6/25/2022
Praise ye the Lord.
As I scrolled the comments after Roe v. Wade was abolished yesterday, an overriding refrain of the winners, overwhelmingly religious folk, was “Life wins!”
Indeed, there will now be more humans than there would have been otherwise. Many of those children will be born, though inconveniently, into loving, generous, capable homes. As they grow, their parents will not know how they ever did without those babies and will feel relief that they could not abort. That is the best case scenario.
But there will be others. Many babies will be born into poverty and lack, of love and resources. Many, many of those babies will end up in “the system,” for foster care or adoption.
I followed this train of thought to its logical end – Defeaters of Roe v. Wade, most of whom are proudly part of God’s redeemed, should step in to redeem those babies.
According to Adopt US Kids, 400,000 children are currently in foster care in America, with about 117,000 waiting to be adopted. Those numbers will surely spike in coming years. Restricting the bodily autonomy of women was the goal of the “pro-lifers,” and they got it. You will have more babies in an already overflowing system. So, as I’ve heard many preachers say, it’s time to “put feet” to your beliefs.
How many children will you adopt?
Not a good time for you? Money tight? Too young? Busy with your career? Legit reasons to not take on a child. Also common reasons to need an abortion.
You don’t feel “led by the Lord” to adopt? Convenient, but the Lord is who you credit with overturning Roe v. Wade, and where God guides, he provides, right?
Side note: The celebrants in your feed and mine did not cheer a victory for the Constitution or for state’s rights. They openly framed this as victory in Jesus, a win for the Bible and the result of intercessory prayer. Food for thought when you talk about this with devout friends. Their goal is not a secular government with separation of church and state. It’s not even freedom to practice their faith in peace unmolested by the government, both of which they already have. Their goal is theocracy.
And rule #1 of religion: Bridle the women.
One argument the faithful offer as a Balm of Gilead to newly constrained women is, “The states can all decide now what they want to do about abortion. If you want one so bad, you are free to visit California or Illinois or Colorado.”
What a Sadducean solution.
My youngest daughter is 21. If she told me tomorrow she was pregnant, we have the means to support her no matter what she chose to do about her pregnancy. If she had to go out of state for an abortion, her mother and I would go with her and foot the costs. If she chose to have her baby, it would be welcomed by a tribe of loving relatives yearning to buy it a pile of useless plastic toys. Either way, my daughter is safe.
But what of the poor? How are they to handle the travel and medical costs? The time off work without pay? The lack of connections and redundancies of support? I guess they’ll just have to suck it up, deliver another mouth to feed, and look to the government to help feed it, with programs you’d likely prefer to cut.
Or you can adopt them.
Another option, though not foolproof, is contraception. Ah, finally some common ground with the faithful! Of course people should be smart about when they have unprotected sex (In heterosexual marriage, that is. Otherwise, no nookie for you). Condoms, the Pill, IUDs, yes! All but the hardest-core zealots would object to adults using protection (like Mother Teresa did).
But I don’t just mean adults. All sexually mature humans, regardless of age, should have education about and access to contraception for pregnancy. For the dudes too, and not just rubbers. If we are serious about avoiding unwanted pregnancies and abortions are unallowed, vasectomies should be on the table for adolescent males. Our daughters should not be the only ones who must endure surgery to satisfy basic human appetites.
About those appetites. I know, you prefer abstinence. Do me a favor – This week at church youth group, without warning, ask the teens if they are sexually active. Look closely for micro expressions before they answer no. You’ll see the truth flash behind their eyes.
It is here I will be accused of callousness. How, they will ask with misty eyes, can I want babies to die? Human life is sacred and should be protected.
Agreed. That is why I subscribe to the view of abortion – more conservative than you might think – articulated by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan in their essay Abortion: Is it Possible to Be Both “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Choice”? (The essay can be found in the book Billions and Billions)
In it, Sagan and Druyan seek to answer the question, “What makes a human life, human?” They define humanity not by a beating heart, but by a thinking mind:
“Other animals have advantages over us – in speed, strength, endurance, climbing or burrowing skills, camouflage, sight or smell or hearing, mastery of the air or water. Our one great advantage, the secret of our success, is thought – characteristically human thought. We are able to think things through, imagine events yet to occur, figure things out. That’s how we invented agriculture and civilization. Thought is our blessing and our curse, and it makes us who we are.”
Hear hear. And when does that characteristically human consciousness – the “spark,” or imago dei as the Bible calls it – start? Between 24 and 30 weeks, approaching the third trimester.
In this line, and for clarity, here is where I currently stand on access to abortion (I say currently to allow for new evidence):
- First trimester: Access to all, no questions asked
- Second trimester: Restricted except for health concerns for mother and/or baby
- Third trimester: Prohibited except for the gravest medical circumstances
Basically like Roe v. Wade allowed for. When weighing the life and freedom of mother and child, the balance tips toward the mother in the first trimester and toward the baby after that, so please save the late-term abortion theatrics.
But this isn’t about me as much as it is the anti-abortion crusaders. Your victory means more babies who will need families. And adoption is a central theme of Christianity, no?
When considering how many you will adopt, I wonder if your devotion to the unborn includes those who wouldn’t look as on-brand in your Insta feed. Will you adopt black babies? What about addicted? Disabled? Deformed? Would you, as Jesus is supposed to have done, welcome all God’s children as a blessing from on high, choose the least of these first, and raise babies – any babies – who have been spared the evil of abortion you prayed so long to defeat? Now’s your time. Show us what you’ve got. Get you three or four.
After all, you’re pro life. And faith without works … is dead.
Kevin
Qwirkery 
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