As the pro-choice movement struggles to move forward, I find it interesting to note the reaction of the Christian community. Within the past decade, America has seen the decline in both the quality and quantity of active dissent on the part of Christians. Coincident with the 1990 peak in the number of abortions performed in the United States, there was a crest in the level of anti-abortion activism. Christians during at the beginning of this decade were active on all levels of the pro-life movement. On the national level the anti-abortion lobby was quite visible. At this time, constituents went to the polls with the abortion issue being a primary criterion for their voting decisions.

Because of this, candidates for public office were all but required to take a stance on the abortion issue as major part of their election platform. Pro-life pregnancy centers were opening up everywhere to provide women with the clinical and emotional resources necessary to carry a child to term. It was also during this time that sidewalk protests made national news and abortion clinic picketers were hitting the pavement every weekend. Pastors, counselors, and laypeople alike were counseling and praying with women outside of clinics. Arrests occurred, men and women engaged in acts of civil disobedience, legal battles ensued, but even these arguably undesirable conflicts performed a necessary function in the anti-abortion movement. At the very least, these conflicts were all results of activity.

So I ask the question, where are Christians now? Tom Shrader, the pastor of my home church, East Valley Bible Church, asks,

"What happened to us? We are still killing 1.2 to 1.5 million babies every year and we're not doing anything about this. There was a day I was out on Rural Road with picket signs. What happened? Thirty years now, we've killed about 45 million babies. I'm not throwing guilt here, what happened to me?" (Sermon Message, 12-28-03)

I have the same question. What happened to the outrage which Christians formerly converted into action? Why did we stop acting on our convictions as we once did?

I believe the answer to this question comes from the explication of two attitudes that seem prevalent among believers of late. First, Christians have lost their sense of urgency. Today only the gruesome partial-birth abortions (Late Term Dilation and Extraction, to be more precise) have garnered the same level of attention that the entire abortion issue once did. While I understand that this abortion procedure is a more egregious violation of the principles of life, it is important to note that it is only so because the procedure is a further, more blatant expression of the same societal disrespect for the principles of God-breathed life that prevailed in 1973.

In fact, our actions would lead to the conclusion that Christians have simply become accustomed to the presence of early-term abortion as an institution. Between 1973 and the present it is estimated that 44-45 million babies have been aborted in the United States alone. There has been a decline in the number of abortions performed in recent years, falling from 1,429,577 in 1990 to 857,475 in 2000, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. (here)

But this decline hardly warrants the relaxed stance of the Christian community towards abortion.

Although the Church has taken a hard line with partial-birth abortions, it is not because these procedures have suddenly outstripped the number of deaths from surgical abortions. More than three-quarters of a million pregnancies are still aborted every yearend partial birth methods constitute only a small fraction of these deaths. But these numbers do not appear shocking to anyone, at least not shocking enough to inspire action. Although believers still state strong objections to abortion in every form, I question the diminished public outcry and the overall lack of action. It is compromising at best to claim a conviction about the sanctity of life unless one is willing to act upon that conviction. Simply stating our convictions will not cause the kind of change that is necessary.

The second attitude that explains the lack of active response from Christians is one of fear. Many Christians are afraid of being associated with the extremists who use violence as a means of proclaiming their message. James Kopp and a few others have perpetrated acts of violence and murder against abortion providers. Pro-choice leaders linked these extremists with the larger, peaceful-life movement. However, I believe that this association would be much more effectively debunked by actively reclaiming the pro-life message instead of remaining silent in the hopes that no one will accuse us of being extremists. Further, this fear is only a contributing factor to true underlying fear. This fear is that the active defense of our principles might require more of our time, effort, or freedom than we are willing to expend.

Christians should be commended who are actively defending the rights of the unborn today. This article is not intended to berate or discourage Christians, but simply to provide a frank reflection of the current state of affairs. Chuck Colson believes,

"The best way to pursue our case is not just being anti-abortion. We must be truly pro-life… helping our neighbors to understand the issues by our words and demonstrating our love by compassionate care." (Jan 22, 2003, Breakpoint Online)

Organizations such as Crisis Pregnancy Centers continue to have very effective ministries doing just this by reaching out to young women and thus defending the unborn by taking action.

But there are millions of Christians who are doing nothing. Today abortion is an institution and the question still remains: where is the outrage? Where are the pro-life activists? The sidewalk picket lines? The answer is simple. We are at home. We are in our churches. And we are OK with the status quo.