Abortion

There is a range of things you can believe about a human fetus. You can believe it is a human being. You can believe it is a clump of cells. And you can believe it is something in between, indefinable, mysterious, and wonderful.

As a Christian, I go with the first. But I also recognize that my bald statement of belief hardly makes a persuasive argument for someone who does not share my starting point. As a matter of tactics, if nothing else, the pro-life movement needs broader arguments.

The mushy middle is intriguing, and not often argued. Partly because the principled poles are so noisy, and party because it is less an argument than a stance or a hunch. But it seems a missing viewpoint in our politics. The hunch recognizes that a fetus is unique in nature, that it has a claim on us to grant it a sort and measure of respect. Respect for its beauty and potentiality.

And that is exactly what it gets none of under today’s laws. The point is that anywhere from the mushy middle of this range rightward argues for some kind of change in our abortion laws. Only a belief that a fetus is a disposable clump of cells like a hangnail or an appendix can justify the current regime of casual abortion on demand. Phrased this way, most Americans would grant that a fetus is at least something more than a meaningless clump, and thus deserves at least some kind of protection, and abortion deserves some kind of limitation.

NARAL and NOW cry slippery slope. They should know. We’re at the bottom of the slope they’ve been pushing us down for three decades. Time to climb a little, and regain some respect for ourselves.