Roe v. Wade Anniversary-- A New Way Forward?

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and I wanted to mark it on my blog by asking "how do we move on from here?" Right after Obama was elected, I wrote a post with what we ought to do, and I think most people who read that post got the point (not so sure about comment #2, but I guess that's alright.)

"Abortion fatigue" has beendiscussed before, so I don't have to talk too much about that. I imagine that most of my readers feel the same way that I do about abortion politics in America-- incredibly dissatisfied with a party that has produced little significant progress on ending abortion in America and increasingly disheartened with the prospects for change. I'm a recovering conservative and I feel used.

One could argue that the Republican Party's issues with abortion are just one part of its troubles. After all, in the past 8 years the Republican Administration & Congress has reneged on its historical tendency to favor small government, more privacy, less interventionism, and less federal control over just about anything. I have argued before that Christians in America have chased after other lovers and justified their idolatrous pursuit of political power with real issues that need to be addressed by the government. I also believe that these issues have been used to manipulate Christians into sticking with a party that they might otherwise find distasteful, corrupt, and/or wrong.

But where do we go from here? Abortion is still the most important justice issue in America today. No other group of people has to worry about being violently killed by the thousands every day; being alive and hungry or homeless or lacking health care is better than being ripped limb from limb. It's an ugly and barbaric practice that denies a fundamental right to a human person and discriminates unfairly against them. Yet, 36 years later, we've seen little progress.

Again, I'll refer you to my former post for my suggestions, but I wanted to zero in on one in particular that we might even see during the Obama administration: Reducing abortion by increasing social services. I am not in a place to rigorously evaluate the statistical analyses here, but I think it's reasonable to conclude that they're on to something: when women feel more secure financially, they are less likely to choose abortion. Obviously, this conflicts with certain economic principles that most anti-abortion conservatives hold-- but how tightly will we hold these principles when lives are potentially at stake? I think that this is one big concession that conservatives can make to help end abortion in America.

At the same time, liberal opponents of abortion ought to be doing more to demand legal opposition to abortion from their political candidates & parties. I think a lot of progress will come from reducing abortion by means other than outright bans, but it is abhorrent to suggest that basic protections for unborn children might not be a part of our law. Too many Christians, I think, for fear of looking bad in front of others or getting pushed out of way, have stood up and agitated for the rights of the unborn. If liberal politicians never feel pressure from their liberal supporters on this liberal issue of human rights, then I fear that little progress can be made.

Also, I really like the design and attitude of Abort73 more than National Right to Life Council-- and I think that this cultural sea change will come through dialogue, discussion, and slow political progress.

I could write more (and perhaps I will, tomorrow) on this issue, but hopefully there's some thoughts out there already with those two suggestions. Please feel free to comment, suggest, argue with me, or whatever.

[cross-posted on facebook]