Summary – Evaluating The Christian Feminist View of Abortion
Just a few days before recording this episode, Ireland voted overwhelmingly to repeal the 8th Amendment to their Constitution which had recognized the right to life of the unborn. In my last episode of Dare to Think titled, How the Prolife Movement is Aborting a Prolife Era, I offered constructive criticism of the prolife movement, particularly the latest abolitionist movement, by Jeff Durbin and his End Abortion Now campaign. If the Irish referendum shows anything to prolifers, it’s to heed my cautionary question: What is the goal in ending legal access to abortion? If you haven’t yet heard this episode, I highly encourage you to check it out. The link is in the show notes.
Some of the same criticisms I offered have motivated otherwise prolifers to support prochoice policies, echoing the mantra of the Clinton Administration to keep abortion, “safe, legal and rare.” And some libertarians, Christians, and feminists have taken up the position that abortion prohibition is a violation of a woman’s God-given free will and moral agency, and as such, decisions to keep or abort her child should be left up to the woman’s discretion.
The sentiment of those stuck in the gray area between anti-abortion and pro-abortion might seem like the most rational stance on the issue. Abortion, after all, is highly complex and typifies a vastly greater societal conundrum that stems from poverty, abusive relationships, bad decisions, and even outright violence. Not to mention the political-economic aspects contributing to these problems. If solving abortion means dealing with all of that, is it any wonder that the Christian feminist view of abortion has become so popular?
But is it reasonable to suggest that we can make abortion, “safe, legal, and rare?” Is it reasonable to say that our rights are inherent in our humanity, but leave the decision of abortion to the discretion of each individual woman? Do prochoicers really have the intellectual, philosophical, and humanitarian high ground? Or perhaps, what’s at stake in the abortion debate, is really what’s at stake for all of us?
Join me, Kerry Baldwin, as we Dare to Think about the Christian Feminist View of Abortion.
