Faithful Citizenship H arold D ean T r u lear
Pro-Life Civics “They are anti-abortion inside the womb, and pro-abortion after birth,” pronounced the late Dr.William Augustus Jones, then pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., and past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Jones offered this characterization of prolife advocates who stand against the murder of an unborn child but offer no support to them after their birth. Jones considered the failure to provide adequate healthcare, education, and other assistance to poor children to be “abortion by default”—a “slow death” to the civic life promised by our nation and the abundant life proffered by our Savior. He decried the attitudes of those who call for carrying pregnancies to term and then abandon the struggling mothers and families postnatal. Ron Sider has dealt with the policy dimensions of such a tragic bifurcation in Completely Pro-Life (InterVarsity, 1987). But those of us who claim to be “pro-life” must also ask if there are civic duties as well as policy issues raised in our commitment to babies and their families before and after birth. Our failure to do so reflects the lament of one civic official who proclaimed,“If it takes a whole village to raise a child, who’s going to raise the village?” There are villagers at work—people who see that new mothers need communities to wrap themselves around their families and assist in the regular work of child rearing. If they are single mothers, they often carry fears, stigmas, and shame or are just not prepared for the responsibility. If they are married, they may be carrying heavy financial burdens that make it difficult to raise a child. If the church stands against abortion, then the church cannot leave these women hanging and their children unsupported if they make the decision to bring the pregnancy to term.
Some churches, like Refuge Evangelical Baptist Church in Philadelphia, have support systems, training, and “big sisters” for women who have children out of wedlock.They are offered counseling and accountability sessions, but most importantly they are given the love and support they need for a good start in their journey as mother. The pastor, Wilbert Richardson,wrote hisWestminster Seminary master’s thesis on the program, developing it after noting how his attitude toward women with out-of-wedlock pregnancies changed after several women he respected in his church became pregnant. Other organizations have emerged to come alongside women at the pregnancy crossroads, bringing their strength of commitment to the life of the unborn child, along with help for mothers and babies after birth. Many of these organizations are part of the “pregnancy center” movement, agencies with professional and volunteer staff who administer pregnancy tests, ultrasound imaging, and counseling. In addition, many of the centers have prenatal classes, health seminars, mothering courses of study, and other supportive services, often led by people of faith who volunteer their time to come alongside struggling pregnant women. The Delaware County Pregnancy Center in Chester, Pa., offers material assistance to women through vouchers for maternity and baby clothing, carriages, and cribs. Successful completion of a course in nutrition, for example, earns a participant a certain amount of “Baby Bucks” to spend at the center’s thrift store.They also offer teen mothers the opportunity to attend college on a full scholarship if they remain abstinent after the birth of their first child. Pregnancy centers find support and sponsorship from a variety of Christian churches, with Roman Catholic and evangelical congregations contributing much of the vision, finance, and energy to the work.The ministry is not glamorous; indeed, it is ministry created by the PRISM 2009
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void in other local congregations—congregations that shun women with unwanted or out-of-wedlock pregnancies and send them de facto to prochoice forces where they may find the only persons willing to have a nonjudgmental conversation with them about their options. Adding to the challenge is the higher rate of abortion among the poor and disadvantaged, especially in black and Latino communities.According to an article published in the September/October 2002 issue of Perspective on Sexual Reproduction and Health,“Women who are aged 18–29, unmarried, black or Hispanic, or economically disadvantaged—including those on Medicaid—have higher abortion rates.” The article reports that although the overall abortion rate decreased by 11 percent between 1994 and 2000, “abortion rates for women with incomes below 200 percent of poverty and for women with Medicaid coverage increased between 1994 and 2000.” Furthermore, according to the article, the “rate of decline in abortion among black and Hispanic adolescents was lower than that among white adolescents, and the abortion rate among poor teenagers increased substantially.”1 The truth remains that pregnancy centers exist because many congregations have skirted not the issue but rather the women and children involved in the issue. It is easy to be “anti-abortion” when it doesn’t hit home, family, or congregation. It is far more difficult to embrace women and children affected by the difficulties involved in building a family in the face of policies that hurt the poor— and people of faith who ignore them. By simply being the church, in all its hospitality, we can show the world a truly “pro-life” civic community. n Harold Dean Trulear is associate professor of applied theology at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC, and a consultant for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Faith and Families Portfolio. Excerpted on the Guttmacher Institute website (www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3422602.html).
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