What About Your Daughter?

For years, pro-abortionists have charged pro-lifers with being hypocrites. They've sworn up and down that the same people who picket abortion clinics come slinking back, money in hand, as soon as their own daughters get pregnant. Well, that charge has just been trotted out again--with a vengeance. It all started when President Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle were asked what they would do if their own daughter (or granddaughter) were grown up and wanted an abortion. Both Bush and Quayle said they'd counsel the girls against such a course but said they'd love and stand by them no matter what they did. Instantly, pro-abortion forces started crowing. "Sounds like choice to me," said House Speaker Tom Foley. He's "changed his position," said Governor Mario Cuomo, referring to Quayle. "Double standard" screeched abortion groups, and gleefully pointed out what they saw as an inconsistency in supporting abortion for one's own daughter or granddaughter, while trying to outlaw it for all other women. What utter hogwash. Bush and Quayle only said what any parent would say: On one hand, they'd tell their children abortion is wrong; on the other hand, if an adult daughter went ahead and did it anyway, they'd still love her. Only a complete moral relativist would see that as an endorsement of abortion itself. It's merely an admission that we can't control everything our children do, and that we must love them even when they do wrong. The president even compared the situation to a child caught stealing. He would disapprove of the act, he said, but still love the child. This ought to sound familiar to those of us who are Christians. It's exactly what we mean when we say "Hate the sin but love the sinner." As Christians, we are utterly committed to the moral absolutes put forth in Scripture. We dare not soften or backpedal on biblical rules of right and wrong. But that doesn't mean we are harsh or punitive. We should love people even when they have abortions, even when they commit adultery, even when they are homosexual. Having standards doesn't mean we stop loving people. In fact, just the opposite: Helping people aspire to a high standard is an expression of love--a recognition of the high value God places on each of us. That's what so many people in our society don't understand. For the knee-jerk liberal, "love" means not having any standards. It means a mushy tolerance that says: Do whatever you want, it's your right. That explains why pro-abortion media folks and politicians were so quick to misinterpret what Bush and Quayle said. As soon as they heard the word "love," their minds linked it with freedom do whatever you please. There's a point here that goes beyond electoral posturing. Many people today fail to grasp the concept of loving the sinner while hating the sin. They are afraid to take a stand on anything for fear of being "judgmental." But this kind of confusion ultimately means accepting any and all behavior, without making any moral distinctions. So what about you? What would you tell your daughter about abortion?

09/1/92