the economics of abortion

A while back, Jake posted an interview with N.T. Wright, in which Wright commented that he felt global debt and economic relief should be more important issues to Christians than abortion. I can't link to the post directly, but here's the page it was on (see the top of the June 2 entries).

To be honest, I never visited the link to the whole interview, because that kind of thinking makes me crazy. It's like trying to pick which sin is most offensive to God. But lately, I've come to discover how much these two issues (economics and abortion) are related. There's a professor at Fuller (Glen Stassen) who's claiming that Bush's economic policies are linked to the rise of abortion rates during Bush's presidency.

Maybe it's not the greatest argument, and maybe there's more to it than Dr. Stassen is claiming. But it makes a point, that I think we'd be remiss to ignore -- That the spread of the Social Gospel is profoundly linked to the stamping out of Abortion here in the U.S. (and perhaps around the world as well). I'm not saying that if we elect Kerry, he'll miraculously end all abortion everywhere. My point is just this: maybe organizations like National Right to Life and Focus on the Family have an obligation to concede that the abortion debate is bigger than overturning Roe v. Wade. It will take a gradual paradigm shift (yeah, one of those), in which the religious right comes to grips with the fact that a 100% free-market model has little Scriptural basis. And that the best way to reduce abortions (and maybe even acts of crime and drug-abuse) is to provide economic relief and educational opportunites to the poor and oppressed.

What do you guys think?

posted by jonny @ 3:35 PM