Pro-Life and Anti Abortion

I've been thinking recently about the positions on abortion. And I realised that the reason why there is so much confusion is because everyone thinks there are two positions - pro-life and pro-choice, and there are four.

There are those who are rabidly anti-child, who think that population control is the way to go, who sterilise themselves and others and who think that putting hormones in the water is a great idea. Seriously, there are people who think all of these things. Some of them are individual cranks who have no more impact on others than anyone else. But some are 'intellectuals' with the ears of politicians and other decision makers. I think of this position as the 'pro-death' position.

Then there are the pro-choice people. These are the mostly reasonable people who think that abortion is a terrible thing but that being 'forced' to have an unwanted baby is worse. Being a comparatively recent convert (I became a Christian 3 years ago) means that I know several people in this category. Most of them would never have an abotion themselves, but they believe that women get to choose. This group I call the pro-choice group. They are more open to discussion and influence than the pro-death group. They are also the largest group out of the four, at least from my impressions.

The third group I call the anti-abortion movement. They believe that life starts at conception (except for a few, who beleive that life starts at implantation) and that abortion is murder, or at the very least manslaughter. Sounds good so far. But they tend to be all for contraception, including the pill, which causes chemical abortions in a small but significant amount of cases - often without the mother's knowledge. This group does not always value children; it just doesn't want to kill them.

The final group I call the pro-life group. They don't just think that abortion is wrong, they think the whole attitude of not having/wanting children is wrong. That contraception is an attempt to control our own lives rather than submitting to God's will.

No wonder there is so much confusion! There are fours positions, not just two. The sooner we realise this the sooner the abortion debate can be clarified and we can show the world the sanctity of human life.

In the mean time, be fruitful yourself. Nothing shows abortion to be a lie as much as the blessing of children being openly enbraced!