Friday Night Theology

Abortion

23 May 2008

Few issues in recent times have been quite so emotive as the debates this week about abortion. Both the pro-choice and pro-life wings have staged protests, lobbied MPs and spoken out to the media in frantic attempts to get their views across. The result? The majority of MPs voted against lowering the abortion limit, a massive disappointment for many Christians.

As a result, we might be tempted to give up the battle to see a reduction in the number of abortions carried out each year, but some issues are so important we have to persevere. William Wilberforce faced years of disappointment in his bid to end slavery. People ridiculed him and refused to accept that slavery was a moral issue. After all, they said, we own the slaves, they're our property and it's our right. We see now how wrong this was, but people didn't recognise it at the time. Yet Wilberforce didn't give up. He continued to lobby and campaign and in the end his efforts paid off. We too need to have faith to persist.

Our responsibility though is not just to act in the political arena but also to act on the ground. With an estimated 1 in 3 women having an abortion at some point in their life, I suspect somebody in your church knows someone facing a crisis pregnancy. Perhaps not surprisingly, 76% of abortions are carried out on single women, who often fear facing parenthood alone. Speaking as a woman, I don't believe for a second that anyone takes the decision to have an abortion lightly, but I wonder if the number of abortions carried out might just be lowered if we offered these women the emotional and financial support necessary to face single parenthood. Being part of God's family means that we look out for the needs of everyone, both in and outside the Church. If we really are part of the body of Christ and if we really believe in the sanctity of life, that has to involve us offering time, emotional care and financial help to women who need it. After all, no legislation can stop us supporting and loving anyone facing a crisis.

One of the reasons we may not engage with these issues is that we fear we'll be seen to be endorsing behaviour or lifestyles we may disagree with. Yet Jesus wasn't afraid of this. He got stuck in with all the problems his society could throw at him. He offered people support and showed them a better way. What's more, people thought he was endorsing their behaviour and called him a glutton and a drunkard. But he ignored what other people said and got on with the job of supporting those who needed help. Perhaps we need to learn to do the same.

Today Wilberforce is hailed by Christians and non-Christians alike as a hero and a moral example. It's widely acknowledged that his faith was his driving inspiration. We may not see the fruit of our political efforts in the short term. But it might just be that in standing firm on these issues and continuing to fight, future generations will look back and hail us as the Wilberforce's of our day. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage, be strong," (1 Cor 16:13).

Susannah Clark, Public Theology Researcher

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issue of abortion, the following links would be useful places to get help:
HTB Post Abortion Healing Course: http://www.htb.org.uk/postabortion
Care Confidential: http://www.careconfidential.com/

There will be no FNT next week due to half term.