Open the Church and Close the Womb?

In a major change since earlier this decade, new studies have found that support for allowing gay marriage is up, but support for abortion rights are down. A new NBC study finds that 41% of Americans now support gay marriage, this up from 30% in 2004. The abortion study, completed by Pew, found that the debate is in a dead heat, with nearly half of the country supporting and half of the country opposing current abortion rights.

This double-shift is odd considering that citizens who support civil rights causes tend to also be pro-choice, but perhaps this shows this assumption is no longer true.

While I definitely see the change towards support for gay marriage as a positive step towards national rights and equality (guaranteed under the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution), the pro-life gains shown in these studies are a major blow to women throughout the country. This situation seems to be based purely on inaction by the National Organization for Women and other pro-choice groups, and the extreme amount of action by anti-abortion groups such as Operation Rescue. Even the murder of George Tiller, a late-term abortionist doctor in Wichita, KS a few months ago, which reopened a wider public debate on abortion, did not lead to a pro-choice push, but rather caused the pro-life movement to jump ahead by condemning the murder of Tiller and rallying around the idea of "no more deaths", be they Tiller or fetuses.

With the increase in national polarity and evangelical Christianity in recent years, the message that the right to abortion can be construed as an evil necessity has disappeared. Do I find abortion morally reprehensible? Yes, but I also realize the necessity for it at times, and that the actions of the individual are between her and her God. The right of man to regulate personal choice in the name of God is an affront to God. We do not outlaw adultery, speaking God's name in vain, or idolatry, which are all commonly recognized commandments, and yet many Americans find it reasonable to ban abortion and go out and have an affair. This is pure contradiction. Nothing more.

Obviously this is a very divisive issue. It is certainly understandable to hate abortion. Nonetheless, the first amendment provides that we shall live without the infliction of specific religion on our lives, and Griswold v Connecticut provides that we have a right to privacy of our person. Until this changes, dislike of something cannot make it illegal.