When I learned that the Louisiana state government was cancelling it's contract with Planned Parenthood, I felt a short burst of victory, followed by a much longer musing over the question I still haven't answered: "Where will this actually end?"
Like a stereotypical person in their 20s, I am normally inclined to stay away from politics. Maybe I'm disinterested, maybe I'm cynical, maybe I just don't pay that much in taxes yet, but it normally seems like more effort than it is worth to figure out what I really should think about a topic. But for the last few weeks, I have felt compelled to contribute my tiny internet platform to the social media explosion over the video scandals of certain Planned Parenthood officials.
Somewhere along the way though, I found myself starting to wonder where this was all going. If we actually succeed in defunding Planned Parenthood, what then? Abortion will still be legal. Parents would still choose to end the lives of their unborn children. And, perhaps most significantly, there would still be a majority of American's who think that is the way it should be.
It is my sincerest hope that the videos of doctors casually discussing the dollar value of baby parts has reached hearts and changed minds of those who disregarded the sanctity of the people those parts belonged to. But my Facebook feed tells me that there are many who are unmoved, or possibly even more entrenched against what they see as angry insistence on imposing puritanical virtues on disadvantaged women.
I do not intend to stop insisting on the value of unborn children, but I do want to keep a long view on this battle. The goal is not to change a law, but to save lives. This battle will not end when people are no longer permitted to kill their children, but when they no longer want to or feel the need to.
I think the most likely outcome of all of these videos is that some states, like Louisiana, will defund Planned Parenthood. But that will not be enough. Planned Parenthood does not even provide abortions in Louisiana, and there are plenty of other providers for that, and many women who are in desperate enough situations they feel an abortion is their only choice.
I think it unlikely that Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood will be cut off. President Obama has already said he would veto any bill that did so. But even if federal funding was cut, it would not be enough. Abortion would still be legal, and there would be many people who genuinely believe that the only way women can achieve equal dignity and value is to have the right to terminate their children.
But legislative action is not the goal, it is a means to an end. The goal is saving lives. So where are we really going with all of this? What is our end game?
As the Planned Parenthood drama continues to swirl, there are a few definite actions that I think we can pursue.
First, we can let our emotion spill over into acts of love and care for the poor and needy in our communities. Fostering and adopting kids can quite literally save the lives of children whose parents might have done something truly desperate without another option. Giving of not just your money, but also your time and energy to care for the poor can help end cycles of neglect and self-destruction that plague not only the poor, but also their children. Providing such care is costly, but abortion did not start with Roe v. Wade, and if we truly want to end it, this is where we must go.
Second, we can ensure our speech is aimed to change minds and not merely ease our own consciences. The disagreement on abortion is much deeper even than the issue itself. It is often hard to have a conversation about it because people start so far away they genuinely do not understand what the other is saying. It is not only on trivial things that we are to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. So before you go re-post that next article, ask yourself who you are trying to convince, and how effective it will be at changing their minds.
Finally, we can keep things in perspective and remember that the only real solution to a disordered society is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lives are only really saved when they are reconciled to God. Minds are only really changed when they are renewed by the Holy Spirit. Our most urgent mission is the one we have been on since Jesus told us to go to all nations. The root cause of the worlds disregard for life is because they have rebelled against the source of life, and unless they are reconciled to Him, we cannot expect all evil and death to be undone.
I still do not know where all of this Planned Parenthood drama will end. But I do know how the real battle ends. So today I will press on in faith, confident that God will keep doing what he has always done: saving lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment