Francis Beckwith on President Obama's Abortion Comments

Justin Taylor posted a piece of President Obama's recent comments on abortion, and Francis Beckwith, Baylor Philosophy Professor and Senior Visiting Fellow at Norte Dame, made some comments after reading President Obama's quotes on Justin Taylor's blog. I found them very provoking and very needed.

President Obama:

"On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women's health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman's right to choose.

While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue, no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.

On this anniversary, we must also recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights and opportunities as our sons: the chance to attain a world-class education; to have fulfilling careers in any industry; to be treated fairly and paid equally for their work; and to have no limits on their dreams. That is what I want for women everywhere."

Professor Francis Beckwith:

"Apparently, the only way our daughters can be successful is if they are permitted to kill our grandchildren.

So, without surgery so that women can be like men, women are unequal to men. Thus, according to Obama, women are congenitally inferior unless they can have abortions.

I don't even think the worst chauvinists in the world have implied anything so outrageous."

Sometimes the assumptions of the pro-choice argument can be deconstructed from the inside out. Beckwith demonstrates this clearly and poignantly.

President Obama is right in that this is a "sensitive and divisive issue," yet I disagree that this means that the ultimate issue is coming together on finding ways to "reduce the need for abortion." That sentence does not work for anyone who believes that there is never a need for abortion.

"Need for abortion." "Need for abortion." Listen to what that is saying. It presupposes a belief and one that is antithetical to the pro-life position.

The belief and assumption that President Obama carries into his viewpoint of pro-choice is not unifying but divisive. Where one comes down on certain issues eliminates the possiblity of agreeable conclusions. I am united to eliminate (and see a decrease in) abortion, but not the "need" for it. This is not a common viewpoint, nor is it a unifying foundation that President Obama has laid.

However, I would be called narrow. I would be the one that is divisive, because the sentence is framed in such a way that anyone who disagrees with the assumptions of his "unifying" statement is forced into divisiveness. I think its better just to admit that both of us are divisive. President Obama elevates the choice of the born pregnant female over the unborn male-female, and I elevate the right to life of the unborn male-female over that of the choice of the born pregnant female. Of course, I have made just a ton of assumptions, of which I believe to be true, and so has our President.

I sincerely hope that President Obama's goal is truly to do all that he can to lessen abortion. Oftentimes, one's who hold the pro-choice position insist that they really do not want to see more abortions, but less. However, it is paragraphs like his that do not give me that impression. In his view, a born female choice is supreme, the unborn human or unborn potential human is secondary. In that model the goal is not to decrease abortion but to elevate choice. Let's not act like we agree on the assumptions.

It is possible to honor someone with who you vehemently disagree with. I do honor President Obama as my President, and in honor, I radically express my disagreement with him. Somehow this can be done without compromise and with civility.