The Social Problem of the
Woman
Because of their specialized concern for the unborn child, pro-life forces are particularly vulnerable to the charge that, in their efforts to humanize the unborn child, they only succeed in dehumanizing women.
As this book has deliberately focused on the "person status" of the unborn child and the implications of personhood for that child, it, too, may be liable in the reader's mind to the same abortion as an alternative, may face terrific social problems of one kind or another.
The social problems faced by many pregnant women admittedly are great. There may be economic, physical, to emotional stresses. The child may be illegitimate. Social pressures might be a factor, as for example when an unmarried pregnant mother wants to complete her education or when her parents push for an abortion because they want to avoid a public disgrace. but illegitimacy is not a disease; it is a social problem of the mother. She may think that the presence of an unborn child within her is the
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apparent cause of her distress and that therefore its elimination is the easiest apparent solution.
But each mother considering an abortion must honestly ask herself this question: Is it ever valid for one person with a social problem to kill another person who, by his mere presence, appears to be the cause of that social problem? Id, for example, two people are starving because they have to share food supply that is barely sufficient to keep one person alive, is it valid for the one starving person to solve his social problem by killing the other starving person? The second starving person is not guilty of improper motivation or conduct. He is simply there, and his presence causes a problem. But the same is true the other way around. So who is to kill whom? Or is killing no the answer?
Society solves many of its social problems by punishing people who cause these problems. But the guilt of such wrong-doers must involve unlawful intention and conduct. The mere fact that man exists in a situation where his existence (his being there) creates a social problem for other people does not justify classifying him as a criminal offender in any sense!
What would happened if society began to define the criminal in terms of his beingness and the circumstances of such, rather then in terms of his behavior? And yet, have not the liberalized abortion laws set a dangerous precedent in that direction? Who may be sure that others laws dealing with other social problems will not be solves in the exact me manner? And when that happens, who is really safe? The reduction ad absurdum of such thinking might, by a certain logic, lead certain governments of this world to solve their population problems by dropping who, by their existence, put a strain on the welfare of the rest of humanity. Woe be to the nation or individual who is on the light end of the balance-scale of power in that kind of new world!
When pro-life forces channel great energies and resources into fighting the philosophy of problem-solving as
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described above, they are are i fact manifesting a direct concern for the mother. If the women are permitted to have abortions to solve their social problems, but in the process they introduce to public acceptance a philosophy of problem-solving that will eventually come back to haunt and threaten them, then what have they gained? Is it not true concern to try to stop a woman who has chosen a course of action that will eventually destroy her?
In the New Testament letter of Paul to the Romans, these words are found:
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:9,10).
This scriptural gem sets love in proper perspective. On the one hand, it rules out a kind of sentimentality that is so concerned not to hurt someone that out refuses to interfere with or censor anything another person may or may not do. True love, by contrast, is sometimes expressed both in hatred of evil and approval of good; it is directive; it says: "No, don't go in that destructive direction;" or "Yes, that kind of behavior will ultimately be fulfilling for you."
On the other hand, true love rules out a kind of harsh condemnatory spirit that is so concerned not to hurt someone that it refuses to interfere with or censor anything another person may or may not do. True love hates evil but loves the evil-doer. A clear example is that of conscientious parents who discipline their delinquent children, but do so because they are deeply concerned about their children's future welfare.
It is incredibly difficult to resist the extremes of sentimentality or judgementalness. but such is the high calling old love. It is difficult for social workers counseling women with problem pregnancies to look beyond the symptoms, beyond the immediate social problems of the women, and consider the causes and the more difficult, constructive solutions. Likewise is it difficult for pro-life advocates to bear in mind the immediate social problems of women with problem pregnancies even while the attach the
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deeper dimensions of the problem relating to the unborn child and to the dehumanizing of man. But love demands no less.
In discussing the social problem of women in this matter of abortion, the aspect of guilt must not be lightly dismissed. Many women claim that they suffer no guilt pangs, from the experience of having had an abortion. This may or may not be true. There is no way of proving it one way or the other. But many other women, by their own administration, do have guilt problems that cause them much mental distress. This distress may take the shape of self-hatred, over-protection of the other children, a growing inability to be touched by the infirmities of others, thoughts of suicide, confusion on other moral issues stemming from previous compromise, and many other shapes.
Mental health definitely has a spiritual dimension. Guilt feelings are caused when people violate the laws of God and bring about a disjuncture between themselves and their Creator. If such alienation i actually felt by the guilty person ( and it is real whether felt or not) it is felt only because the guilty person still has some sensitivity to the moral laws of God written on every man's heart. But if the senseless mind of the guilty person becomes too hardened through rationalization, suppression, and repeated transgression, then that person may claim that he isn't receiving any guilt messages. But spiritual numbness to the point of not feeling any guilt in killing one's own unborn child is a dangerous state of mind because it is self-destructive. The problem, always, with no loving one's neighbor as one's self is that in the end the self is less loved.
Is it not an act of loving concern to gently help women considering abortion to see that in having an abortion they will run a grave risk of laboring the rest of their lives under the lead weight of persistent guilt feelings?
Therefore is another way in which the efforts of pro-life advocates can ideally be seem as acts of concern for women with problem pregnancies. That way has to do with an idea expressed earlier abut what it is that is most fulfilling to a
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person. I believe that self-hood (humaneness) of man is most fulfilled when the self is given away or extend to the neighbor in responsible and loving acts and decisions. Some would call this the suicide of self. I would call it the birth of independence. Jesus said: "For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (matt. 16-25). And elsewhere He said:
".... but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the SOn of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:26b-28). Paul said, "Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others" (Phil. 2:3,4).
No person can of course be forced to embrace the self-denying attitude toward life as expressed above. Unconditionally love and mercy cannot be forced. But the kind of environment that is conducive to such an unselfish attitude can be insisted upon and legislated to a degree. People who are prevented by law from the willful and arbitrary killing of their unborn children will often be sensitized by such a "legalism" to the deeper levels of human responsibility as it pertains to love and concern for others. In this sense the law becomes a custodian until grace comes (cf. Gal. 2:23,24); it is a guide to righteousness in that it keeps before men's eyes the ugly reality of their sin (cf. Rom. 3:20).
Today, the emphasis seems to center on the pursuit of personal happiness rather than on a desire tor each out and fulfill other persons. Marriage and childbearing have become subsidiary means to the higher goal of existing for personal pleasure. If happiness if threatened in a marriage or by pregnancy, then the marriage or pregnancy must be terminated. Nothing may be permitted to stand in the way of happiness. No institution, no unwanted child, no human responsibility is so precious that it cannot be expediently offered to the supreme god of this insidious happiness cult.
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But there is something in all of this happiness-seeking that is little understood. Happiness is a coy mistress. She flees when sought, and appear out nowhere when she is least expected. Vikto Frankl, the founder of "Logotherapy" and Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Vienna, had this to say on happiness and self-actualisation:
Whereas, if this normal reaching out for meaning and beings is discarded and replaced by the will to pleasure or the "pursuit of happiness," happiness falters and collapses; in other words, happiness must ensue as a side-effect of meaning-fulfillment. And that is why it cannot be "pursued," because the more we pay attention to happiness, the more we make pleasure the target of our intentions by way of what I call hyperintention, to the same extent we become victims of hyper-reflection. That is to say, that more attention we pay to happiness or pleasure, the more we block its attainment, and lose sight of the primary reason of our endeavors; happiness vanishes, because we are intending it, pursuing it. This makes it impossible for fulfillment to ensue....
Now what holds for pleasure and happiness also holds for self-actualisation. Self-actualisation is a good thing; however, we can actualise ourselves only to the extent to which we have fulfilled a meaning , or encountered another human being. But we have no longer any basis for self-actualisation at the moment we are striving directly for it.
So far I have not said much about how the immediate social problems of women with problem pregnancies should be approached. In this connection, I refer to the work being done by an organization called Birthright as an
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illustration of what pro-life people can do and are doing to work constructively on tis side of the problem.
Birthright is an organization of trained volunteers concerned to serve women who have unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. It was begun by Louise Summerhill in Canada, but has spread to the Unite States, where many chapters are being formed in cities by people motivated by a reverence for life and a deep concern for expectant mothers.
Birthright helps by offering emotional and practical support on a one-to-one basis, as well as offering a referral service. The Birthright volunteer tried to be a concerned and loving friend to the woman who calls the Birthright office with a problem. She also tried to help in practical ways by getting whatever medical, psychological, or financial help the mother may need to see her way through the period of distress. to accomplish this Birthright has resources that include physicians, psychiatrists, social workers, and clergymen, in addition to many others in the community who offer their services and support to pregnant women.
On an even more practical level, Birthright offers free pregnancy tests, free emergency housing and transportation, and used maternity and baby clothes.
Under no circumstances will Birthright ever advise or refer for abortion. It seeks instead to offer only positive assistance and to encourage the mother to accept responsibility toward the sacred and precious life she carries within her. Birthright's statement of purpose succinctly illustrates its vision:
To uphold, promote, counsel and preserve the sacredness of human life from the moment of conception and at all times thereafter.
To render aid, counseling and assistance to expectant mothers, married or unmarried, regardless of age, quality, condition, race, religion, creed, color or nationality during all phases of pregnancy, for the benefit, health and well-being of both the mother and her unborn child and to render such aid, counseling and
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assistance subsequent to the birth of the child as will be in the best interests of both mother and child; and to work in cooperation with persons, associations and agencies, public and private, on a non-sectarian, interdenominational and nonpartisan basis, in providing the expectant mother with assistance consistent with the purposes stated above, and with rules, regulations and statutes relative to the practice of Law or Medicine or other laws enacted for the protection of children.
I would seems only right that churches, too ( especially those which ave issued strong statements regarding the evils of abortion), should feel a moral constraint to lend their full spiritual resources to women with problem pregnancies. This help may come in the form of pastoral counseling, financial aid directly to the mother who cannot afford a delivery, political pressure for more just adoption procedures, financial and prayer support for institutions of mercy like adoption agencies, hospitals, and metal health centers, or just in the form of people who care enough to "follow through" with those parents who make the hard decision to have their baby. I believe, incidentally, that such matters are part of the special responsibility of the church's diaconate.
Efforts to humanize the unborn child ought never to result in dehumanizing women. Hopefully, it has been shown that such efforts need not have such a result, though in some cases, unfortunately, it has happened.