One of the issues that I feel strongly about is the debate over abortion rights. In my experience, the most common argument used against pro-life Christians is that we only care about babies when they are in the womb, but after birth, we stop caring.
This makes me angry every time it is used against me, but we have to acknowledge that there is some truth in this argument. Christians and pro-lifers do tend to focus on making sure the baby is not aborted and is allowed to be born. The focus is on proving that the baby is, in fact, alive, but our concern seems to vanish once the infant is born. The pro-choice advocates have pointed out a very real and tangible flaw in our stance on abortion.
The solution I see is this: churches have to step into this situation. Oftentimes, the pro-life movement feels like a collection of individuals arguing their opinions instead of a community committed to the well-being of both mothers and babies involved in crisis pregnancies.
I propose that churches start getting more involved by allocating part of their funds to support prospective adoptive parents. Pro-choice advocates often complain that if Christians care so much, we should be adopting these unwanted babies. I agree, but we do have to acknowledge that adoption is extremely expensive and not always accessible to those who feel called to adopt.
Organizations like Show Hope help offset the cost of adoption for families, but the church should also be a major player in these situations. We as Christians are called to care for the widows and the orphans, and part of caring for orphans or unwanted children is providing them a loving and safe home where they are wanted.
In addition to supporting hopeful adoptive parents, we as the church also need to affirm the dignity and value of women in crisis pregnancies. I believe that part of the reason for abortions is a lack of support for the mother. Perhaps rejection from family members or friends causes pressure to mount to do something in order to maintain those relationships, and the mother feels as if she has no choice but to abort the baby.
The church needs to be empowering these women. Counseling, group meetings, and perhaps even housing should be made available. Women need to be told that they are strong enough to do this, and that they don’t have to do it alone. They need to have a support system to rely on during this time. They need somewhere to talk about how they are feeling, especially if home is no longer a safe or accepting place for them. Having meetings with other single mothers or mothers with unwanted pregnancies could be an invaluable resource for support. Members of the church could open their homes to these women if needed.
In conclusion, my opinion is that we, as the church, could be doing more to help women in crisis pregnancies. We need to empower and affirm the dignity of these women, as well as financially supporting families hoping to adopt.