Why Abortion

A few weeks back, Glenn Stassen wrote a controversial piece on the apparent rise in abortions under President Bush.

He pointed to two factors--high unemployment and a lack of health care--that he says pushed the numbers up. If a woman and her partner don't have jobs or health insurance, it's very tough to raise a child.

Stassen made a lot of conservatives mad, but he's got a point. So here's two questions for those in the pro-life camp (even us prolife-Democrats) to ponder:

• Why do women chose abortion?
  
• What can churches we do that would help them decide to parent instead of having an abortion?
  

The late Michael Yaconelli said that Christians have lost the ability to think redemptively--we'd rather point the finger and place blame. It's easier to think that women who have abortions are bad people who hate babies. The truth is that they are people who are facing a difficult decision.

Say for a moment, that a few key factors--health insurance, a good job paying a decent wage, access to childcare--play a significant role in a women's decision to abort or not? Would we be willing to roll up our sleeves and open our wallets to make things a reality?

We've been waiting around for 31 years for Roe v. Wade to be overturned. Maybe some Bush appointees to the Supreme Court will change that, maybe they won't. But to sit and wait around doesn't make sense.

There may be a parallel to what we know about divorce rates. (See "Walking the Walk on Family Values".) In Massachusetts the divorce rate is just overhalf of what it is in Texas. Why? Because people in Massachusetts have better education and better jobs--both key factors in preventing divorce. So, maybe the best way to reduce divorce -- or abortin isn't just to tell people it's wrong, but to create a society that give marriages and unborn children the best chance to survive.