Many Christians who support abortion use the argument that all choices are good ones because human beings have “free will” — and therefore, abortion is a moral choice. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is one of these individuals, despite her Catholic faith. She has been outspoken about her view that abortion should be legal throughout pregnancy, and has made her share of shocking statements, including referring to abortion as “sacred ground.” And in 2015, Pelosi appealed to the “free will” argument to support this view.
That year, Congress was preparing for a visit from Pope Francis, and abortion was a large topic of debate, as it has always been. In an interview from her office, Pelosi said that her disagreement with the Pope, Catholic teaching, and other Catholics about abortion does not concern her. “I think everyone grants everyone their position,” she explained. “The Church has their (sic) position, and we have ours, which is that a woman has free will given to her by God. My family is very pro-life.”
But God-given free will is not meant to be used to simply do whatever one wants to do. If one chooses to use his or her free will to do evil, it’s clear in Catholic and Christian teaching that there are consequences for doing so. In the Old Testament, for example, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because they used their free will to choose to sin, listening to Satan, rather than to God.
If societal laws were based on the existence of free will, there would be no laws. ‘Free will’ would allow sexual predators to rape without earthly punishment. ‘Free will’ would allow parents to physically abuse their children. ‘Free will’ would allow thieves to steal. Free will, without objective moral standards, would open the door to a free-for-all world. This would be unjust.
READ: Gallup poll: More Americans believe abortion is morally wrong
Humans, instead, are to use our free will to do what is morally right. In the Bible, “Thou shalt not kill” is one of God’s commandments. And since it’s scientific fact – not to mention common sense – that abortion ends the life of a human being growing in his mother’s womb, it’s clear that abortion goes against God’s law. So while humans have free will, choosing to use it to violate God’s standards means we will suffer the unfortunate consequences of those choices.
Pelosi is personally pro-life, but politically pro-abortion. She is basically stating that, as a Catholic who believes in Heaven and Hell, she doesn’t care about the women (who may even consider themselves to be people of faith) who are choosing to kill their preborn children, and the consequences that come with that. She knows abortion is a moral wrong, and by working to keep it legal, she herself is breaking God’s law. Spreading evil by disguising it as good comes with a hefty price.
Those who claim to be pro-life should care about the well-being of women and stand against abortion.
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