The question has come up for many people lately: How can Christians, even evangelical Christians, support a president who has shamelessly broken most of the commandments, brags about having broken them, and continues to violate them without remorse, regrets, or repentance? How can Christians support a president who falls far from the Jesus mandate to “Love one another”? It’s been my observation and experience that these folks are single-issue voters: Abortion. It doesn’t matter how reprehensible or abhorrent a candidate speaks or behaves; if she or he promises to make abortion illegal, then these evangelical Christians will vote for them.
But what does it mean to be pro-life? Does it just mean to be anti-abortion? A true pro-life ethic is pro-life from womb to tomb. Let’s take a look at what that means.
- Pro-life means valuing the life of the fetus. It honors this life by wanting free or affordable prenatal care for the pregnant mother.
- Pro-life means valuing the lives of children. It wants every child to have enough nourishing food and clean water to thrive in life and school.
- Pro-life means valuing the health of all people. It believes that free or affordable healthcare is crucial to ensuring a healthier population. (Recent studies have shown that access to affordable birth control methods have led to a decrease in unwanted pregnancies, which, of course, has led to a decrease in abortions.)
- Pro-life means valuing the safety and well-being of non-Americans, too. It abhors the idea of families of any skin color being ripped apart and innocent children being caged like animals.
- Pro-life means valuing the nutrition needs of all people. It seeks to eliminate food deserts–areas in urban centers where healthy, affordable food is unavailable. It also seeks an equitable distribution of food resources so that no person should go hungry.
- Pro-life means valuing the planet that sustains us. It acknowledges climate change and humanity’s sin in not exercising the stewardship over creation that God entrusted to us. It wants to be proactive in reversing the damage we have done to the earth so that future generations have a planet that will sustain and nourish their lives.
- Pro-life means valuing the dignity of all humans. It recognizes the humanity we each possess as beings made in the image of God. It allows people to choose not to burden their families with exhaustive life-saving measures when death is imminent.
- Pro-life means valuing the mental health and safety of all people. It seeks to restore mental and emotional wholeness to people with fractured psyches before they act in violent ways against innocent people.
If any one of those points bothers or angers you, then you would do well to reexamine what it means to be “pro-life.” A true, holy, God-honoring pro-life ethic cherishes all life from womb to tomb. It not only seeks to eliminate the need for abortions, but it also cares about people after they are born, ensuring they have adequate housing, food, and healthcare. This holy pro-life ethic also determines to take steps to reverse or stop climate change; being good stewards of the earth God gave us; and making a healthy, life-sustaining home for all of God’s creation, be it plant, animal, or human.
If you cannot ascribe to each of these items and recognize that all of these (and probably several I didn’t think of) are part of a pro-life ethic, then you need to change your tune.
You’re not pro-life; you’re just pro-fetus.
