President Obama and the Abortion Question

The title link here is from a speech given before his election. Say what you want about our President, he has kept his word so far in regards to his campaign promises. I have said before that I think Mr. Obama is very much in earnest when he makes these commitments. He is very principled, but as my argument within this blog unfolds, my opinion is that he has the wrong principles. Building on a poor foundation, nothing great will be built. Below is the link to verify that, as one of his first acts, he is taking steps to keep his promise:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/02/gallup_58_percent_oppose_obama_1.asp

Let me make one thing very clear: I am vehemently opposed to abortion in any form; it is the most barbaric practice in the world today, and many of the other social and economic problems we suffer in this modern age stem directly from this scourge. But even those who favor unrestricted abortion should oppose this legislation because we have no money to fund this international effort. This is one more expenditure that adds to the deficit.

But the abortion question is a critical insight into how a person values human life. Even a moral relativist (someone who does not believe in an objective source of moral truth, such as the Biblical God) has to come down and say "at this point it is not human" and "at this point it is human." Here is a great link, and note what is said about evolutionary thought which ties into abortion very closely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism

If the basic viewpoint of a person (or a society) is that people are created in God's image, then the way they view children is very different. But an evolutionary viewpoint, and by extension a morally relativistic viewpoint argues in terms of what I think, not what God says. Once "I" am the source of truth and morality, then morality becomes how I define it. What is best for me becomes more important than what is best. As a Bible-believing Christian, I have the wisdom of simplicity in this issue, straight from the Bible: life begins at conception. Irregardless of the circumstances of conception (rape, incest, the common arguments given for the necessity of abortion), the child in question is a gift from God. And on this note, is the child responsible for the circumstances of it's birth? To be blunt, does killing the offspring of the rape make the rape any less traumatic? Does it improve the situation in any meaningful way?

To express the struggle with the abortion question on the part of those who deny objective truth, when is the "fetus" (which means baby, by the way, just in Latin) a baby? At 21 weeks, since at that age children have survived outside the womb? This series of questions illustrates the difficulty:

Is it okay to abort the day after conception (via an "emergency contraception pill")?
Is it okay to kill a 5 year old? *
* Before you dismiss the question as ludicrous, we are trying to establish parameters here by which a living being becomes human enough to have basic human rights. What good is a 5 year old to society, other than for its potential? It requires constant care, cannot survive on its own, has no useful skills. It is a waste of precious and limited resources, unless we acknowledge that it's potential value to society at some point in the future warrants it's survival. But now we come to the rub... a baby in the womb has that same potential, it's just not as far along the growth curve.
So, is it okay to abort the fetus at 20 weeks?
How about 40 weeks, but not yet delivered?
26 weeks (when many babies have survived)?
What if the abortion is botched and the baby - er, fetus - is delivered alive. Should we let it starve to death? Should we stab in in the brain to eliminate it? Wring it's neck?


If the questions have become merciless to you, that is exactly my point. Abortion is an issue, as Obama stated in his speech above, that is "old and tired and we need to move past."


Except that to move past it is to lose a fundamental aspect of what makes us human. We love. We have the capacity to show mercy. The argument should be made louder than ever: we must treat our unborn children as the gifts they are. Getting this issue incorrect leads to so many other problems. Once children have no value, the sick and elderly are next. The next logical step after abortion would be the legality of assisted suicide, and the ability of relatives to put to death their kin who are vegetative, or on life support to death. These are not widespread in our country yet, but they are growing; euthanasia is legal in several states and judges have been allowing it other places.

The triumph of our Democracy in years past has been the strong defending the weak. Since Roe v. Wade, we have been destroying them. This is no issue to look past. Fatigue has set it from this battle, just like with Iraq and Afghanistan; people are weary of the struggle. But we must keep fighting, particularly because we fought before. One of the consequences of the Civil War was the resulting strength of the Federal government versus that of the States. What President Obama does at the national level - in allowing unrestricted access to abortions - will supersede any state law. If all 50 states outlawed abortion tomorrow, but the Federal government said it was legal, it is legal in all 50 states. And once you see the judgment of a person in relationship to the abortion question, you can see the guiding principles that will lead to the judgments they will make in other areas. Abortion can never be the right answer; once you allow compromise of this nature into your society, other moral compromises will follow.

Coming back to our President, he claims that he wants less abortions, but he wants the access to them unrestricted. Logically this does not follow but from a relativistic mindset it makes sense: the solution here fits the problem as it exists right now. In the markets, he claims to want free market capitalism with some oversight. The solution to this problem, right now, though, is nationalization of banks and automakers. With no objective set of guiding principles, the issues get very muddled very quickly, and we are seeing the results of this in just the first 2 months of his Presidency.

So then, what can I do?

First, you can pray for President Obama. You can pray for our leaders in Congress, and the White House staff. I personally find this very hard to do, but it is necessary and we are called by God to do it.
Secondly, we need to make sure we support those in local and state elections that both claim to hold to our guiding principles, and have also (to the extent that they have served) lived them out in their personal and political lives. It is not enough to be "personally against abortion but support the rights of women to have access to them." We must have leaders who are living consistently with their beliefs, or we need other leaders.
Thirdly, we must stay informed and on top of the issues of our time. In my coming posts I will link to some great organizations that will keep you informed and help you get in touch with your state and federal representatives.