Pro-Life is a Way of Life
Many Christians claim to be pro-life but fail to accept or comprehend the magnitude of such a claim. If you claim to be pro-life, that means that you are not only for the continuation of life, but, more importantly, you are for the flourishing of every life in every circumstance, with no exceptions. If you believe there are exceptions to being for “the continuation and flourishing of every life in every circumstance,” then you are not actually "pro-life."
Being pro-life requires more from us than any politcal stance. Being pro-life is a way of viewing life and living life. It is an all encompassing ethical stance--a manifestation of "the good" and "the way." It is accepting that we belong to one another and that we are responsible for each other's well-being.
For the sake of logical and ethical consistency, we must reject the words, actions, and ideas described in the following statements if it is our desire to be truly pro-life:
“I am pro-life except when that life belongs to someone who has committed a heinous crime.”
“I am pro-life, but I hinder people from receiving birth control.”
“I am pro-life except when that life belongs to an elderly person whose continued existence inconveniences and burdens me.”
"I am pro-life, but I support and invest in organizations who exploit, kill, and promote inequality here and abroad."
"I am pro-life except when that life belongs to someone who is from a nation that my home-nation has deemed to be a military and political enemy.”
“I am pro-life, but I am more concerned with quantity of life than with quality of life.”
“I am pro-life, but, practically speaking, I am more concerned with my life than the lives of others.”
"I am pro-life, but lived experiences are not as important as my preconceived notions."
“I am pro-life, but I support politicians who are seeking to defund important public programs (i.e. Planned Parenthood, welfare, WIC, Obamacare) which services support the children who I so adamantly desire to be born.”
“I am pro-life, but I publicly humiliate women in difficult, dire, and unfortunate circumstances by picketing abortion clinics. Offering compassion, understanding, and respect to these women never crosses my mind.”
“I am pro-life, except when that life is no longer useful to me.”
“I am pro-life, but I believe some people are beyond hope and unworthy of love.”
“I am pro-life except when that life is a non-human animal’s life.”
“I am pro-life, but I am against refugees from Central and South America seeking refuge in the United States because I (erroneously) believe they will take resources away from me that I believe I’m entitled to. (European friends, this applies to you too.)"
"I am prolife, but my love for people is more theoretical than it is tangible."
“I am pro-life, but I am perfectly all right with our broken and unjust legal system because it benefits people like me. I do not actually care about justice and equality under the law.”
“I am pro-life except when that life belongs to someone who has made me afraid.”
“I am pro-life, but I do not use my resources, influence, education, or power to promote the flourishing of life.”
“I am pro-life, but I hinder, ridicule, and undermine individuals and groups who are seeking the betterment of their lives through their protests, their art, their voice, and their vote. Joining them in their struggle never occures to me.”
"I am prolife, but I care more about people living up to my personal moral standards than I care about their condition."
“I am pro-life, but I am primarily concerned with promoting my personal happiness and my personal rights rather than promoting the happiness and rights of everyone.”
“I am pro-life, but my internalized racial superiority makes me believe that other cultures have nothing to offer me in terms of knowledge, artistic expression, and insight into the human condition because I believe other cultures are fundamentally inferior to my culture.”
“I am pro-life, but I do not believe people when they tell me that they are hurting and need help.”
"I am pro-life, but my internalized ableist superiority allows me to segregate myself from those who are members of the disabled community; to overtly and/or subtly discourage or prevent members of the disabled community from meaningfully and visibly participating in social functions, religious organizations, advocacy groups, or other important groups within society; and to demean, humiliate, silence, or abuse members of the disabled community out of and to reinforce my place of privilege as an able-bodied and/or neurotypical person."
“I am pro-life except when I believe I’m entitled to revenge.”
“I am pro-life, but I do not support universal healthcare, education, and labor rights as human rights that should be promoted and protected for all people across the globe.”
"I am pro-life, but I care more about people's ultimate salvation than about their actual lives--nevermind that Jesus fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, visited people in jail, talked to prostitutes, and healed the sick."
“I am pro-life except when that life belongs to someone who is from a foreign country."
“I am pro-life, but I believe and verbalize my belief that other people, other ideas, and other ways of life are stupid or evil simply because they are not my own. I do not believe that other people and perspectives are worthy of my time and attention because I am superior.”
“I am pro-life, but I support political and economic enterprises that destroy and diminish the health of our earth and its inhabitants.”
"I am prolife except when I can make a lot of money."
“I am pro-life, but I care more about unborn babies than about the horrors of poverty, sickness, violence, and political oppression.”
“I am pro-life, but I am willfully blind to my nation’s history of violence and oppression committed against people of color, religious minorities, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, gay people, trans people, and women because if I admitted this history exists and that I am the beneficiary of this history then I would be responsible and have to change my way of life.”
“I am pro-life, but I do not believe that mental illnesses are ‘real’ illnesses that affect people’s lives in profound ways. This leads me to humiliate, dehumanize, shut-away, and exploit people with mental illnesses.”
“I am pro-life, but I care more about my personal comfort and maintaining my standard of living than I care about alleviating the suffering of others.”
“I am pro-life, but my economic, social, and political privilege blinds me to the extent of suffering people endure, making me essentially ineffective in addressing inequality and injustice.”
“I am pro-life, but I do not tangibly support the poor, the elderly, victims of abuse, or victims of systemic injustice."
“I am pro-life, but I use language that demeans and diminishes others for their race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sex, sexuality, or gender.”
"I am prolife, but I blame victims for their suffering."
“I am pro-life, but I ignore current events because my privilege allows me to.”
“I am pro-life, but I do nothing to support struggling caretakers who cannot afford to take care of their dependents.”
“I am pro-life, but I am content with the status quo.”
“I am pro-life, but I have no empathy for women who become pregnant through rape or incest or for the psychological and moral complexity of their situation.”
“I am pro-life, but my sense of entitlement makes me believe that I should not have to pay taxes that are essential for social welfare programs.”
“I am pro-life, but I purchase property in neighborhoods where my taxes cannot and do not contribute to the well-being of the economically disadvantaged, thereby fortifying economic inequality.”
“I am pro-life, but I feel I am justified in diminishing another person’s life, directly or indirectly, by refusing to properly compensate that person for their labor.”
“I am pro-life, and I believe that word only applies to the unborn.”
“I am pro-life, but I side with the oppressors when they look like me, make a lot of money, have a lot of political power, or could potentially cause me harm or when my personal comfort is at stake.”
“I am pro-life, but I do not extend Christ’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace to all people in all circumstances because my self-righteousness blinds me to the fact that I was saved by grace, not because I earned it or am entitled to it."
“I am pro-life, but I am more concerned with feeling self-righteous than with meaningfully addressing the complex moral issues of our time."
Being pro-life is difficult in world that places profits over justice, comfort over understanding, power over human dignity, quanity of life over quality of life. Throughout our journeys to live a pro-life existence, there are moments when even the most ethically consistent of us think, feel, and act in ways that violate our moral standard.
Living a pro-life existence, as a means of pursing the way and striving toward the good, is not so much about a moment of arrival, it is about the prilgrimage itself. It is a process of transformation in which we "pass from death to life because we love one another" (1 John 3:14, NIV).
Go forth. Love God. Love People. Tend the Garden.
Works Cited
Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. Print.