Abortion Has Become a Religious Rite, not Just a Legal “Right”

Author: John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy D. Padgett

Earlier this month, an Indiana judge blocked a prolife law, arguing that limiting abortion violates freedom of religion. The claim, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and Hoosier Jews for Choice, argued that an Indiana law “violates religious freedoms by burdening the ability to obtain an abortion in accordance with their sincerely held beliefs.”

Judge Christina R. Klineman agreed with the argument:

The court finds that there is significant public interest in ensuring the religious freedom of all citizens and the state’s position that religious freedom is somehow less important than other exceptions in the abortion law puts the court in an untenable position and finds a permanent injunction the only proper relief.

The ACLU, which does not typically champion religious rights, responded by saying:

Today’s ruling is a recognition that religious freedom protects people of many faiths and beliefs, not just those favored by the state … For more than three years, our clients have challenged a law that forces them to choose between their faith and their autonomy.

Of course, asserting a religious right to kill kids is a diabolical attempt to be clever. And yet, twisting the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is more than rhetorical snark. It indicates how dramatically the conversation about abortion has shifted in recent years, even as imaging technologies and prenatal medicine has clarified what abortion truly is. Not that long ago, politicians campaigned on the idea that no one really wanted abortion, but women needed it for extraordinary circumstances. Now, abortion is celebrated with light shows and dance parties, as if it is a moral good and any restrictions are a fundamental violation of human rights. It used to be “safe, legal, and rare.” Now, it’s “Shout your abortion!”

Pro-abortion propaganda has become more radical even as the political climate increasingly favors abortion. In the years since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, so-called abortion “rights” have been enshrined into the constitutions of numerous American states. With rare exceptions, when voters were given the chance to curb abortion in their states, they largely failed to show up. The GOP was once a prolife party, but now openly endorses chemical abortion and unregulated IVF, the two most common ways to kill preborn children in America.

Abortion is not merely a plank in the progressive party’s platform. It is the chief commitment of the worldview that dominates America. It is, for many, a sacrament to recognize, enshrine, and honor autonomy. Abortion is not merely a legal right of a decadent society. It is a rite of worship, specifically a way to worship the idols of self, state, and sex.

Abortion is not, nor has it ever been, a matter of mere policy. Certainly, the politics of abortion is an essential place to take a stand. However, as the performative marches in “Handmaid” outfits demonstrate, abortion has always been, at heart, a worldview issue. As important as legal victories are, the goal must be for abortion to become as unthinkable as the great social evils of slavery and genocide.

What we are seeing is that abortion is not only thinkable; it is revered as a symbol and a rite of a terrible religion. That’s why the loudest advocates for abortionare claiming that people cannot have an authentic life without access to it. Of course, that betrays what they think really think, not only about the value of preborn lives, but about the moral abilities of human beings.

As such, there is no such thing as a Christian not called, to some degree, to oppose abortion and defend preborn lives. We need not attend every march or express every outrage. We must, however, protect every vulnerable life, support every vulnerable mother and father, and advance the Christian understanding of human dignity every chance we are given.