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Toward fewer abortions
Each year nearly 3 million American women, and an unknown number of their partners, receive unexpected, even startling news: they are pregnant. What for some is an exciting--even if unplanned--development provokes in others a profound crisis of conscience. Most want to embrace the joys of raising a family--eventually--but many feel they are not yet ready. They may be unmarried, in an unhappy marriage or in school; they may be poor or already caring for young children and unable to imagine how they could cope with one more.
More than 40 percent of all unplanned pregnancies in America end in abortion. Americans are deeply divided over whether and when abortion should be legal, but a significant majority is troubled by the high rate of abortion. Some see abortion as the taking of a human life and always wrong--though at times necessary to save the life of the mother. Some believe abortion is at times the better among bad options. Still others believe women should be free to choose abortion at any time and for any reason. But no matter what belief they hold, most Americans agree that something is seriously askew when more than a million babies each year never live to see the light of day.
The National Association of Evangelicals falls into the first category--we believe each baby is a sacred gift from God from the moment of conception. Accordingly, we have worked to advance legal protection for the unborn and will continue to do so. But we are also deeply concerned for the well-being of women and men who--sometimes at great personal sacrifice--cherish the children who are entrusted to their care. We want all children to grow up in families and communities where they are loved and nurtured into responsible adulthood. We want to give our children a world that is just, peaceful and prosperous. We seek, in short, to be consistently pro-life.
We have recently launched the NAE Generation Forum to initiate a new conversation among our members and with other Americans about working together to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions. We want to explore practical ways to support women and men facing unplanned pregnancies - surrounding them with loving communities and necessary resources. We want them to know that when they choose life, they will not be left to cope on their own. We want to improve pre- and postnatal care. And we want adoption to be an honorable and viable option for both biological and adoptive parents.
Another way to achieve this vision of fewer abortions is to recover a more comprehensive, biblical understanding of sex. To this end, the NAE recently published "Theology of Sex." Modern culture tells us that sex is about pleasure, passion and erotic desire. That is true as far as it goes, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. In the biblical vision, sex is pleasure with a purpose. It is, first of all, the consummation of marriage between a man and woman who become "one flesh." It is the most sublime way in which spouses show their love for one another. It is, at the same time, the means of procreation. Therefore sex has profound social and cultural implications.
Couples who are sexually involved must be prepared to receive and nurture the children who emerge from their union. A large and growing body of research tells us that children do best when they are born to parents who are married to each other. For example, children whose parents are not married to each other are far more likely to grow up in poverty and face educational challenges. When couples are not yet prepared to make the sacrifice and commitment required by the marriage covenant, including taking responsibility for children, they should recognize that they are not ready for sex. Sexual abstinence before marriage requires self-discipline, but it is by no means unrealistic. Respecting sex is, indeed, the best foundation for a successful marriage. And it is key to reducing our nation's abortion rate.
And now, over to you. Visit www.naegeneration.com and let us know how we can work together to reduce abortion in America.
By
Galen Carey
|
June 15, 2010; 10:49 AM ET
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Posted by: KeithGold | June 17, 2010 7:47 AM
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"...Most Americans agree that something is seriously askew when more than a million babies each year never live to see the light of day."
They're not babies, Mr. Carey. Despite evangelicals' relentless attempt to portray pro-choice advocates as baby-killers, abortion is most typically done on embryos and substantially less often on fetuses. It's never done on babies.
I realize you won't change your rhetoric; misinformation works so well for you folks. But every time I see a reference in print to aborted embryos as "babies," I will correct it.
"Another way to achieve this vision of fewer abortions is to recover a more comprehensive, biblical understanding of sex."
How about recovering a more comprehensive understanding of condoms? Nowhere in your essay on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies is there a reference to birth control.
Now, I do understand that your preference in these matters is abstinence. But if you're really interested in reducing unwanted pregnancies -- of which you say 40% result in abortions -- then you'd expand your perspective enough to accommodate the reality of our society: some couples are going to have sex before marriage.
If preventing unwanted pregnancy because it often leads to abortion is your primary goal and if that goal supercedes all the religious-moral issues involved in premarital sex, then you need to give people more options than just saying "no."
Posted by: haveaheart | June 16, 2010 4:22 PM
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"I'm all in favor of "Toward Fewer Abortions"..."
What exactly is the number that you favor?
Posted by: PSolus | June 16, 2010 1:20 PM
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I'm all in favor of "Toward Fewer Abortions" but it's not going to be accomplished by the evangelicals' fairy tale of "abstinence" but rather by responsible sex education and the availability of condoms.
Evangelicals are just morally wrong and irresponsible when they oppose the latter two.
Posted by: areyousaying | June 16, 2010 11:38 AM
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How many evangelicals, who now point their twisted, judgmental fingers at other, had pre-marital sex themselves.
"Do-as-I-say-not-as-I-did"
Posted by: areyousaying | June 16, 2010 11:35 AM
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GALEN: "The National Association of Evangelicals falls into the first category--we believe each baby is a sacred gift from God from the moment of conception."
And what about all those miscarried "babies"? Also sacred gifts from god? Hey, thanks god!
Posted by: buckminsterj | June 16, 2010 11:28 AM
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GALEN: "The National Association of Evangelicals falls into the first category--we believe each baby is a sacred gift from God from the moment of conception."
When I receive a gift I don't want, I return it.
Posted by: lepidopteryx | June 16, 2010 11:24 AM
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"Sexual abstinence before marriage requires self-discipline, but it is by no means unrealistic."
I'm sure your perspective is completely logical if you just ignore the fact that puberty occurs at much earlier ages than it did in decades previously AND due to any number of factors, people are delaying marriage up to a DECADE longer than what was once considered normal. In other words, the period of time society expected individuals to abstain prior to marriage was a relatively short period of time (a couple of years) after their hormones kicked in.
Expecting people who are now starting puberty before 10 and not marrying until their late 20's to abstain from sex wholly because it violates somebody's moral code is not only unrealistic but ignorant of biology and nature.
Posted by: squirrelygirl | June 15, 2010 4:54 PM
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Mr. Carey,
I respect your right to hold your views, including your view that there is an unseen and unheard god (except when he talks to individual power-seeking, authoritarian males like you in private, declining to show its face en masse for some odd reason) whose mind you claim to know, but for which you offer no evidence, and which faces a mountain of evidence in opposition. Only the most arrogant of men claim to know god's mind. These views have utterly no place in the public forum. In short, keep your religion to yourself and leave the rest of us alone, especially our children.
Especially for the sake of our children, keep your views on sex to yourself. Christianity's views - and actions - on this subject have been nothing short of disgusting, and this is beyond debate. Christianity has utterly no moral authority in this arena.