2 of 2

A pluralist society does not allow people to follow their consciences if their consciences lead them to kill an innocent human being. A free society will invade a person's privacy if it is certain that she is privately about to kill an innocent human being. A just society may well pass laws whose execution leads to unfairness to some people if not to pass them causes a greater unfairness, the killing of innocent human beings. A mercifulsociety may well make laws that burden children if not to make them encourages the killing of innocent, unborn children. A wise society may well make laws it does not have the will to enforce if not to pass them makes killing human beings legal. In sum, all of the arguments that are based on what a good society will or will not do fail at the frontier of the rights of a fetus to live.

I have here only tried to show that the best arguments for freedom of abortion run aground on one crucial question: What is a fetus and what rights does it have? Every argument assumes that the fetus's life is at best an issue secondary to every other issue, but it is precisely here that the final decision rests. And it is here that our society is at agonizing odds with itself. Does human fetal life have a value only secondary to every other social value? It is with this question that the conscience of our society must ultimately come to terms.

This article originally appeared in the July 15, 1983 issue of Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Other stories appearing on our site today include:

Hurt, Hate, and Healing | A 1985 interview with Lewis Smedes.

Forgiveness—The Power to Change the Past | To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

Controlling the Unpredictable—The Power of Promising | When you make a promise you have created a small sanctuary of trust within the jungle of unpredictability.

Books written by Lewis Smedes are available at Christianbook.com.

Additional Christianity Today articles written by Lewis B. Smedes include:

How to Deal With Criminals | Is there a biblical principle behind the punishment of those who break the law? (July 8, 2002)

Keys to Forgiving | How do you know that you have truly forgiven someone? (Dec. 3, 2001)

Who Are We to Judge? | Did Jesus forbid us from judging others? (Oct. 8, 2001)

Can God Reach the Mentally Disabled? | Are mentally challenged adults whose intellectual age is probably that of a 1-year-old sheltered under God's salvation? (March 21, 2001)

Is Suicide Unforgivable? | What is the biblical hope and comfort we can offer a suicide victim's family and friends? (July 6, 2000)

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46