and the women who carry them may just be the one thing that is hard to hate.