Rape and Abortion

In the wake of Congressman Akin's infamous statement about rape and pregnancy, the left had a field day attacking conservatives on their anti-abortion stance. Many on the right ran for cover, trying to distance themselves from his statements or even his position.

Let me go on the record as saying Mr. Akin's statement about pregnancy from rape is ignorant and demonstrably false.

Let me also go on the record as believing abortion should only be legal to save the life of the mother.

No rape and incest exception? No.

Even as they ridicule, pro-choicers are aware that a rape exception is inconsistent with the pro-life philosophy and use that against us. We may as well stand for what we believe in and be able to explain why.

The fundamental question about aborting an unborn child is this: What is it?

If the unborn is a blob of tissue, little more than a cancerous growth inside the mother or a parasite inside a host, then we shouldn't even be having this conversation. Aborting this little blob has no more moral significance than removing a mole.

If the unborn is a human being at a slightly earlier stage of development than an infant, then we must treat that life with all the care due any other human being.

The circumstances of his conception does not change that.

Rape is a horrible thing. Besides the physical violence, there is emotional trauma that will need a long time to heal, if it ever does.

And aborting the child produced by that attack will not change any of it. Allowing the child to be born, however, brings a little good out of that horrible thing.

After all, our society doesn't put rapists to death. Why would we kill their children? The child is not responsible for the act that brought him into the world.

You may be thinking, "Isn't it cruel to make a woman carry a child conceived in rape to term?" I don't think so. But even if it were, it's not all about her any more. There's another life involved. That innocent little life deserves to be protected. And many women, after carrying such children for nine months, realize they love and cherish that child as much as any other.

And if the mother doesn't want to raise the child, the line to adopt healthy infants is wrapped around the block ... many, many times.

All that said, though, I wouldn't make outlawing abortion after rape part of any party's platform. It's not something many people will be receptive to at this point in time. Tactically, it's something we should ease into.

Life is full of partial victories. If abortion was only legal in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother, the vast majority — by some estimates, 99+% — of abortions would cease. If, in time, we were able to convince people that rape isn't a good reason to abort a baby, that would be ideal, but we shouldn't set ourselves up for a much more difficult fight when we still have the larger one to win.

Until

The Revelation says the Lamb of God will become the Lion of Zion. Astride a great white horse, he will lead the armies of heaven and tread "the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty" (19:15).

Jesus? Our Jesus? The meek and mild Jesus? The one about whom the scriptures say

"A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out..." (Matt 12:20).

Sometimes it's hard to see Jesus as a warrior. But that passage is the key. The sentence continues:

"A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out
till he leads justice to victory."

That "till" is important. Jesus came with a purpose, a mission, and he carried it out. He was here to be a sacrifice, to be killed simply for claiming to be exactly who he was. Next time, the mission will be different.

The other day as I was reading this, when that "till" jumped out at me, I was reminded of a song from some years ago:

First time around he came as a man
clothed in humility
He was the Father's sacrifice
sent to set us free ...

This time around
there'll be no speculation
the king will wear his crown.
This time around
the world will see his glory
watch is kingdom come down ...

As hard as it is to imagine sometimes, the day will come when Christ will return in glory and power to establish his kingdom on earth. And we will be able to say goodbye to sin and pain and grief and all the ills of this world.

Come, Lord Jesus.