[Contents | About the Debate | Summary of Views | Dialogue | Questions from the Audience]
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Summary of Views |
A summary of the debate follows. The material is organized around various questions, some of which were not asked directly. The participant's statements are paraphrased in order to present a cogent digest of ideas.
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What is the basis for your views on abortion? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
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Ms. Michelman's life changed abruptly in 1970 when her husband left her, forcing her to raise three young daughters alone. A short time later she discovered she was pregnant. Penniless, jobless, emotionally shattered, and forced onto welfare, she made one of the most moral decisions she has ever made: to have an abortion. The survival of her family was at stake. She weighed the moral responsibility for the developing tiny life against the moral responsibility for her three born daughters. She chose the abortion out of a desire to be a good mother and to ensure the future of her family. There is a diversity of moral, ethical, and religious views as to when life begins. No one group has the right to impose its view on all people. The right to abortion is so fundamental to personal and religious liberties that the ultimate choice must be left to the woman alone. |
There are six ethical components of biblical faith: |
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Who are the peacemakers? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
| The peacemakers are those who: 1. respect women as moral agents 2. respect women as compassionate, ethical decision makers 3. respect differences in moral and religious convictions 4. work to make abortion less necessary 5. support policies that help women raise healthy, successful families. |
The peacemakers are those who renounce all levels of
violence: 1. the violence of male chauvinism 2. the violence of human abortion 3. the violence of blockade and rhetoric 4. the violence of gunfire 5. the potential violence of return gunfire. |
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What are your views on violence? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
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The violence and terrorism at women's health clinics are an assault on people and freedom; an assault on women who need health care and the physicians who provide it; an assault on women's integrity, dignity, and morality; an assault on freedom of choice and religion; an assault on America's hallmarks of plurality and diversity. The attacks derive from a lack of tolerance for other's religious beliefs and views, and a lack of respect for women, and a misunderstanding about why women choose abortion. The radical right has replaced debate with hate. Civil and respectful if passionate disagreement virtually have disappeared, replaced by intolerance and hostility. |
A person who is violent is not pro-life. The violence of human abortion is cloaked by the language of pro-choice. We need to be pro-informed choice and define life. The root-level violence in the majority of cases where women choose abortion, is male chauvinism. In 88% of all abortions, there is a man urging the woman through it. Male chauvinism sets men free to get women pregnant and then leave. The root-level violence that drove Ms. Michelman to have her abortion was the chauvinism of her husband who left her. The abortion industry protects the one-night stands and casual relationships that allow men to be chauvinists. We've got to redress the evil of abortion back to male chauvinism and work it from there. |
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What is the difference between pro-choice and pro-life? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
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There is a difference between pro-choice and pro-life people. Pro-choice people believe there is a diversity of opinion that is legitimate in this nation. They don't believe that through law, one can impose one set of beliefs that is so complex religiously, morally, and ethically as when life begins, on the entire nation. There are certain decisions, rights to make those decisions, that are so fundamental that those rights and the ability to exercise them need to be protected. |
The four subjects of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 encompass everything in the universe, and they appear in a specific order: God -> Life -> Choice -> Sex Those who are pro-life generally believe in God as the giver of life in an orthodox, biblical sense. Those who are pro-choice generally believe sex should not be restricted to marriage. The two views differ in how they arrive at definitions of life and choice. Pro-life: God -> Life -> Choice -> Sex Pro-choice: Sex -> Choice -> Life -> |God |
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Are women full moral agents? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
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Opponents of choice often ignore the ability of women to make good moral judgements and the need to take responsibility for their lives and the lives of their children. They demean women for being immoral, godless, and incapable of making decisions. These attitudes allow them to justify violence. Women are indeed moral agents. Our conscience at times compels us to choose abortion. Most religious Americans are pro-choice. |
Every religious origin text on the face of the planet, apart from Genesis, treats women as dust, dirt, demons, and animals. Only Genesis treats women as full image bearers of God, indeed as full moral agents. But women don't get pregnant apart from men. We need men's input in decisions for childbearing and abortion. |
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What is your opinion of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
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Roe v. Wade balanced the rights of women to make their own decisions in early pregnancy against the right of the state to protect life in the latter stages (post-viability). That is the best formulation for society. The pro-life movement does not have a right to impose their view on everyone in this nation through law. Just as those who believe in segregation and discrimination against people of color do not have the right to impose their view. We have to be very careful about fundamental rights. |
Life always precedes choice: 1. Life precedes choice in biology. Every person is conceived and born without his or her own choice. 2. Life precedes choice in law. The Declaration of Independence: "We are endowed by our creator [God] with unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty [choice], and the pursuit of happiness ..." 3. Life precedes choice in Genesis: God -> Life -> Choice -> Sex Hence we can not define choice until we first define life. On this basis Roe v. Wade is anti-informed choice. It did not allow any process for this culture to decide when life begins. Justice Blackmun said that if life begins at conception, then the freedom to choose abortion is legally a moot point. The court ruled against the unborn without defining life. Roe v. Wade is the first law in American history based on an explicit statement of ignorance. |
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What is the central question in the abortion debate? | |
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Ms. Michelman |
Mr. Rankin |
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Who decides? Who answers the moral, religious, and ethical questions? Should it be Americans who hold one set of religious views? Opponents of choice at the barricades? Government? Politicians? Judges? Or should it be women? We believe it is only women who can ultimately make this profound moral choice. |
Who is defining life and choice accurately? Look at the six ethical components and the five levels of violence. Only one position supports the ethics and opposes all levels of violence: the view that the lives of women and their unborn are to be protected equally under the law. |
[Contents | About the Debate | Summary of Views | Dialogue | Questions from the Audience]