George Lucas is famous for his…ummm…unique directing style on the original Star Wars set. The stars have remarked (sometimes with a wry smile) his direction consisted primarily of “faster…more intense.” Perhaps not the most helpful, but the show turned out decent, I guess, even if it was a little difficult for the actors. But Harrison Ford went a little deeper and explained why he thinks Lucas had so much difficulty:
“I think George likes people, I think George is a warm-hearted person, but… he’s a little impatient with the process of acting, of finding something. He thinks that something’s there. [pointing at the script] “It’s right there, I wrote it down. Do that”. You know. Sometimes you can’t just “do that” and make it work.”
Unfortunately, just writing something on paper doesn’t make it actually true in reality. Real life is not as simple as the stroke of a pen. It’s messy, it’s difficult, and it can be hard to live in that ambiguity if we have a more direct way of thinking.
I find myself thinking the same thing about the recent hullabaloo regarding the Supreme Court possibly overturning Roe v Wade. First, a couple quick notes. I’m assuming two things here:
1) that the “leaked” ruling will in fact be handed down, which isn’t certain, and
2) that there ISN’T language that indicates “life begins at conception.”
So many of my conservative Christian friends are soooo excited about this possibility. For myself, I’ve been pondering why I’m not. After all, in my teens and twenties, this would have been the greatest news I could have ever heard. I did the marches, I wore the T-Shirt, I joined in the discussions in youth group about “saving all these innocent babies.” Overturning Roe was the stated goal – we gotta make abortion illegal. Partly to save people, but also because God was judging America for our sinfulness for allowing this “holocaust.”
And yet, now that it’s a possibility, I find myself strangely blase. I’m not opposed to it being overturned, obviously. I’m still pro-life, maybe even moreso than I was back then. I still think abortion is the ending of a life made in God’s image. I still think life begins at fertilization, both for scientific and Biblical reasons.
And yet…
So, I’ve been pondering, and I think maybe the issue is that I’ve come to see the world in more complex terms, and Roe versus Wade is such a small part of the abortion issue. I just don’t see it as a real goal anymore. Or at least not the primary goal. I think I can pinpoint a few reasons why:
Number one, it doesn’t even do anything about the legality of abortion.
Now, I’m no legal mind, so I could be all wrong on this. But I have watched a lot of Law & Order, and I feel this qualifies as at least an honorary law degree. So, take this as a simple man’s understanding of the law.
I do not think overturning Roe makes abortion illegal. All it does is return it to the states. Which is fine, but I don’t think it will do as much as many pro-life people think it might. Most people in America live in states that fairly pro-choice overall, and overturning Roe won’t change access there (several governors have already stated that it will change nothing for their state). And that doesn’t include all the newly “illegal” abortions. I think with new abortions pills, it will be easy to mail or carry abortion access wherever people want to go. It is going to be almost impossible to enforce across state lines.
Again, unless the ruling includes language that states “life begins at conception,” this doesn’t solve the underlying problem. All it does is move it to a different arena, and in my opinion, increases the partisanship and division already present in our country. It just makes a feel better with a “paper” victory, like we’re winning the culture war. Yea, team!
Number two, Congress Could Override It
If the ruling here is simply that the Roe decision over-stepped the legal bounds of the court (which may be true, again, not a lawyer), that doesn’t do anything to stop Congress from passing a law making abortion legal everywhere. In fact, it almost makes it worse, because then it’s a law that has to be overturned, rather than just a decision. It becomes MORE codified in the law, not less.
President Biden has already stated his intention to sign a law as quickly as possible, and with majorities in both Houses, the Democrats could pass this at any time. And then what? More fighting to make sure all the “pro-life” Republicans get into office? We’re playing right into their fund-raising hands, and congratulating ourselves on being conned.
The real issue is to change people, and you do that by supporting people, by being an example of loving life at all stages, by being a light instead of a hammer. No, it’s not as much fun as giving speeches and filling our self-righteous britches with the holy poo of “winning,” but it’s the way society changes. And I would argue it’s the way of Jesus.
Number three, It Won’t Impact Abortions Very Much
It distracts us from the real issue – it’s a “script” win. According to studies, overturning Roe “may” reduce abortions by up to 12%; almost 90% of abortions will be unchanged. Yes, of course I think any change that lowers abortions is good. I’m not opposed to it.
But all the money and focus and yelling and marching to change 10%? On the other hand, the number one driver of abortion is poverty (40%) with another 20% closely tied (lack of spousal support, including financial). Over 60% of abortions are tied to either inability to pay for a child, or lack of partner financial support, and some studies indicating worry about providing a decent life for their child adding to it as well. Financial stress could be the underlying force of almost ¾ of abortions.
If we want to make the biggest dent in ending abortion, it’s not about overturning Roe, it’s about providing financial assistance and medical care to every woman. And yet these are the very things “pro-life” politicians and many Christians stand so strongly against. Again, I’m not opposed to a legal change; I’m opposed to the delusional thinking that “winning” on Roe is the top priority.
It Encourages the Worst of Us
This is the part that makes me the saddest. Watching Christians react to this news with a smug “yes, we won, you Leftist losers” is one of the most heart breaking things I’ve seen in a while, and that’s saying something. The definite sense I (and according to my timelines, a lot of pro-choice people) get is that this has very little to do with loving our neighbor or babies, and far more about winning the cultural war.
This has emboldened all those who think everything was worth sacrificing to overturn Roe versus Wade. Now they can say “See, it was worth it, no matter what we had to give up for it.” I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve seen or have told me directly that I better apologize for not supporting Trump, because now they’ve been proven right.
But they don’t seem to understand that it wasn’t that I thought Trump’s appointees might not overturn Roe, it’s that I don’t think it matters enough for the sacrifices the church made to get it. I think that long-term, because abortions probably won’t go down, what it will really accomplish is to drive more people from the church. And it might even increase abortions. Abortions ROSE for the first time in almost fifteen years under President Trump, Planned Parenthood got more funding and performed more abortions than ever. Again, we’re focusing on the way things “look” on paper, rather than what it is actually happening.
But now conservative people are celebrating like it was all worth it. All the people driven from the church, all the babies that were killed, all the extra division, all the immigrants hurt, all the damage done to the Church’s witness – all means nothing because…Roe is overturned. Not abortion is illegal, not babies are saved, not life begins at conception. Roe is overturned. At most, a slight drop.
This doesn’t mean I think that abortion should be legal or that Roe versus Wade should not be overturned. I think it should be, when the Christian witness in America makes abortion unthinkable. When people don’t WANT to have abortions, because they recognize each life as valuable. When each woman knows their local church will love and support them. That Christians love and care for the poor more than winning a legal battle.
(side note, a lot of evangelicals claim that “the only issue that matters is saving babies,” but a study of white evangelicals rank Abortions as the 11th most important factor in their voting, and Supreme Court appointments as the the 7th. Terrorism, Economy, Immigration, Foreign Policy, Gun rights, Social Security, Trade policy, and Education rights all beat out abortion. That tells me that white Christians don’t care about abortion nearly as much as they say or think they do, they just like to use it as the big club, because “who doesn’t care about babies.” Don’t believe me? Ask yourself if you or the people you know who voted for Trump would have voted for Hillary Clinton if she was pro-life.)
The Real Issue
What we need is people on both sides of the aisle agreeing that life begins at conception. A top down ruling like this, one that doesn’t even address the underlying issue, isn’t going to do much. It just makes the partisanship worse, makes the church worse, and will probably embolden Congress to drive abortion even deeper into law.
I wish I was excited as I would have been 20 years ago. I wish I still had that simple of view of just “overturn Roe and everything will be good.” But I’ve changed. I’ve learned too much about the issue, and how complicated it all is. I’ve learned too much about how laws follow Society, not the other way around. I’ve seen and read too much about the racial background of the pro-life movement. I see Roe as part of the issue, but I just don’t see it as this life-changing or cultural changing moment.
Biblically speaking, I don’t see Jesus or the apostles focusing on changing laws. I don’t think that means we shouldn’t be good citizens, but i think when we sacrifice loving our neighbors, giving of ourselves and our finances, when we just want to win on paper, I think we’ve lost the point. And I think when we make compromises to make it happen, it always ends up worse in the long run.
In the end, I hope I’m wrong. I hope this is a first step towards eliminating abortions in America. But I really doubt it. I feel like this might just exasperate the issue, sides will just dig in more, and the ease of abortion pills will render it moot anyway. And all the cheering by conservative white people, just makes it worse. It’s the appearance that it’s all about winning, not about saving lives. And justifying our voting decisions for years that maybe weren’t as pure as we like to pretend.
I hope life comes to be seen as valuable in America. I hope every child gets a chance. But changing it on paper doesn’t change anything, or changes very little. Just writing it down saying “do it” doesn’t actually change lives. I wish it did. But maybe you’ll forgive me for not jumping up and down for joy.
Bad back you know.