Why I support Proposition 4 (Abortion Waiting Period and Child Notification Act)

I took quite a bit of heat last week from fellow members of Christ’s church for my opposition to proposition 8. I appreciated the discussion, and it helped me to refine my view. My initial response to the anger the discussion evoked was to think we, especially as Christian leaders, should refrain from talking about politics publicly. However, I think that is the wrong decision. I believe Christians need to continue having a discussion about how faith informs their politics. The questions that came out in response to my post were good ones. Although I am leery of making strong declarations from the pulpit endorsing political candidates, I am a fan of public discussion about how becoming a citizen of the kingdom of Jesus informs how I interact with earthly governments.

With this post, I will align myself firmly with the people that disagreed with me about proposition eight. I am a supporter of proposition 4. I used to lump gay marriage and abortion together in my thinking. I did this because I felt they were the two issues the Republican party, which has no interest in the kingdom of Christ, has used to hijack the Christian vote. However, I was wrong to link these ideas too closely. This post will show why I think proposition 4 is the right move for California:

1) The church has always been against abortion: As early as 50 AD, the early church had statements against abortion (Didache). Although these statements may have something to do with idolatry and the weird ways that the Romans sometimes worshipped their gods (infant sacrifice), they are the only statements from the church I have. No church fathers supported the practice. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant branches of Christianity are in agreement on the issue. This is why I believe all Christians should oppose abortion. However, this is not the fundamental reason I support the legislation. If it were, I would also support proposition eight.

2) Abortion is a human rights issue: As a Christian, I believe life begins at conception. This makes abortion a human rights issue. If unborn children are living humans, abortion is murder. There is no other way to define it. The only way to say that abortion is not murder is to make an unborn child less than human. I think this is difficult to do as a Christian.

This is where abortion differs from the gay marriage issue. If my last post was all you had read from me, you might want to lump me in with the people who say, “You can’t legislate morality” as if it is some sort of axiom. Every law is a legislation of morality. If, as a society, we make stealing illegal, it is because we believe it is immoral to steal. Every law is moral.

When human rights are involved, the church must be involved. If people are being killed, the church must stand against it.

3) The arguments against proposition 4 are somewhat silly. In this case, the people opposing the conservative Christians are the ones guilty of fear mongering. They are coming up with some hypothetical situation where a girl will get beaten or killed for telling her parents she’s pregnant. Although this very well may happen, we cannot make law based on strange exceptions. This would certainly not be the norm. It would be an exception to the norm. If a girl is beaten when telling her parents she is pregnant, we need to deal with that issue separately.

What possible benefit could there be of preserving a young girl’s right to terminate her pregnancy? As a nation, we have attempted to distinguish between an adult and a child. We have good reasons for doing this. We believe that children are born without the knowledge necessary to make decisions. Because of this, we limit the decisions they can make and we hold their parents responsible for their decisions. Admittedly, the line of 18 is somewhat arbitrary. I remember buying cigars and a lottery scratcher on the way home from my girlfriend’s house on midnight the night of May 4 (the guy didn’t ID me… how anti-climactic). Nothing felt fundamentally different than the day before. Any line will be arbitrary, but that doesn’t mean we don’t draw the line.

I am not for protecting the right of a young girl (whose biggest concern should be who she is going to prom with) to terminate her pregnancy without the consent of her parents. I think it is ludicrous that this discussion is even being had, and it is proof that the issue isn’t being thought through any more. It is a political football game, where both sides are afraid to give the other side an inch.

4) Arnold Schwarzenegger supports it. Enough said.

My post is too long, so stop reading if you want. I have an exhortation for conservative Christians:

Be consistently pro-life. I agree that unborn life is worth protecting. What saddens me is that we are often not consistently pro-life. Being pro-life means we care about the 10,000 people that die of starvation every day. Being pro-life means we care about the millions (don’t miss that… millions) of people that are currently in slavery. Being pro-life means we are worried about the poor and we are doing something for them. Being pro-life means more than a stand on abortion; it means a desire and a passion to fight for all human life. We must fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.