Some young Christians now push for funding for counseling and for pregnancy centers where pregnant women are treated as "human faces" rather than as statistics. In fact, if we look at the human faces of those women who get abortions, we discover why it is so necessary for us to become deeply committed to providing the assistance which women need in order to avoid choosing the tragic act of ending their child's life.
Shannon Dingle, an Evangelical Christian, a blogger, and a conservative mother of a large, multiracial family, cares about what she considers the methods that will best work to prevent abortions. She says
"...why not focus on policies that reduce the demand for abortion? For example, empowering poor and low-income women can make a difference in overall pregnancy termination rates, as this demographic constitutes 75% of abortions.... Providing supports for single mothers is also beneficial, as more than 80% of those obtaining abortions are unmarried, most of whom are not living with the father. Family supports in general can be beneficial as well, considering that about 60% of women getting abortions already have given birth at least once. Increasing educational access can make a difference, as those who have a college degree are less likely to have an abortion while those without a high school or college diploma are more likely. Additionally, racial inequities in all these areas - education, income levels, and so on - lead to higher rates of abortions among black women than any other group and slightly higher rates among Hispanic women....Honestly, I wish one of our major parties - or a third party, whether viable for winning the election or not - holistically supported life at all stages. My choice would be easier if that were true...And I can't accept that being pro-life is simply being anti-abortion. That's not pro-life. It's not. What is our Christian witness to those who have been born when we insist that the lives of the unborn matter more in our votes than their lives do?"
Dingle voted Republican for most of her life until she realized that most Republicans "have opposed or even stalled measures that could prevent the underlying causes, like poverty, education, lack of access to healthcare, and supports for single parent and low income families."
What good does it do to make abortion illegal if the main result is causing women to produce more babies who will live illiterate, impoverished lives, not giving them aid to break this vicious life cycle? I am proud of the Mother Teresa Home in Buffalo, New York, which provides housing, support, and education for young, poor, pregnant women who have no support systems. One of its new residents has said quite clearly that if it were not for this home, she would have had an abortion. Why aren't our government and churches providing the places and programs that women need in order to BE SUPPORTED AND BE GOOD MOTHERS?
It seems to me that many Churches spend more money and time and personnel and energy on fighting our legal system than on providing practical help and education for poor, illiterate women who, as health care workers will tell you, have little grasp of the reality of an abortion and use abortion as birth control. After all, both the unborn babies and their desperate mothers are equally children of God. Jim Wallis says
"All of us, conservative and liberal, must regard abortion as a moral issue and a societal problem and accept the need for its dramatic reduction. We need to address a culture that increasingly regards sexuality as recreational instead of covenantal. We need to agree together - left and right - that abortion rates are an indicator of societal health, and that reducing them should be our common goal. We need to advance creative and compassionate strategies that are supportive of women. It's time to replace the politicizing of abortion - by common sense public policies that seek their reduction, a civil society that advocates cultural values that help prevent them, and faith communities that offer pastoral care and help to those caught in unwanted pregnancies."
At the Mother Teresa Home in Buffalo, a bright-eyed young mother cradles an infant whom she is so truly glad to be able to hold. People saw her human face, believed in her capacity to be a good mother, provided her with the practical supports that she needed to have her baby, with the promise of an education so that one day she can independently support her child. Now, that, right now, in your community, is how you can be pro-life: seeing the real needs of God's real flesh and blood people and being there for them.
Incidentally, there is a very new third political party which holistically supports life at all stages. Their website states "The American Solidarity Party is the only active Christian Democratic Party in the U.S." It stands for and supports the following principles: The sanctity of human life. The necessity of social justice. Responsibility for the environment. Hope for a peaceful world. Their leadership is made up of dedicated volunteers. And they are on the ballot in some states. For President they suggest Michael Maturen. Vice President: Juan Munoz. Check out their website. They give me hope for this country.