Should abortion be legal? If you believe, like I do, that abortion is a moral wrong, it may seem that the only acceptable answer is “no.” Here, I argue that there are better ways to prevent abortions than making it illegal. In fact, banning abortion is not the right thing to do in the United States in this day and age.

Current events

Abortion has once again become one of the most hotly debated issues in the United States. Texas recently passed a law, Senate Bill 8 (SB8), which effectively allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected (about 6 weeks of gestation). Many journalists, legal experts, and politicians anticipate that the Supreme Court will soon overturn the long-standing precedent set by Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) that established pre-viability abortions as legal. For “pro-life” advocates, this may seem like a great victory in the decades-long war against abortion. I disagree.

What I believe

I believe that abortion is morally wrong, in the same way that most people believe that stealing and murder are morally wrong. At first consideration I concluded that like stealing and murder, there should be laws that ban it (with certain exceptions). In cases of rape or incest, or in situations where the life of the mother is at great risk or it is known the baby will not survive, abortion of a pregnancy may be justified. Even then it is not a decision to be made lightly.

I understand that many people do not share my belief that abortion is morally wrong. They may believe that it is the right of every woman to choose to terminate her pregnancy, and that the law should protect that right. As a meme I recently saw asserted, “You personally not liking abortion is not a reason to ban all abortions for women who need them.” While I dispute the necessity of abortion and think there is a significant difference between “not liking” something and firmly believing that it is morally wrong, I do understand the sentiment.

The political process

These two camps seem to be irreconcilable. Our society has provided a framework for what do in cases of such disagreement: it is called the Constitution of the United States. It is the political process. Persons on either side of the issue (in this case, “Should abortion be legal?”) may pursue legislation, vote, lobby, and peacefully organize. Through this process, the will of the people is (eventually, hopefully) made law.

In the 1970s and again in the 1990s, the Supreme Court ruled that access to safe, pre-viability abortion is protected under the Constitution. This decision was the culmination of that political process, and because I believe in the Constitution, I must respect that decision.

What should I do?

I still believe that abortion is wrong, and it makes my heart ache to know that it happens all too-frequently. So what should I do?

Should I perhaps seek to amend the Constitution to explicitly disallow abortion, in effect overruling the Supreme Court? This is extremely unlikely: the Constitution is purposefully very hard to amend.

Should I use technicalities in various laws to restrict access, cut off funding, or create endless barriers to make it as difficult as possible to receive an abortion? This has been the strategy in many states for decades, and has to some degree, succeeded in making an abortion very hard to obtain.

Should I attempt to undermine that ruling by enacting state laws and pursuing litigation, hoping that a more conservative court will reverse its half-century-old decision? This strategy is now all the rage. Time will tell if it will accomplish its goals.

Then there’s what Texas has done with SB8, which is abhorrent and stupid on a whole new level.

Forget the abortion bans

I believe that these tactics to make abortion illegal or difficult to obtain are in fact the wrong way to prevent abortions. Let me explain.

Taking the hard-line, no-compromise approach to abortion today has many flaws and raises many important questions. Here are a few.

• It widens the trench between Democrats and Republicans; it makes the two parties more resentful and distrustful of each other.

• It takes away time and resources from working on other more important issues on which the parties might be able to compromise, and thus get something done. Making abortion illegal or legal is not an issue which lends itself to compromise.

• Allowing abortion for medical emergencies isn’t actually that simple. It would be impossible to explicitly define the circumstances under which it would be OK; what percentage of risk to the mother’s life would be acceptable for allowing an abortion? 10%? 50%? 90%? How do you assign a percentage risk anyway? I would rather that a doctor not have to worry about whether they are going to be prosecuted if they recommend terminating a pregnancy in a 50/50 risk scenario.

• It would mostly affect the poor and most vulnerable of people. Middle- or upper-class people will just go to another state or another country to terminate a pregnancy.

• If we make it illegal, there will be more women with babies that they cannot support, whether financially, emotionally, or physically. What will we as a society do to help them? In demanding that the right of a baby to be born be protected, society must also be willing to provide for the well-being of that child should the mother (and ideally, father) be unable.

• It almost exclusively affects women. If we outlaw abortion, we ensure that women will bear the burden of childcare. Will we also ensure that an equally-responsible father shares that burden? If so, how? This is much easier said than done.

• It has potential to punish women who suffer miscarriages (especially silent miscarriages). It will make it harder for them to receive proper care, and may even make them (and their care providers) vulnerable to prosecution.

• Abortion will perpetually swing between legality and illegality in an endless game of political ping-pong. What happens when the Supreme Court once again swings liberal?

• It is probable that those who are determined to obtain an abortion may resort to more dangerous means. They will be buying illicit, unregulated, and unsafe medications or going to some sketchy clinic in another country. It will be more likely that something in the process goes wrong, and they will be afraid to seek medical care if it does, putting their own lives at risk.

All of these realities indicate to me that abortion bans are no longer the right way to take action against abortion.

Parallels to Prohibition

A useful illustration may be the prohibition of alcohol in the early 20th century. A minority forced through legislation banning what they believed was a moral wrong. Because the majority already had been drinking booze since time immemorial and did not share that belief, it did not, as its proponents no doubt hoped, make teetotalers of the population at large. Yes, it may have abated the consumption of alcohol where it was enforced, but it had a multitude of consequences that left society worse-off in many ways. Ultimately, it did not change people’s beliefs, nor their hearts. It was repealed a mere 14 years after its adoption.

I believe that outlawing abortion would be similarly futile. Yes, it would probably reduce the number of abortions that take place, but I believe the political and societal consequences are too great. Making abortion illegal will not change whether people think it’s wrong or not; it won’t change their belief nor their hearts.

What should I really do?

If the traditional method of making abortion illegal is wrong, what policies should I pursue instead? Here are a few ideas that I believe are more just, merciful, and charitable.

• Do more to lift people (especially women) out of poverty. A woman may seek an abortion because she feels that she cannot provide for a child’s physical, social, emotional, mental, or financial well-being. The poor are also less likely to be educated about and have access to birth control; less likely to be in a stable long-term relationship; more likely to be victims of abuse; and less likely to be aware of alternatives to abortion. See this fact sheet and this one, and this report.

• Enact strong legislation requiring employers to provide paid parental leave and guarantee the same or equivalent position upon return to work. Europe seems to have figured this one out: it’s time we did too.

• Remove barriers to adoption. Adoption is ridiculously expensive, complex, and difficult. Let’s make it easier for the multitude of families that yearn to adopt a child to do so!

• Educate. Provide clear, understandable, and comprehensive education about sex and birth control in schools, clinics, and other public venues. Encourage education in families and provide suggestions and resources. Churches and other groups opposed to abortion should be actively involved in this! All people need to understand their options for birth control; family planning is an essential life skill. They also need to understand all of their options should they become pregnant, and what the repercussions of each option might be. Help people understand that they can put a child up for adoption (and how it works); that they are (or should be) protected from discrimination in the workplace; and that there are resources to help them make a good decision. Also help people understand that abortion is not free from physical and emotional consequences.

• Provide universal health care. This is an essay for another time. But briefly: If a mother knows that she won’t be bankrupted by giving birth in a hospital and seeking post-partum care for herself and her baby, maybe she will feel more comfortable doing so. This would also help make adoption much less expensive.

Concluding thoughts

Perhaps, in a different age or another country or a more ideal world, making abortion illegal would indeed be the best course of action. We do not live in that age.

For those of you who, like me, believe that abortion is wrong, please consider this:

People are going to have sex. Criminalizing abortion is not going to prevent that. One might say of a woman who is pregnant out of wedlock and unable to obtain an abortion, “that’s their problem; they made a decision and must deal with the consequences.” I don’t completely disagree with that notion, because we cannot completely escape the consequences of our actions. That is a foundational principle of justice. However, that belief in justice must be balanced with dedication to mercy. Remember that compassion for an unborn child does not excuse contempt for the parent.

In this, as in any matter, charity and love should be our guiding principles. We can and should still stand for what we believe; but let us do it in ways that show compassion, not condemnation. Let us allow God to judge, and instead focus our efforts on other matters.