Response to Pro-Choice Argument: "It's Not the Government's Job to Legislate Morality."

I've heard this argument several times in support of keeping abortion legal, but surprisingly I'm hearing it from otherwise anti-abortion people. They say they think abortion is wrong. They even admit abortion takes an innocent human life, but they believe that, because the government can't change hearts, they shouldn't make abortion illegal--leaving up to the individual to decide, saying, "It's not the government's job to legislate morality."

That makes me want to ask:

1. What do you think morality is?
2. What do you think the government's job is?

In the interest of not rambling on forever, I'm just going to tell you what morality is.

Morality is the internal instinct by which we navigate our relationships with God, other people, and the world. Moral behavior is behavior that exhibits an accurate recognition and respect for the inherent worth & qualities of God, other people, and the natural world.

In other words, morality is all about relationship: relationship with God, relationship with mankind, and relationship with the natural world. Morality is the guide by which we decide what is the right way to behave toward God, people, and nature vs. what is the wrong way to treat these entities. Morality is NOT just a set of rules. Morality goes deeper than that.

That being said, let's think about what the government does. Government's job is to set rules based on our collective sense of--guess what?--morality! Even though rules themselves do not create morality and morality itself is not just a set of rules, the government's job is to try to find the most effective way to make people do what is moral--the kinds of behaviors that create an environment where all people (and even animals & nature, to a certain extent) can exist with the reasonable certainty that they will be treated fairly (or, with the recognition and respect for their inherent worth).

In other words, government is all about making laws and laws are all about morality. In fact, there is no such thing as a law for which moral principles were not integral to its creation.

You can't have government without lawmaking, and you can't have lawmaking without guiding moral principles. So, to say that government's job is not to legislate morality is to say that government has no purpose or function at all. If you believe government has no purpose, then you must believe we should be living in anarchy.

Perhaps you could respond with, "No, government could stay out of the morally-based, lawmaking business, but still exist to provide us with civil services, like roads and schools and prisons." But without a morally-based method of taxation, dividing up funds, distributing funds, and choosing what kinds of services to provide, there can be no such function. (And we're not even going to get into the difficulties of having a prison system without any kind of moral compass guiding us.) Again, government requires morality to exist, let alone function.

You might say, "But our government leaders are flawed people, at best, and some are deeply corrupt. How can we trust them to legislate morality for the rest of us?" Here I would agree with you. We can't trust them--at least, not fully. However, in a republic, which is the form of government we have in the United States, the people have the responsibility and the power to insist that our leaders make moral laws--even if the leaders themselves are immoral. And if we manage to have moral laws, those who aren't sure what is right or wrong will be encouraged to, at least, conduct themselves in a moral way as they figure out what they believe.

So, even though it's true that laws do not establish morality, they do have the power to create a moral environment within which we can learn and grow.

Now to the topic of abortion: If you believe (in your own, internal, moral center, with a clear view of the inherent worth of other human beings and your relationships to them) that it is wrong to take an innocent, human life, then you must believe that abortion is a great evil. If abortion is a great evil, then the government's primary job is to make it illegal. If any government allows a great evil--a behavior that denies the basic, inherent worth of human beings--to continue, that government has failed to perform it's primary function.

So, in response to the pro-choice argument: "It's not the government's job to legislate morality," I will respond with: "Government's ONLY job is to legislate morality."

If you believe abortion is no different from murder, but also believe murdering a born person should be illegal while murdering an unborn person should be legal, you are in a state of self-contradiction. I suggest you reevaluate your position and choose to uphold the morality of simply letting other people live. And when evil people or an evil government arbitrarily decides that one human life is less valuable than another, it is your moral obligation to stand against that kind of core immorality, to hold your government accountable, and insist they make moral laws consistent with the reality of the equal, inherent worth of all human beings, in all its forms, at all stages of development, from conception to the grave.

© 2016; S.E. Thomas has a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Idaho.

The Rebellious, Unwed Mother: Why I'm Against Abortion

I was raised Christian. I was raised to believe sex before marriage was wrong. But I got involved in an unhealthy, manipulative, emotionally and verbally abusive relationship, and I ended up pregnant, abandoned, and alone.

The father of my child wanted me to have an abortion and let me know that if I didn't, he wouldn't give me a single cent. No surprise there. This is a common enough story. Due to how far I'd slipped, I was afraid to tell my family. I was at a Christian school at the time, and was afraid I'd get kicked out and never graduate.

So there I was, without a boyfriend, without family support, without the possibility of an education, without a job or any source of income, and I had a baby on the way. To many, many people in this country and across the world, abortion was my only option. And I could do it and keep it secret.

But that's the lie. Abortion is not any kind of answer to any of those problems, and here's why:

Abortion promised me a few "good" things, but it demanded the only thing I had that was actually priceless: my child.

Spoiler alert: I didn't kill my child. My rebelliousness had gotten me into a great deal of trouble, but it was about to get me out. I had every human reason to sacrifice my baby for what I was told would be a better future. But, once again, I rebelled. I clenched my fists because I finally found something--someone--worth fighting for.

I rebelled against my abusive, user, narcissistic boyfriend. "NO! I'm NOT going to kill my baby because you're a deadbeat dad and can only think of yourself!" (He left me. Yes, it was ugly but, seriously, good riddance!)

I rebelled against my fear of telling my family. "NO! I'm NOT going to lie anymore or hide anymore! I'm going to trust that they will still love me and, if they can't support me, I'll find a way to do it alone!" (They were saddened by my behavior and situation, but actually really excited about the baby. They bent over backwards to help us out. Turns out they're really wonderful people.)

I rebelled against my fear of telling my school and losing my education and future. "NO! I'm NOT going to let them pressure me into aborting--even indirectly! They aren't the only ones who can educate me!" (I did get kicked out of school, but they let me finish up the semester first. They let me come back later and finish up my bachelor's degree. Believe it or not, I have a master's degree now.)

I rebelled against my fear of never getting married--of never being loved. I was a "tarnished" woman with a kid. Who would want me now? But again, I balled my fists and cried, "NO! I'm NOT going to let the unknown and my fear be a reason that my child dies! If no one wants me, then no one wants me! I don't need a man to tell us what we're worth!" (I did end up getting married to the most amazing man on the planet--sorry, ladies, he's taken. He adopted my daughter and raised her as his own, and we have two boys together. Life is so much better than just "good!")

There was one area, though, where I couldn't rebel any longer. I had to stop rebelling against God.

I thought I had completely blown it with God. I didn't know how to make it right, and for a long time I simply kept walking that self-destructive path of sex and abuse and blindly grasping for control--all the while trying to get away from my own guilt. I was sure God was going to punish me, so I figured any pain I experienced along the way was just God's justice for my rebelliousness. I had no reason to escape, because I felt I didn't deserve an escape.

But then God gave me a reason to escape. That reason was my child.

God knew I didn't have the strength to escape the trouble I had chosen for myself, and He LOVED me enough to let me get pregnant. The world didn't see it, but God knew my child would become my reason for finally escaping the cycle of abuse and seek help. My baby girl--despite the way she came into the world--was, in a very real way, my rescue.

Get this--God never punished me! Instead, He blessed me! He saved me! And He did it by giving me the most precious gift imaginable! My daughter!

Many years have passed since that day, but it's never far from my mind or heart. My daughter is now a beautiful, intelligent college student! She's a straight-A student and a phenomenally talented artist. She is the kind of person others open up to--telling her their deepest pain because they know she'll listen without judging. She has a side-splitting, infectious sense of humor, and wins every game of Pictionary she plays, so be sure she's on your team.  I have nearly 20 years of memories now of this girl--her first taste of ice cream, her funny toddler-speak, the first time some boy on the playground asked her to marry him (actually, it was a set of twins who both wanted to marry her. Weird!) And today I can clearly see how MUCH I would've missed if I had bowed to those early pressures to give her life away to "save" mine.

The promises abortion offers are SUCH lies! I can't stress this enough! Every time someone argues for why abortion is okay, or good, or should be legal, I think of my daughter. I realize those voices are STILL telling me that her life is not as valuable as mine.

What? First of all, all those unknown fears are no match for a woman's will. We think of women as weak. Women aren't weak! We are strong! We can handle the problems that come our way if you'd just get out of our way long enough to let us do it!

And on the scale of strong women, I'm somewhere near the bottom. I fouled up my life big time. I went against my own convictions. I sacrificed my own safety for the promise of love from some man I knew was abusive. I put everything I had of value--my faith, my family, my relationships, my education, my future--at risk for some narcissistic guy. What kind of idiot does that?!

But even I knew my child had value, and even I was willing to give my life for hers. That's just what mothers do. It's natural. It's biological. It's why motherhood is one of the most amazing, God-reflecting, and supernatural states a person can be in. It's also why there's such an attack on it. The Enemy knows that birth and motherhood--the bringing forth of another image-bearer of God--is a sacred privilege and responsibility. It is a threat to him, so he will do anything he can to destroy it.

Abortion destroys motherhood. It destroys children--God's little image-bearers. It destroys women and mothers--God's feminine image-bearers. It destroys men and fathers--God's masculine image-bearers. It is a direct attack on Christ's three main characteristics: The Way, the Truth and the Life. It replaces hope with emptiness. It replaces the truth with a lie.  It replaces life with death.

I know there are a lot of you out there who still think that abortion is a complicated issue and that just making it illegal won't solve anything. Well, abortion is complicated. But giving birth really isn't. It's a biologically necessary part of life. And once we remove killing our own children as an option, you'll be surprised how soon we discover and provide better, viable solutions. Already, there's no pregnancy that is so difficult that a life-embracing solution cannot be found--one that does not involve intentionally killing anyone.

Aren't sure about that? Then ask. I'll be happy to explain how, even cases of rape, incest, poverty, medically-risky pregnancies, etc, can all be dealt with in a just, life-embracing, woman-centered way that does not require legalized abortion. So make the right choice today. Choose to support life.