Is the Tide Turning in the Abortion Debate?

The abortion debate has been at the center of the "culture war" for over 30 years now. The church has seemingly been quieted on the issue for the past few years, perhaps in part because it appeared that this was simply a battle that could not be won. Maybe that is beginning to change.

For the first time since the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1973 a major study on women's views on the abortion issue has indicated that 51% favor either outlawing or seriously restricting abortions. The study, done by Princeton Survey Research Associates, but commissioned by the pro-abortion Center for the Advancement of Women (CAW), indicates that women are indeed shifting toward the pro-life side.(1)

The Center for the Advancement of Women is headed by Faye Wattleton, former head of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Ms. Wattleton called the survey's results "a disturbing step against the pro-choice perspective."(2) In the survey only 41% of the women said that keeping abortion legal was a top priority - down from 49% two years ago. In a list of 12 issues that these women believed should have top priority, keeping abortion legal finished #11 - with only 3%. Only the issue of "more girls in sports" finished lower than abortion.

Ms. Wattleton views abortion rights, which she calls "reproductive rights,"(3) as being "inalienable rights." And of course this is what the U.S. Supreme Court basically declared in Roe v. Wade. However, the culture appears to be shifting away from that view. What could be causing such a shift? Abortion protests are certainly not as prevalent as they once were, so what is making the difference?

Perhaps the major cause of this shift of opinion is the advancement of technology in being able to look into the womb and see the baby that exists there. It is not unusual today for the first picture in a baby book to be that of an ultrasound image taken early in the pregnancy. That image clearly shows that what is developing in the mother's womb is a tiny human being, not just a "mass of tissue."

A picture can be worth a thousand words, but they have to be seen first. In the past 30 years pictures of aborted babies were the mainstay of the pro-life movement. But the pictures were so graphic and disturbing that the nation turned away from the images and simply wouldn't think about the tragedy being pictured there.

Now, with the ultrasound images there is a different and compelling image. You see live, growing human beings. The pictures are not ugly, but they are beautiful; and rather than being repulsive, they draw attention. America is watching, and it becomes very difficult to say it is just a part of the woman's body.

In the view of Ms. Wattleton and the CAW, the emphasis and attention should not be on the baby, however. She makes it clear that she views limiting easy access to abortions as striking at the "status of women in society."(4)

This ought to be encouraging news for the church. While there is still a long way to go in the fight for the sanctity of life, and in seeing our culture reverse the "culture of death" thinking of the past 30 years, it does show that some progress is being made in this area. Pastors and churches must seize the opportunity that this survey demonstrates is open for them.

In 1981 Francis Schaeffer said,

"The basic problem of the Christians in this country (U.S.) . . . in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals. They have become disturbed over permissiveness, pornography, the breakdown of the family, and abortion. But they have not seen this as a totality - each being a part, a symptom, of a much larger problem . . . a shift in worldview."(5)

It is time for the church and her pastors to acknowledge what this shift in worldview is, and where it is leading us. The pro-abortion movement is driven by a naturalistic worldview that says all life, even human life, developed by chance through an evolutionary process over billions of years. The Christian worldview rejects this notion - we are created by God, in His image, and for His glory. Mankind is the crown of God's creation, according to the beginning chapters of Genesis. This gives value and purpose to life and makes even the tiniest life worthy of protection.

Phillip Johnson, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkley, speaks of how modern day lawmaking has lost its anchor in the Biblical worldview. He says, "Modernist lawmaking is based not on morality but on 'utility' and 'rights'."(6) He goes on to say that the "most basic modernist right is the right to do as one likes - as long as one is not damaging the general welfare or infringing on the rights of others."(7)

The church has been given a "Cultural Mandate" in both the Old and New Testament. In Genesis 1:28, immediately after creating man and woman, God said to them: "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Man is to be actively involved in shaping the world in which he lives. We are not to be passive observers, waiting to see what direction our culture will take.

In Matthew 5:13-14, Jesus says to His disciples: "You are the salt of the earth . . . you are the light of the world." Jesus was rephrasing the original mandate, but still emphasizing that as we follow Christ, our focus is to be on making an impact on the world and challenging errors that our culture has adopted.

While abortion remains enshrined as a constitutional right, there is still hope when surveys - by openly pro-abortion groups - show that women may be moving away from embracing a culture of abortion - and turning to a culture of life. This is an encouraging sign, indeed.

Bill Haynes
Senior Policy Analyst for Cultural & Worldview Studies
American Center for Law & Justice

___________________________________________________________________________

1 Complete survey can be viewed at: http://www.advancewomen.org/womens_research/PartTwo.pdf
2 "Pro-Life Women Shift to Majority" The Washington Times, July 2, 2003
3 ibid.
4 ibid.
5 Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto, (Crossway Books, 1981), p. 17
6 Phillip E. Johnson, Reason in the Balance, (InterVarsity Press, 1995), p. 139
7 ibid.