A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on November 24th, 2008 in Progressive Faith

Debra Haffner isn’t so sure about the new “common ground” on abortion. I have to say, I’m not, either. She writes:

Missing from every one of these calls was a call to work to prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place through sexuality education and contraceptive services.

These leaders use the Guttmacher Institute’s research that shows that women often choose abortion for financial reasons and that poverty impacts the abortion rate. But what they fail to mention, is that it first affects the unintended pregnancy rate: that poor women are at least five times more likely to become pregnant unintentionally.

This is ultimately the problem with the mushy centrists like Wallis who want to deal with the extreme right without anchoring themselves to any real belief. They are free to drift about and say things that sound wonderful, but underneath a thin veneer of cooperation, it is simple capitulation. Consider this:

There is no shortage of either babies available for adoption, or couples willing to adopt – pretty much any adoption agency can tell you. Yet there is a waiting list for adoption. Why?

Most couples who want to adopt are white. They want a white baby with no medical problems. Guess what is the least likely characteristic of a child waiting to be adopted? White baby with no medical problems. Take a look at some numbers.

Adoption should not be promoted because it reduces abortion. It should be promoted because it’s the right thing to do. It is immoral, in my opinion, for someone to have be motivated by some external factor to help a child. They are children! They need your help! It should be enough.

As Rev. Debra points out, there is a direct relationship between the number of unwanted pregnancies and the number of abortions. It’s pretty elementary stuff. The “Just Say No” approach works with a segment of the population that is receptive to it. But it isn’t going to work for everyone – if it did, then we could point to a time in history when absolutely no unwanted pregnancies occurred. Feel free to research that and get back to me.

If a person is concerned with “the killing of an unborn child”; then they should also be concerned what happens after that child is “saved”. I don’t care if we triple the value of food stamps and welfare payments, forcing a child to be born into poverty is forcing an increase of human suffering. Isn’t it better to prevent the pain in the first place? Distribute condoms. Make birth control available and easy to get.

Yes, it is a moral question. Unfortunately, those who seem to be the busiest posing are those who seem to really not understand the morality underlying the problem at hand.

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