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When my son David was born in 1967, fathers were not allowed in the delivery room. So I posted myself outside the delivery-room door and prayed. My wife, Dot, had had German measles (rubella) in the early months of her pregnancy. She was a pediatrics nurse, so she and I were aware of the damage …
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“In the ‘already but not yet’ of Christian existence, members of the church choose different paths to move toward the realization of the kingdom in history. Distinct moral options coexist as legitimate expressions of Christian choice.” This “prochoice” statement recently made by the Catholic bishops of the United States has nothing to do with abortion. …
Article
Indeed, Geraldine Ferraro’s candidacy as the first woman running for vice-president on a major party ticket flushed out the power issues that divide the American public: to use George Bush’s elegant phrase, we are preoccupied with “kicking ass,” whether it is in domestic relations or in Central America; we resist the demands of the exploited …
Continue reading “Abortion and Moral Consensus: Beyond Solomon’s Choice”
Article
In the autumn of 1984, Kristin Luker’s study of the abortion controversy, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (University of California Press, 324 pp., $14.95), is especially relevant. By all but extremists on both sides of the issue, this book has come to be regarded as one of the most scrupulously fair and searching of …
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Never did a waning follow so closely a waxing. On July 3, 1989, the Supreme Court in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services seemed to give the pro-life movement a stunning victory. Sixteen contentious years after Roe v. Wade, the court returned to the states at least some power to rule on abortion. The court implied …
Continue reading “Beyond Slogans: An Abortion Ethic for Women and the Unborn”
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On October 4, 1984, a paid advertisement appeared in the New York Times under the sponsorship of a group called Catholics for a Free Choice. The ad contended that there is more than one legitimate — i.e. theologically and ethically defensible — viewpoint on abortion within the Roman Catholic tradition. It called for a dialogue …
Continue reading “Catholics and Abortion: Authority vs. Dissent”
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My onetime colleague T. V. Smith once wrote a book called Beyond Conscience, in which he waxed eloquent in showing “the harm that good men do.” To live according to one’s conscience may be a fine thing, but what if A’s conscience leads A to try to compel B and C to live, not according …
Continue reading “Concerning Abortion: An Attempt at a Rational View”
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As we enter the 1990s with modest hopes for world peace, a particularly bitter and seemingly intractable domestic war continues unabated. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services has mobilized armies of supporters and opponents of legal abortion. Explicitly, the court let stand a provision of a Missouri law that required …
Continue reading “Ending the Abortion War: A Modest Proposal”
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“Abortion is murder!” So reads the hand-lettered placard carried by a demonstrator in front of an abortion clinic. “Protect a woman’s right to choose!” counters the demonstrator across the Street. Abortion is an issue so emotional, so divisive, that Christians who would normally engage in dialogue about the most controversial of matters find it easier …
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The participants in the abortion debate seem, most of the time, to presuppose that the beliefs (moral/ scientific/ religious/ legal/ philosophical) of the pro-choice and pro-life camps are widely divergent at many points. The fact that a great cultural conflict is taking place over abortion seems to be a prima facie justification of this assumption. …
Continue reading “Questions on Abortion and the Struggle Against Tyranny”
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On an issue as important as abortion, I want a definition of life that includes the wisdom and understanding of my Christian faith. So far, I have been disappointed. I doubt that I am the only one. Life is being defined biologically, in terms of beating hearts and pulsing brainwaves. Cows, too, exhibit these requisite …
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The abortion debate is heating up once again and the issues are familiar, or so we think. Our stereotypes — especially of the churches’ debate — are well entrenched. However, a study of official church statements on abortion challenges many of these stereotypes. Theological or denominational differences are not at the core of the dispute. …
Continue reading “The Church and Abortion: Signs of Consensus”
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The controversy over abortion is frequently reduced to a battle of slogans. “Abortion is murder.” “Women should have the right to control their own bodies.” Liberals generally are aware that the former assertion is open to question. Thoughtful liberals recognize the limits of the latter claim. But my impression is that the people with whom …
Continue reading “The Legitimacy and Limits of Freedom of Choice”
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I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life [Deut. 30:19]. . . . the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it [Deut. 30:14]. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman …
