Are Religious Objections the Only Objections to Abortion? Hillary Clinton Seems to Think So

I was struck by an article that had floated onto my webpage recently where presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested that too many women are denied abortions. In her comments on the matter, she said:

"Far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth. All the laws we’ve passed don’t count for much if they’re not enforced... Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed."

How ridiculous is this? Bill Donahue of the Catholic League was right on the money when he said in response, "Never before have we seen a presidential candidate be this bold about directly confronting the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion. It’s time for Hillary to take the next step and tell us exactly what she plans to do about delivering on her pledge." But I also think it's ridiculous for another reason. Mrs. Clinton really seems to believe that the only real objections to abortion are those that stem from a religious or cultural basis. That couldn't be further from the truth, as seen by the myriad of secular and feminist pro-life groups. But sometimes, some Christians really push away those that are non-religious and pro-choice with their rhetoric. It's pretty easy to know that abortion is wrong with out being religious, and I think it's time that all those that are pro-life use more arguments that are strictly secular at certain points, as the science is certainly behind us on the pro-life side, and not on the pro-choice side.

March for Life Berlin 2012

 I myself am a theist, obviously and as others have said around the web, there's no reason to give religious arguments because they typically don't sway anybody and usually do more damage than good. If anyone has ever watched a video of Trent Horn defending the pro-life cause, you'll see a good example of a Christian who never uses religious arguments.

That being said, I really appreciate sites like Secular Pro-Life for what it does. Theists and non-theists alike can come together there and defend those who are defenseless, and it gives us who use social media a great opportunity to share excellent thoughts with secular friends without posting something that will potentially turn them off (as ridiculous and unfortunate as that is) from a religious website. A secular position on this subject is all one needs to present a compelling case to others. I think acknowledging God certainly can bolster our arguments, but only with certain people.

Jesus Disputes with the Pharisees

For Christians, if you look in the Gospel accounts, you often see Christ quoting different parts of the Old Testament to different groups such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees. When trying to prove a point to the Sadducees, Christ would only use proof texts from the Torah, as those were the only Scriptures the Sadducees accepted, and thus was the only common ground they had. Theists and pro-choice secularists both acknowledge science, just as Christ and the Sadducees both acknowledged the Torah. We have to go from common ground when defending the unborn, and we can learn from our secular pro-life friends who give all pro-lifers regardless of their religious affiliation a great platform to do so. We should certainly continue to do so on our own in our daily lives as the need arises.