Abortion, Wallis, and priority alignment with Jesus

I don’t agree with Wallis’s position on abortion. Without fully claiming it, Wallis is pro-life. Its unclear whether he would work to see it outlawed or even what restrictions to abortion he would advocate, but Wallis definitely wants the abortion rate reduced. As he does throughout his book, Wallis makes an attempt at finding that vital center in the American political discourse, but unlike some of his other forays on the fence, his take on abortion works for me.

Abortion has never been a huge issue for me. I think folks on either side of the argument have legitimate ethical claims given one’s conception of life. Abortion is the first of many bio-ethical issues that will come to the fore in the political discourse over the next fifty years. Stem cell research, cloning and abortion are the tip of the iceberg of issues that challenge are existing theological and ethical frameworks. Artificial intelligence, bionic tissue/organ replacement and choosing your kid’s DNA are issues just over the horizon that will require progressives to be welcoming of public discussion and debate.

Wallis is correct to point out that the Democratic Party should open itself to pro-life people for the simple reason that the party is losing millions of voters on that one issue alone. The platform could still call for a pro-choice position, while being welcoming to pro-life members and candidates. Indeed, pro-life Democratic candidate Bob Casey has a huge lead in the polls of Sen. Rick Santorum heading into next year’s Senate race in Pennsylvania. Being more open to folks who have pro-life position would bring some of those working class folks that Thomas Frank speaks of in “What’s the Matter with Kansas?� back into the fold of the Democratic Party.

The simple fact is that we don’t have a record of Jesus saying anything concrete about abortion, homosexuality or any of the bio-ethical issues that lie ahead. Therefore, good Christians can disagree and good progressives should be able to disagree. What Jesus did spend his time on was healing the sick, helping the poor, challenging the risk, and advocating for nonviolence. If Christians (progressives, moderates, conservatives, and apoliticals) spent their time in debate and activism on issues in the same proportion that Jesus spent his time discussing, then abortion would be a much lesser issue than ensuring that the millions of children who starve around the globe each year get fed or providing health insurance for every American. These are the core issues of Jesus’s teaching and we all need to do a better job of following his word.

This blog entry is one in a series of commentaries on Jim Wallis's God's Politics. I have been fortunate enough to take a class with him this semester at the Harvard Divinity School.