A Message From A Pro-Life Alabamian
By: Jp Kobel
Tags: Roe V Wade, Abortion, Alabama

This is what I think of the new Alabama abortion law.

I do not like to get into this issue as I prefer to focus on economic issues. However, since I am an Alabamian, I will make a few points on this law.

This law makes no exception for rape or incest. So, Alabama plans to force women to carry the child of their rapist. The law imposes the same penalty on doctors performing abortions as murders or rapists. However, the Alabama bill clearly does not consider abortion to be murder as the life of the mother is preferred over the life of the unborn child. Do not get me wrong, there should be a preference for the life of the mother because abortion is not murder. It is a terrible thing, but it does not rise to the level of murder.

The Alabama bill compares abortion to the holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis. Clearly, the Alabama legislature is not sincere on this charge, or they would not have allowed a six month period before the effective date of the law.

Steven Levitt makes a very compelling argument that abortion reduces crime. See this post on his Freakonomics blog. Levitt’s hypothesis is true. What would anyone expect of children born of a single mother that has no time to raise a child and insufficient funds to support a child. We must pay attention to both sides of the equation in order to adequately address this problem. To take a Christian view on abortion, one has to take a Christian view of the financially challenged as well. See Mathew 25:31–46. We live in a democracy. In a democracy, we have the responsibility to take part in the government. As Christians, we must be influenced by our beliefs. Those beliefs should include support for programs to help those who are less fortunate; such as public education, universal healthcare, free childcare, and assistance for the poor. If you are going to force women to carry a child to term, you must support government programs to assist the mothers of these ‘unplanned’ children. These mothers must be able to give these children the best lives possible. Otherwise, a large number of these children will be criminals.

I am pro-life. I am not for the overturn of Roe v Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) by adding conservative judges. I am for a reasonable constitutional amendment restricting abortion. In 1973, when the Court ruled on Roe v Wade, a majority of the states had laws restricting abortion. In his majority opinion, Justice Blackmun noted this prevailing view in state laws. The 1973 abortion map below is from Wikipedia at this link.

By Lokal_Profil, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link

The Yellow States allow abortion.

The Green States allow abortion in case of danger to woman’s health, rape or incest, or likely damaged fetus.

The Blue States allow abortion in case of danger to woman’s health.

The Purple State allows abortion in case of rape.

The Red States allow no abortions.

In 1973, the Bible Belt states were among the more liberal states regarding abortion. In 1973, a constitutional amendment would have been relatively easy to get ratified. There are times when the Supreme Court should step in to protect the rights of minorities; Roe v Wade was not one of these cases. The so-called pro-lifers did nothing in the 1970s. Today, the correct method for the pro-life movement is to convince the pro-choice movement of our viewpoint. The pro-life movement should not try to use an anti-democratic method such as packing the Court. This is an attempt to force the majority to follow your will. Since the pro-life movement did nothing in the 1970s, it will be that much harder to get a constitutional amendment now.

Many pro-lifers have supported candidates that did little or nothing regarding the courts for almost 50 years. The judges these candidates have given you have not helped you. These judges were often judges who were more interested in the well-being of corporations than your interests. Other candidates have been incompetent, such as our current president. You can rest assured that any move against Roe v Wade will result in changes in the Supreme Court that will negate any gains made for the pro-life cause.

The new law in Alabama will only hurt our pro-life cause by showing a ruthless lack of consideration for the rights of women and an elevation of the rights of rapists. Even I am starting to wonder if some of my fellow pro-lifers envision a future similar to that shown in the ‘Handmaid’s Tale.’