The last few days have been full of weighty news. The U.S. Supreme Court—to mixed reviews—decided on abortion, gun regulations and prayer by school employees, among other cases. Russia struck a mall full of people in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, killing at least 20 and injuring many more.
In San Antonio, 51 immigrants died after being trapped in a tractor-trailer found June 27. The following day, Cassidy Hutchinson gave the most direct and damning testimony to date against former President Donald Trump.
It’s more than we can process fully in the few days these things transpired. A common thread among them, however, is their connection to the sanctity of life. They demonstrate the enormity of work needed by pro-life people to make concrete the sacredness of life—all of it. Here, I will focus on the pro-life response to Roe v. Wade being overturned.
Making abortion unimaginable
In the wake of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, pro-life advocates have issued two similar calls to action. Some have challenged abortion opponents not to see Roe v. Wade’s demise as the end of the pro-life struggle, but a continuation of it.
Others have exhorted their audiences with some version of, “Now is the time to care for vulnerable women and girls.” Actually, it’s always been time to do that; the clock didn’t start June 24.
Katie Frugé, director of the Texas Baptists’ Center for Cultural Engagement and Christian Life Commission, in repeated public statements ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision said the CLC is committed to making abortion not just illegal but unimaginable. This commitment was stated again after the June 24 decision.
What does it mean, though, to make abortion unimaginable?
The question may seem to have an obvious answer to abortion opponents, especially those known as abortion abolitionists who want to make abortion illegal without exception. “Unimaginable” for abolitionists means abortion is illegal everywhere in all circumstances, including when needed to save the mother’s life.
Another simple answer to the question might be the thought of terminating a pregnancy would not cross anyone’s mind; it wouldn’t even be imagined.
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The problem is terminating pregnancy does cross people’s minds, and no law against it will make abortion unimaginable. Rather, Paul tells us the law has the opposite effect (Romans 7:7-11); it awakens our imagination to what is prohibited.
Making abortion unimaginable must mean something else, then. To get at that something else, we need to understand why abortion is imaginable.
Reasons people choose abortion
The following were cited in 2019 as reasons people chose abortion: timing, not ready for a child or another child; finances, not able to afford one or more children; becoming pregnant again after completing childbearing or raising; not wanting to be a single mother; relationship problems, such as an unsupportive or abusive partner; not old enough or mature enough; interference with education or career; health problems with the mother or developing child; pressure or suggestions from family or friends; not wanting others to know of sexual activity; or not wanting a baby or to put a baby up for adoption. (These reasons are cited here, here and here.)
Rape and incest also have been cited as reasons for a person to choose abortion. According to a 2004 Guttmacher study cited by USA Today in 2019, 1 percent of abortions resulted from rape and .5 percent resulted from incest.
Percentages can be fuzzy. So, let’s put them in real numbers. The Centers for Disease Control reported 839,226 “legal induced abortions” in “49 reporting areas” in 2004. This means rape accounted for about 8,392 abortions in 2004, and incest accounted for about 4,196.
By contrast, 12 percent chose abortion due to a “physical problem with my health.” In real numbers, this was about 100,707 women or girls. Among these, some of the mothers would have died without terminating their pregnancy, and some of the pregnancies were nonviable—such as ectopic or molar.
These two figures are compared to considerably higher percentages reported in the Guttmacher study for the following reasons: timing-related (approximately 74 percent), finance-related (approximately 73 percent) and relationship-related (approximately 48 percent).
Notice: The percentages in the previous paragraph add up to well over 100 percent. Those surveyed were asked to cite all reasons for choosing abortion. As the numbers indicate, the majority of people choosing abortion imagine it for more than one reason, sometimes multiple reasons—89 percent gave two reasons, 72 percent gave at least three reasons, and “some women gave as many as eight reasons.”
If abortion is to be made unimaginable, all of those reasons must disappear. But we aren’t magicians, and God hasn’t removed sin and evil from the world. Therefore, making abortion unimaginable requires an immense amount of work on numerous fronts.
And the cold, hard truth is the church, the people of God, has not eradicated even a single reason people choose abortion, despite championing the sanctity of life since well before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
There’s another cold, hard truth: The church isn’t going to eradicate any of the reasons people choose abortion. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing.
The work of making abortion unimaginable
Frugé and Texas Baptists’ Christian Life Commission understand making abortion unimaginable requires significant and untiring work. They also recognize this work was necessary before Roe v. Wade was overturned; the work didn’t start June 24.
Additionally, many churches and ministries have been involved for years in addressing the concerns cited by most people for choosing abortion. Pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, benevolence ministries, homeless ministries, feeding ministries, clothing closets, medical ministries, Christian community development, Christian Woman’s Job Corps, substance abuse ministries, counseling services and more have been on the frontlines of caring for vulnerable women and girls.
To make abortion unimaginable, more of this work must be done. But that’s not all.
To make abortion unimaginable, war needs to stop, terror needs to stop, violence needs to stop. We need our best statesmen and women at the helm. Christian education could and should train leaders toward that end—communicating the gospel in deed—while they train people to communicate the gospel in word.
To make abortion unimaginable, the objectification of people fueled by consumerism must stop, which also means consumerism should die. Our lust to consume creates a society that lures people from all over the world with the promise they will find a better life here. Too many of those people trade promise for enslavement or death.
Both the above will require some legislation. Both will require considerable sacrifices and investment from all of us, as well as unwavering persistence and courage.
To make abortion unimaginable also will require more access to good medical care pre- and post-birth, and long-term support of the whole family pre- and post-birth. It also will require extending grace and nurturing love to unwed mothers, not condemnation.
There is immense work to be done to make abortion unimaginable. What is mentioned above is only part of what must be done. To be pro-life to that extent means to do more.
Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed are those solely of the author.
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