Roe Vs Wade, Karen Swallow Prior, Trump and Israel Folau

The end of Roe vs Wade is a wonderful thing and a culturally and theologically significant moment. Christians have always opposed abortion (Abortion and the Early Church) and there is a good philosophical case against abortion (The Unaborted Socrates). Abortion is also a transcultural and global issue. For example, back in 2004 I clipped this article from the Australian newspaper about a Dutch ship providing abortion services to Polish people, then in 2016 I noted how the French Government banned a pro-life video featuring down-Syndrome kids and then most recently it was interesting to read the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, condemning the decision to overturn Roe vs Wade. 

Abortion is a sensitive topic to research and write about. Each Australian state has its own laws about abortion and most allow abortion and restrict protests around abortion clinics. You can get a rough idea of how many abortions take place in Australia by looking at the Medicare item number 35643 here. I want to make a few comments about how Christians have and should respond and then some practical suggestions for Christians in Australia in the light of Roe vs Wade being overturned. 

Sadly, sometimes Christians have been tricked by the myth of over-population, thinking that reducing population, instead of improving technology and living less exorbitant lifestyles, will help our natural environment. I don't have a link for it, but I've heard some Christians in Australia argue that the embyro has increasing moral value, therefore making the abortion of a zygoyte less morally wrong than partial-birth abortion. Initially, this argument appears cogent, a zygote lacks recognisable human features. However the implied measure of human fullness is never described, making that argument useful for eugenics, slavery and various forms of euthanasia. This is where Israel Folau comes in. Israel Folau, a Rugby player was kicked out of Rugby for posting a verse about sexual sins on his social media.This became a larger debate about religious freedom. 

The Australian Christian Lobby embraced the cause despite Israel Folau not technically being a Christian - belonging to a group that denied the Trinity, but the Trinity is the historical and theological boundary of Christianity. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), marks the moment Jesus is conceived in Mary. The key verse, verse 35 says: “The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.'" This verse is both Trinitarian and pro-life. The Son of God begins his 'humilation' as a human zygote. Interestingly, both progressive and conservative Christians are in danger of forgetting the Annunciation. 

Christians can make a philosphical and Biblical argument for being pro-life. Things exist and have boundaries, in the case of people, they have beginnings and ends. Conception is the beginning of a human. Ideal forms, or essences, exist for everything including humans. A zygote, contains the ideal form or essence of a human. We see this in Luke 1:35, the moment of conception marks the moment the Son of God takes on human nature. Deformities, changes in circumstances or capacity doesn't negate this essence, they just highlight the need for us to be protective, careful and kind. In a Darwinian-world they would be cast aside in favour of humans able to reproduce. Another interesting theological implication of being Pro-life. 

Christians on the other side of the debate are also tricked by unhelpful arguments. I once heard a sermon in Hobart that condemed any lady in the congregation who'd had an abortion as a murderer, it was as horrible as you can imagine. Christianity is about grace, there is a path back to Jesus for everyone, no sin except rejecting Jesus' forgiveness is beyond the pale. This is the scandal of Christianity, grace for everyone who accepts it. Christians find it hard to be Christians, hypocrisy is the root of Christian sin.

This is where Trump and Karen Swallow Prior come in. Politically Trump took the second-last step of overturning Roe vs Wade by appointing pro-life judges, particularly Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Some conservative Christians want to make the overturning of Roe vs Wade into a political event. Which is where Karen Swallow Prior comes in. She is a prominent American Evangelical academic who is both strongly Pro-Life (arrested for protesting at abortion clinics) and strongly opposed to Trump. The end of Roe vs Wade is a good thing, that Trump helped create, but you don't need to support Trump or other conservative shibboleths to be Pro-life. 

Which finally brings us to the practical aspect of the end of Roe vs Wade for Christians here in Australia. I think there are five practical things the end of Roe vs Wade and the publicity around it can spur Christians in Australia to do.  Firstly, we need to keep working to reduce the stigma around teenage and single mothers. Secondly, we need to be conscious of how cost-of-living pressures impact our congregations. Thirdly, we need to financially support our local pregnancy centres. Fourthly, we need to be politically active in encouraging adoption and foster care.  And finally, we need to pray that we keep living consistent lives.     

The anti-abortion shape of public philosophy in France

You have to hand it to the French for attempting to be consistent. The Conseil d'État, a legal body of the French government more famously known for a short period of forcing Muslim woman to wear bikinis at the beach, has recently banned this pro-life ad featuring down-Syndrome kids. Reportedly the Conseil d'État banned the video because they were "likely to disturb the conscience of women who had lawfully made different personal life choices.” Notably the ABC here in Australia reported that parents feel pressured into aborting their unborn down-Syndrome babies.

Abortion and the Evangelical Australian response

Last year a pro-life group in America, conducted a series of video stings of Planned Parenthood, an organisation founded by the racist Margaret Sanger, who among other services provides abortions. The sting reveals across ten horrific videos how Planned Parenthood aborts babies at various stages of pregnancy and then profits from the organs harvested. You don't need to watch all the videos to realise that the bottom line is that babies look like unborn children while they're being killed.

There has been a range of nonsense in response, which I surveyed briefly last year when the videos first started being released, ranging from 'it's fake like the moon landing footage' through to 'who cares, we all knew abortion was horrific and that doesn't mean we should stop it'. Here in Australia abortions are partially subsided through Medicare. Over 50,000 babies were 'surgically' aborted in Australia in 2016 (Medicare Item 35643) and it's reliably suggested that up to 80,000 unborn children are killed in Australia each year (The linked paper suggests 84,218 in 2003).

Two quick reminders, about social justice and personhood. Firstly social justice. God calls us to act justly (Micah 6:8), to show compassion (Romans 12:20) and care for the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3). The most excluded, the most vulnerable and the most unjustly treated are the unborn who are killed, then the next most mistreated group are those women coerced into abortions. Any Christian response should be motivated to care for other human persons. We then need to care for both the unborn and the mothers, removing the stigma for having children out of wedlock and loving those who have had abortions.

Secondly, philosophy. Assuming that the world can be rationally understood it's arguable that human persons exist. Humans are a unique animal species with an observable beginning, called conception. Human persons are individuals with a discernible start and a number of characteristics including an inner moral life, imagination and rationality. Human persons can also be observed as grown ups, in groups and producing culture but it's important not to reduce Human persons to mere genetic material or athletic twenty somethings.

Australian Evangelicals should do the following.

Purchase and read:

• Abortion and the Early Church by Michael Gorman
• The Unaborted Socrates by Peter Kreeft

Write to their local Politicians about

• Medicare funding for abortion, support for new and young mums and the right to calmly protest against abortion

Support groups who provide pro-life counselling and who support mothers

• For example Project Esther in Tasmania. 

Encourage their ecclesiastical leaders

• to include the unborn when they publicly talk about the caring the vulnerable
• to allow pro-life groups to flourish amoung their congregations
• to oppose pro-abortion nonsense from other Evangelicals, for example the argument from the Melbourne Anglican Diocese that abortion is allowable in some circumstances because human life begins in some sort of sliding scale. 

Pray

• For the protection of calm kind protesters and that angry unkind protesters stay away
• That pregnant women find support
• That their local congregations support mums with kids
• The public discussion about abortion is allowed to continue in Australia

The unborn are people too ...

[h/t Steve]

['Hell is other people' © Kudelka, The Mercury, 30 April 2016]

Planned Parenthood and organ harvesting

So a pro-life group Centre for Medical Progress conducted a sting of a top Planned Parenthood doctor, in order to have video evidence that Planned Parenthood were benefiting from organs harvested from aborted babies. There's some splitting of hairs about what defines 'financial profit', you can see that angle being worked over at Snopes.

It's interesting to observe the rhetorical and philosophical maneuvering of pro-choice supporters in reaction to this video. You get the hard denial of personhood from Guardian writer Jessica Valenti.

"For instance, donating fetal tissue –which is used in research to help find cures for illnesses like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease – is legal. And the full unedited version of the video shows Nucatola explaining that costs for staff time and possible shipping costs are reimbursed so that Planned Parenthood affiliates,which are nonprofit organizations, don’t lose money."

Note the description of baby organs as tissue. Interestingly I think this approach will fade and give way to a more, utilitarian "yes they are babies, but this is best for everyone" approach. Note also the line that Snopes is running about the nature of the financial incentives that arise from harvesting baby organs. You can see that this is where things are heading from the very left wing Mother Jones reaction.

"So there's basically nothing here. Bioethicists have been debating for years whether it's a good idea to sell fetal tissue, and as you can imagine, they've been disagreeing for years and show no signs of ever coming to a consensus. Some think it's wrong and some think it's OK. That's not surprising since some people think abortion is wrong and some think it's OK. And if you think abortion is wrong, you're certainly not going to be happy about the sale of tissue from aborted fetuses."

Huffington Post is less partisan and dismissive, but really works the 'harvesting organs is OK if they're donated and not sold line.' It would be very naughty of course to profit from organ harvesting, so Huffington Post wants to make it clear that Planned Parenthood is trying to be ethical, trying to care about that.

"The sale of fetal parts is illegal. But Planned Parenthood says it is donating the fetal tissue for research at the request of some of its patients, which is legal. The family planning provider said it sometimes receives reimbursement from tissue donation entities for the additional expenses of donating, such as transportation costs, but never profits off of the donations."

However most fascinating of all, because what it revealed about the existential mindset of pro-choice supporters was this article by Amanda Marcotte at Slate. She boldly went to the heart of the issue, abortion is, in her words, "gross" and if this is how they have to harvest organs, which help other people, so be it. Philosophically, this is rhetorically incoherent because we hear lots about how "gross" executions of adults are, yet the same rhetorical arguments aren't valid for abortion.

"Abortion is gross, no doubt about it. It becomes grosser the later in a pregnancy it gets. But so is heart surgery. So is childbirth, for that matter. We don't deny people who need help in those cases because the help is gross. Nor should we deny people that help when it comes to needing abortion. We also shouldn't deny women who want to donate fetal or embryonic remains to science any more than we would deny someone who wants to be an organ donor, even though the latter is also quite gross to ponder." 

Note her use of "embryonic", this is the future of the pro-choice movement, convergence with euthanasia. 'Hey look, it's death, but it's what's best for everyone, including the deceased.' That takes a lot of the wind out of the pro-life sails. Weirdly it's about healthy white, upper-middle class privilege, survival of the fittest, hottest and wealthiest. Enough to make me believe (but not enjoy) in evolution and like socialism!

[Planned Parenthood logo: they have a number of logos and slogans, I picked this one because it's ironic.]

Pro-life government anti-smoking poster

Here's the link to the official "Quit for two" page, I wonder if the various people involved in the process were aware of how pro-life it's turned out to be?

The Annunciation

Detail from Antonello da Messina's Virgin Annunciate. I'm always surprised that more isn't made of the Annunciation. Not only is Luke 1:34-38 delightfully Trinitarian, giving us a small glimpse of who God is but it also show us how God views the beginning of human personhood.

" “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her."

In one moment, who God is, how we begin as persons and the beginning of the Incarnation! 

41 years since Roe vs Wade

Culturally, Australia follows America - although there are some interesting exceptions. Roe vs Wade was a sad but probably inevitable moment in Western cultural history. This little video (produced by the Texas Alliance for Life) marks the 40 years since that case. The effect is quite powerful, equal parts sad and hopeful.

I like the liberal (small l) emphasis on lifting up the down trodden, Kevin Rudd alluded to this sentiment in his concession speech last year, something along the lines of "Labor stands for a go for the little guy." I like that sentiment reminds me of Jesus' parable where the crippled, poor, blind and lame are invited in, when the rich and powerful turn down their invitations to the banquet. Layers of human incompetence and hypocrisy aside, why isn't there more of an outcry about the emancipation of the unborn from the threat of death? Every single issue can't get our full attention, so surely abortion is near the top of triage list? 

Immunisation*

Christians should be pro-immunisation with three caveats:

1. Sadness, that linked to one of the vaccines are the abortion of two little babies. The Measeals-Mumps vaccine is developed using a cell line from two babies aborted in the 1960's. I gather the babies were aborted and cells kept from them and used ever since. WI-38 a girl at 3-month gestation and MRC-5 a boy at 14 weeks gestation. 
2. Wary of the ruling ideology. Generally what's observable and sensible correlates with Christianity but sometimes the dominate ideology makes cultural demands that are repugnant, think Orwell's 1984 or Aldus Huxley's Brave New World for possible trajectories.
3. Suspicious of conspiracy theories because they also like the ruling ideology demand total allegiance and require you to leave what is often the observable and the sensible into a smaller ideological circle. 

However with those three caveats in mind vaccinations are part of living in community, living alongside others and loving your neighbour. 

March for Life

I discovered through Facebook that the annual March for Life protesting Roe vs Wade had been larger than normal this year (even opponents reported 400,000 protesters!) despite cold weather and a Presidential inauguration the week before. Interestingly our local ABC choose not to report it and the BBC and TIME had nothing to say. You had to search for it in both Washington Post which put it in the 'local' section and the New York Times before you got some reporting. Of course there was no dramatic aerial shot of the Mall showing the size of the crowd although some shots showed the youthfulness of the protestors which is also interesting.

Good news for unborn babies

Wouldn't it be great to have Baby Hatches in Australian hospitals accompanied by easier domestic adoption protocols? I think these two ideas would form the basis for a positive political campaign for Christians. And I think that's a great way to end the year and the digitisation of my abortion folder!

"Down Syndrome terminations decline"

We should love Down Syndrome people because while their disaibility is more obvious then most our own, we realise that we all created by God but broken by sin. It currently suits the majority to warm towards this minority but it hasn't always been the case and it won't always be the case. Note also the language of "terminations", euphemisms are sometimes socially appropriate when we describe someone as 'passing away' instead of 'dying', but euphemisms don't advance the wider cultural and philosophical discussion at all.

Luke 1:35 is both Trinitarian and pro-life

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”4
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

(Gospel of Luke 1:30-35, ESV)

Birth is an ancient, dangerous, messy and wonderful event, so it's right to celebrate the birth of Jesus. However it's equally important to mark the beginning of the Incarnation when Jesus was miraculously conceived inside Mary. It's interesting that the Annunciation is both pro-life and Trinitarian. It's not often you get all three persons of the Trinity referenced in close proximity and contra the pro-abortion world-view, Jesus is alive inside Mary from the moment of conception. 

Documentary about abortion providers

The most important benefit of secularism is to allow competing world views to have a discussion and understand each other better. The essential weakness of secularism is that it has no value-free mechanism to decide which worldview is allowed to hold sway. For example I'd like to watch the documentary above in order to better understand what would motivate someone to campaign so passionately and extensively for abortion. However I wouldn't want Gomperts to have the ultimate say on abortion. 

"Maximum human being"?

Emma Jane (The Weekend Australian, October 16-17, 2010) says the pro-life movement "elevates the unborn baby from Human Lite to Maximum Being." Jane is arguing for a cautious pro-choice position but doesn't believe the unborn baby in a woman's womb is fully human. The difficulty here is that she doesn't define what a "maximum being" is or why the baby doesn't meet that criteria. 

A is for abortion

It seems a sad way to start a series but I'm digitising my files and abortion was the first folder. Abortion is a sobering reminder that we live in a world broken by sin, it confronts us with emotional pain, questions about morality and isn't a distant injustice such as the horror of the fighting in the Congo. 

Late Term Abortion Motion at Melbourne Synod

Thank-God for Barny Zwartz and Mark Durie.  Durie, upset by hearing reports of failed late-term abortions, where babies are been born alive and then killed, has put forward this motion (as reported in the Melbourne AGE) at the Melbourne Anglican Synod.  Pray that God will defeat cowardice, protect Mark and embolden the Synod to act in a counter-cultural manner.

"He [Mark Durie] calls on the state government to answer five questions about late-term abortions:

■ How many are happening, and how late?

■ What are the reasons for the abortions?

■ Are those born alive receiving medical care, or what is their cause of death?

■ What has been the effect on staff morale at the Royal Women's Hospital?

■ What has been the effect on staff recruitment?"