Does Abortion Really Matter? KevinH
Note: The following article was written prior to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life. I join Michael in his statement that this was completely wrong and that such violence should have no place whatsoever in our politics. I thank God that the attempt failed and Trump is okay, and I pray for him and all those who were affected by this horrific violence, especially for those who were killed or injured and their families.
Nonetheless, the election season will carry on and there are some hard realities related to their behavior with which the Christian community still needs to reckon. The following article addresses one such aspect.
In 2016, many, many Christians chose to vote for Donald Trump because of one large overriding reason – his support of the pro-life cause and his promise to appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade.
They were not at all comfortable with Trump’s nefarious character, his crude speech and behavior, and his history of sexual impropriety, but all things considered, if electing Trump meant that there was a good chance that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, then they would hold their noses in the voting booth and pull the lever for Trump.
Even as such a decision directly contradicted what they had long said and believed about the importance of character in our elected leaders, especially the president, and especially contradicted what they had long said about Bill Clinton being disqualified as president, the pro-life cause was that important that it trumped (pun may or may not be intended) everything else.
Of course, Donald Trump did indeed, follow through with his promises and delivered a pro-life Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. There was great rejoicing the day of the overturn and beyond in the pro-life community, gladness I shared that Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land. Additionally, we saw plenty of people gloating, “See, it was all worth it,” and shaming those Christians who chose not to vote for Trump.
Fast forward to 2024 and things are very, very different. Donald Trump now sees the pro-life movement as a liability to his chances of getting elected again. He has blamed many Republican election losses in 2022 and 2023 on conservatives who were too fixated on the abortion issue. He has said that states that have put in place strict abortion limits are going too far and that they are terrible things. He continuously repeats the lie that what everybody wanted was for Roe v. Wade to be overturned so that the states would then have the power to decide for themselves, ignoring the fact that the large majority of the pro-life cause has long wanted a federal ban or at least federally mandated severe restrictions on abortion. Even at this moment, the official GOP Platform is being rewritten to appease Trump and will no longer call for any ban or significant restrictions on abortions and instead will say it’s up to the states to each decide for themselves.
All the more, initial data is indicating that abortion levels have not only not decreased since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, but may have actually increased. Additionally before that, we saw that abortion levels in the U.S. actually experienced some small increases during the Trump presidency when they previously had been almost universally decreasing for thirty years straight, through Republican and Democratic administrations, alike. This all suggests that in and of itself, overturning Roe v. Wade has made little impact in reducing abortion and that the Trump presidency overall was ineffective in saving the lives of the unborn.
Yet despite all of these happenings, I would argue that Donald Trump is far more staunchly and passionately supported by many Christians today than when they first pulled the lever for him in 2016. It used to be that so many Christians decided that Trump’s position and policy on abortion was the one thing that was able to override all the other negative stuff about him, allowing them to support and vote for him. But now eight years later, no honest or sensible pro-life definition whatsoever can be applied to Donald Trump, and all the more, he is taking much of the Republican Party with him to drop serious opposition to abortion. Nonetheless, even with their discomfort and disappointment in his shift on the issue, Trump is championed with far greater fervor by so many of the same Christians who had previously (and often reluctantly) voted for him mainly, if not solely because of his pro-life stance.
Why?
Has Donald Trump displayed a dramatic improvement in his character over the past eight years? Certainly not. Has he valiantly stood for and implemented Christian values into his policies, initiatives, and speech – things like honesty, caring for the poor and needy, seeking peace and unity, encouraging sexual morality, placing others before himself, etc.? Again, certainly not.
I believe the answer to why is quite obvious but I will repeat it again:
Partisan politics is poison to the soul.
Jesus is the cure.
Of course everyone knows that Trump was pro-choice in regards to abortion before he ran for president. I don’t think he ever really was anti abortion, he just made a politically expedient decision at the time. Now he’s made another.
Exactly, Janet Linn.
Trump, in his conscience (whatever that amounts to) has probably always been pro-choice, but not passionately so. He was able to easily switch positions and become “pro-life” because he had no strong commitment to the pro-choice cause and making the switch benefitted him, which was his much greater concern. Now that he has captured all the pro-life people to his side, he no longer sees keeping the pro-life position as beneficial to him, figuring that very few will abandon him now that he’s got them, and that his potential gain of those “undecided” and more to the center is greater. So he’s made the decision that is most politically expedient to him, it was never about convictions and beliefs.
Kevin,
Correct. Now Trump has them, much the dog who catches the bumper of the car.
But that is just the start. Assuming he is elected in 2024, he will throw the Evangelicals under the bus right after the election and discard them faster than a contractor working on his buildings. Trump demands 100% loyalty from his followers, employees, and supporters. But he himself will throw those same loyal sycophants to the wolves just to make it easier for himself. That loyalty is only 1 way. To hell with all of them, they deserve each other. And when they cry and wonder what happens, I will enjoy my tall cold glass of Schadenfreude and say “I effing told you so.”
Kevin,
At this point Trump might as well each MAGA/Trump supporting Evangelical a $2 bill for their trouble.
You sound exactly like the fundamentalists. You don’t see how a Christian can support _______. However you’d feel the same about any other Republican. You’d vote exactly the same way.
Alan,
I don’t think you followed the premise of my article. I’m not speaking to what or who Christians should or shouldn’t support. What I am pointing out, however, is how originally Trump did not meet much criteria at all that Christian Right voters looked for and had always expressed were important, except for abortion. Many, many Christians expressed their uneasiness and disappointment with Trump, but said because abortion was the most important topic to them, they would vote for Trump. But now that Trump is no longer supportive of pro-life initiatives, many of these same Christians are supporting him far more enthusiastically than they ever did 8 years ago when it was supposedly all (or at least mostly) about abortion. This large segment of the church needs to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror.
I followed your point. I thought it was another post from Michael. Had I known it was you I’d have left it for more of your ideological drivel.
I’m done now.
See you all in November or never again. Really I’m so sick of this there’s absolutely no point bothering.
Wow, Alan…What the heck?!
Dread,
More than anyone else here I expected honest engagement from you on these matters.
You have insulted and maligned…but rarely engaged.
I would do the same if I was trying to justify supporting your candidate…but it’s truly unbecoming of a elder of your stature.
You can choose to see us whenever you choose or not at all…but you have been treated well and offered the floor for as long as I can remember.
If this twisted political season has affected you thus, there is little remedy for any of us.
By the way, if you were ever to spend time around our table you would hear me lamenting the lack of a Republican I could support in our state or nationally…because now we be a good time to run one.
I’m not that invested in partisanship…but you are invested enough to break fellowship.
Yes abortion really does matter, when a large swath of Christians avoid the subject of contraception.
Contraception is so widely available, there is no excuse for unwanted pregnancy.
From the cheap seats, Kevin, the point is moot. I don’t think there is any way Trump does not take this election, reasons aside. Here is his out on the abortion issue, Project 2025. The Heritage Foundation will make this happen for him, and with or without him.
I recently decided that I was not going to get political this cycle because I have way too much to work on in myself. But I made the mistake of starting to read the 900 some pages of the Heritage Foundation’s agenda. It’s nothing short of horrifying to hard leftists like me. I argue that it should concern Christians too. If you believe Jesus kingdom is not of this world, Project 2025 is the greater concern.
Michael and Dread– please don’t break fellowship over this– this too shall pass and we will need one another in the days ahead. Let our love for one another remain true seeing as how we have a great high priest that mediated for and between us
It’s one thing to say abortion is an evil
It’s another thing to say it should be legislated against
It’s another to say abortion should be fought by appointing justices who will overturn old cases
It’s another to say one should vote a certain way, with a major reason being one candidate will appoint justices who will do certain things.
One can oppose abortion but also oppose playing politics in the courts.
The good news is the rate of abortions plummeted in the Obama years and remains much lower than a generation ago.
Kevin, the reason many Christians will vote Trump this time is not simply that they ignore the increasing problems with Trump, but also because the Dems are less favourable to Christians than last time.
Reuben,
Yes and no. Abortion, of course, does still matter in a lot of different ways, no matter what one’s beliefs and feelings are about it. The thrust of this article, however, was to point out how for so many Christians, their original choice to support Trump was said to be all (or mostly) about his support for the pro-life cause, and yet they are now supporting him far more enthusiastically now than they originally did, even after he has pretty much dropped his support of the pro-life agenda. So in this sense, the question becomes, “Does abortion really matter, or is it rather about enslavement to partisan politics?”.
As I educate myself about Project 2025, I certainly have some real concerns there, too. Even as there are parts that I agree with, there are other parts which are very disturbing, including the associated militant attitude that appears to accompany it in some ways. I agree that this should concern Christians.
But I also think at this point, the Republican Party has become so subservient to Trump, that nothing, on a large scale anyway, will get done unless it has his blessing. I think Project 2025 will have far more influence on things than many people realize, but on things where Trump differs right now (such as abortion), they will have their work cut out for them to convince Trump to support those aspects.
Eric,
I agree that there are many other ways, and often times more effective ways that people can oppose abortion without making it a political fight.
As for Right Wing Christians finding Democrats even less favorable now, I’m not so sure about that. Hillary was essentially cast as the incarnation of Satan, himself. Hard to get less favorable than that.
Abortion as a topic doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Aborted babies matter more than anything else in this world. It feels like a gotcha piece the way it’s organized, and there is a definite “tsk, tsk” feel (I suck at opinion pieces. I always come off preachy). Usually, I don’t get that preachy tone from your pieces.
Thise data points are interesting, aren’t they?
I think folks who support Trump feel you’re beating up on the one guy who did more to obviate the American desire for abortion than anyone else. The wrong guy (if he is the wrong guy) can do the right thing sometimes, and it is a shame to those who call themselves followers of a Holy God. I think God is using him to demarcate the lines of separation for his sheep from the World and its imitators of the faith. I think it speaks to the fact we all still want a Barabbas instead of a Jesus, that we all want to take our little swords out and start cutting off ears.
The USSC decision on Mifeprestone et al such drugs – The court doesn’t adjudicate, it sticks a finger in the air to see which way the wind blows – shows that people demand that Abortions be discrete, as well as private and as unconfrontational as possible. Reminds me of Social Media, somehow.
To the Mifeprestone issue, that accounts for the majority of abortions, which to the Court’s defense, is a lot more tangled than the issue of a walk-in abortion.
https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/medication-abortion-accounted-63-all-us-abortions-2023-increase-53-2020
The problem is that Dread somehow thinks Trump is a conservative (or even a Republican) in any sense of the definition or Republican for that matter. My problem with Trump other than his character, is that he is not a conservative nor a Republican nor a Constitutional in any historic and technical sense of the terms. He is a fake just like most of the Evangelicals (who would not know what a Bebbington Quadrilateral was even if it hit them in the a**). Most of anti-Trumpers on the right are those who actually give a damn about well-established conservative principles and did not sell out for 30 pieces of silver (or in Rush Limbaugh’s case a shiny new medal). People like Jonah Goldberg, Justin Amash, and others. The Christians in the US and so-called “conservatives” sold out their birthright and principles for a bowl of political porridge. And I really hope they choke on it in the end.
Muff Potter
With all due respect even with the wide availability of contraceptives I can give you several reasons why there are still unwanted pregnancies. 1. No contraceptive is 100% effective and there are many reasons why they fail. 2. Contraceptives of all sorts can cause side effects and adverse reactions.
3. The young girls (as young as 11,12,13years ) being groomed, molested, or raped by a family member or trusted friend or authority figure in her life probably has little understanding of contraception, how to obtain it or how to use it. Abortion does matter, but so do those who are victims and pregnant through no choice or fault of their own.
@ OC mama,
Education, education of young women and men can go a long way, rather than the ostrich approach so prevalent in Christianity.
abortion as a topic and practice has been given the power to divide brothers and sisters, families, friends, churches, political parties, and the nation. In my opinion, it is a lot like WWI trench warfare. The two sides are entrenched, unbudging, and the landscape around is decimated.
we can do better. we must.
Abortion demands that someone other than Jesus needs to die because of sin. It is the practical erasure of Jesus’ mercy and grace.
Yes, it matters.