Abortion’s Middle Ground

Not long ago, I stumbled into a heated debate with a friend

over the issue of abortion. My friend, a
progressive Christian, took offense when I mentioned a basic human-rights fact…

Not long ago, I stumbled into a heated debate with a friend
over the issue of abortion. My friend, a
progressive Christian, took offense when I mentioned a basic human-rights fact: The United Nations International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, Part III, Article 6.1 reads: "Every human being has the inherent right to
life. This right shall be protected by
law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived
of his life."

I shared this with my friend and she shrugged it off, "Well,
so what?"

"So what," I said?
"So, international law values and protects the lives of every living
human being."

"So, what," my friend chided? "Women still have the right to choose what
happens to their bodies."

"Well, yes, I agree" I said, "But if the baby is alive,
we're not just talking about the woman's body," I challenged. "… All I'm saying is, according to
international law, the woman's right to choose stops when it is determined that
the fetus is in fact a viable human being."

With indignation, my friend said "It doesn't matter if the
fetus is alive or not, the woman still has the right to choose what happens to
her body."

The conversation got heated, conflated, and like most
abortion debates – led nowhere.

Here are a few key facts:

1. The U.S.
   has signed and ratified the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
2. The
   U.S. courts abided by the covenant even as they rightly determined that
   our nation's standards for when a human life becomes "viable" would not be
   guided by religious belief, rather by objective medical and historical
   evidence.
3. The
   court understood that to create law founded on the conviction of religious
   belief, it would ultimately have to sacrifice the constitution's guarantee of freedom from religious
   establishment.
4. Scientists
   believe viability occurs in the 24-30 week stage of pregnancy. (Read this Psychology
   Today interview for more info.)
5. Therefore,
   before the stage of viability, the fetus is legally considered a part of
   the mother.

The Roe vs.
Wade ruling is fascinating. If you
haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

I still disagree with my friend who believes a woman has the right to choose even in the case of a viable fetus. Personally, my faith leads me to believe life begins even before conception when God creates the soul. So, I feel the hole in my
own generation (Gen X), which would have been the largest generation in U.S. history if
it were not for the prevalence of abortion in the 70's.

Yet, as an American, I remain beholden to (and grateful for)
our Constitution's disestablishment of religion. Disestablishment, the very thing that allows
religious faith to thrive in our land, means that I cannot force anyone to adhere to the standards of my religious faith.

So, in the end, I find myself standing on middle ground. I believe the
Roe vs. Wade ruling was the only viable decision in our religiously pluralistic nation. I am, thus, compelled to work within the bounds of the law to
strengthen families by working to eradicate the felt need – or even the impulse – to
consider abortion as an option.

I like what Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton said of abortion: "I
believe we can all recognize that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even
tragic choice to many, many women."

She went on to proclaim, "There is
no reason why government cannot do more to educate and inform and provide
assistance so that the choice guaranteed under our constitution either does not
ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances."

Amen.