A small but growing group of pro-lifers who identify as abortion “abolitionists” have gained new attention with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
This Christian minority stands against incremental steps garnered to outlaw abortion and strongly criticizes any other measure except a federal ban, including criminal punishment for all involved.
Christianity Today reports:
“The very foundation of the gospel is the law of God,” said Tom Ascol, the president of Founders Ministries, in a recent documentary from abolitionist group End Abortion Now. ‘God defines what’s sin: You shall not murder. And that’s true from the moment of conception until the natural ending of life.’
Ascol is also a pastor who ran for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in June. For two years in a row, abolitionists like Ascol spoke up at the SBC’s annual meeting to push the denomination to take an abolitionist stance.”
While many pro-life Christians are also keen on addressing the factors that lead to abortion and making sure women receive proper care once they decide to abort, abolitionists are inclined to see them as perpetrators along with those who perform the procedure.
“Some abolitionists also reject humane exceptions, like abortion permitted to save the mother’s life.
‘Many women who have abortions are pressured to abort by abusive partners, by family members, or through dire economic circumstances,’ said Chelsey Youman, senior legislative director for the Human Coalition, a national pro-life organization. ‘These women need care, compassion, and support, not punishment.’
‘In our desire for justice for the child, we can’t forget to see the needs of the woman and her value as a person,’ said Lauren Green McAfee, founder of Stand For Life and a CT board member. ‘Seeing the mother as the villain does not uphold and apply a full understanding of the imago Dei.'”
Gregory Diacogiannis, a 38-year-old man from Idaho, revealed he shifted his perspective from “pro-life” to “abortion abolitionist” because he felt the former attempts were too passive.
“‘We should stop using euphemisms and be forthright with what our goals are,’ Diacogiannis told CT. ‘The complete and total end to abortion. Period.’
Though he is an abolitionist, Diacogiannis said he doesn’t hold to the view that women should be charged with a crime either. Many in the movement do support holding women responsible in the name of ‘equal justice,’ however.
It’s important to note that prior to 1973’s Roe, state laws did not criminalize women who had abortions. Juries of that time considered them “victims” and sought only to punish abortion providers, so the view of abortive mothers as criminals is rather new.Experts say they’ll be looking for how abolitionist stances influence pro-life platforms in coming elections.”
Read the full article here.
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