The Abortion Battle in America - Killing the Tree One Leaf at a Time
I am never going to get rid of that tree by pulling leaves.
In 1973, Rove v. Wade moved abortion to the frontlines of America’s political conscience. It moved to the front and stayed there. Thirty-five years later, we are no closer to resolving to this issue. The “pro-life” movement has been plucking legal leaves. Some anti-abortion activists have so focused on overturning this legal ruling that they have forgotten the goal of the fight. Stop abortions.
The law is one very small component in the abortion fight. Legal victories have had little effect on the number of abortion performed in this country. The Heritage Foundation analyzed abortion data in states that have enacted restrictive abortion laws. They studied four major areas of legislation: parental consent, Medicaid funding restrictions, informed consent, and partial birth abortion prohibitions.[1] Only Medicare funding restrictions had any statistically significant effect on the state’s abortion rates.
Consider the effect of the recent Supreme Court ruling on partial birth abortion.[2] Pro-life legalists wasted fifteen-years to obtain a handful of leaves. This pro-life ruling will not prevent one abortion. This law delineates the acceptable location of the abortion. A doctor may dismember the child in the upper section of birth canal but not the lower. It does not deter legal abortion; it defines legal abortion. Someone forgot the goal.
Likewise, there is no evidence that overturning Rove v. Wade will stop abortion. Rove v. Wade established abortion law as a federal matter. When Roe is reversed, control of abortion law reverts to the states. Even in a post Roe era, no American woman will live more than three states away from access to a legal abortion. We will have a patchwork of fifty state abortion laws. Legal analysts separate states into three positions based upon projected law.
- 22 states are likely to impose significant new restrictions on abortion
- 12 states are likely to impose some moderate new restrictions on abortion
- 16 states and the District of Columbia are likely to continue current access to abortion.[3]
What if all fifty states passed highly restrictive abortion laws? Data indicates that even restrictive abortion laws have little impact on abortion rates. Latin American countries have the most restrictive laws in the world. However, abortion rates in Latin America’s are 50% higher than current US rates.[4] Abortion is the primary birth control method in these countries.[5] Worldwide, there is virtually no correlation between the stringency of abortion law and national abortion rates. Availability of reliable contraception, economic factors, and social mores are more predictive of a nation’s abortion rate than its legal structure.
So should Christians who hate abortion abandon the legal battle? No, we don’t abandon the legal area. However, we must recognize that legal matters will not be the main front. The legal forays are the most time consuming, most expensive, and least productive area of the abortion battle. And while there is significant evidence that abortion rates are more responsive to economic factors than legal ones, I propose Christians invest their energy into the most productive area of change. Law and economy are not the primary abortion issues. Sin is the primary abortion issue. We cannot diminish the abortion rate without changing social mores.
95% of Americans engage in premarital sex.[6] Less than 7% of pregnancies within marriage are aborted while 40% of pregnancies to unmarried women end in abortion.[7] Conception outside of marriage is the greatest predictor of abortion. Sex sin is the primary abortion issue.
This nation will not pass a law against premarital sex; it would be ridiculously ineffective. Experience teaches that the people would not honor this new law because they don’t honor the old law. In Deuteronomy, God gave law about sex sin and the people didn’t keep it. God’s law is perfect and His law does not end abortion. The Supreme Court of the United States cannot issue a ruling that will be more effective than God’s preexistent law. The people are sinful. They couldn’t keep the law then; we can’t keep the law now.
Except by grace through Jesus Christ. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14 KJV)
Jesus died on the cross so that man would have the ability to triumph over sin. By grace, we can avoid the sex sin that leads to murder sin. Without this, there is no ability to keep the law. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to abide in us and keep us from being sin controlled. The remedy to abortion is evangelism.
As Christians, we should be the first to understand the limitations of law and the life-changing power of salvation through Jesus Christ. This nation’s abortion laws are a side issue. Born-again women, living under grace and powered by the Holy Spirit, don’t have abortions. Let us put our considerable effort where there can be considerable effect. Let’s preach the Good News of Jesus Christ and watch the world change.
Remember the goal, put down your ladder, and grab an axe. We’ve got a tree to chop down!
[1] The Heritage Foundation, Analyzing the Effects of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion During the 1990s, Center for Data Analysis Report #04-01, New, Michael J, Ph.D.; January 21, 2004, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/CDA04-01.cfm#pgfId-1031328
[2] Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S.
[3] USA Today, ‘Roe v. Wade’: The Divided States of America, April 17, 2006, Carey, Anne R; Ron Coddington, April 17, 2006
[4] Guttmacher Institute, International Family Planning Perspectives, 1999, 25(Supplement):S30-S38, The Incidence of Abortion Worldwide, Henshaw, Stanley K; Susheela Singh and Taylor Haas
[5]The Hill of the Goats: Solidarity with the Poor in Latin America. Ronan, James J., Rev; http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/programs/rlp//97rlpron.shtml
[6] See Lawrence B. Finer, Guttmacher Inst., Trends in Premarital Sex in the United States, 1954-2003, 122 Pub. Health Rep. , http://www.publichealthreports.org/userfiles/122_1/12_PHR122-1_73-78.pdf
[7] CDC Media Relations: Press Release, October 2003, http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/fs031031.htm
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Yvonne Reeves-Chong is speaker, writer, evangelist and witness for “The Defense.” As a divorced, single parent, she spent most of her early adult life fully focused on earning enough money to support and raise her son. She spent twenty-five years as a salesperson, administrator, and finance manager. Yvonne understood harvest principles and had one measure of success. The bottom-line. She understood profit- “get it; then get more.”
But, the Holy Spirit kept prompting her with this question, “What is My bottom-line?” In study, it was clear. God’s bottom-line is Salvation. He expects us to “get saved and then go get more saved. “ Yvonne discovered the profitability of sowing. “The Seed is the Word of God.” She re-focused her life from the financial bottom-line to God’s evangelistic bottom-line. Now her sole determination is to sow God’s Word- until she leaves the earth by translation, rapture, or at 120 years of age with her eyes not dimmed and her natural force not abated. You can reach Yvonne at http://www.SeedistheWord.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yvonne_Reeves-Chong
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