Saturday, January 6, 2007

A Confusing Response [SK]

I just saw an email from a major Evangelical youth leader who writes that while abortion is bad and he wants to reduce it, youth pastors should address the underlying causes of abortion (poverty, etc.) rather than address the issue directly. From reading his email, I also get the feeling he thinks legal restrictions on abortion are misguided.

As my colleague Steve Weimar points out, this is like saying that the "underlying cause" of spousal abuse is psychological, so instead of making it illegal for husbands to beat their wives, the solution is to provide counseling for men. There are "underlying causes" for rape, murder, theft and so on, but that in no way makes it "misguided" to have laws banning such actions.
But why is the youth leader even concerned about reducing the number of abortions? If removing the fetus is no different than cutting one’s fingernails, then who cares how many abortions there are. The reason to reduce abortions is that a life is being taken, but if that’s the case, then outlawing abortion to protect life is the responsibility of government.

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