By Kelsi Peace, Features Editor

Thoughtful Ramblings

The court addressed abortion April 18 – the partial-birth abortion act raises “ethical and moral concerns,” according to Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion.

This is an opinion many Christians have held since the issue first rose in the Roe v. Wade case, and I’m sure many count this decision as a victory for camp “pro-life.”

But a law making abortion illegal is a victory for those in the political arena – not the Christians who oppose abortion.

Many see this decision as simply the first step in re-opening the discussion, and I’m sure lobbying will begin anew on both sides for laws that will affect all manners of the issue. As a person who is passionately anti-abortion, I am excited at this step forward, as well as at the possibility of further changes being made.

We can lobby all we want, write letters and spread the news that abortion is ethically and morally wrong.

Some extremists even believe the answer is bombing abortion clinics – fighting the violence against unborn children with violence is equally horrifying.

But where have we, as Christians, been when women make the decision not to get an abortion?

We are so willing to help them every step of the way up until then, to offer counseling, show ultra sounds and champion adoption as the happy-ending solution. And then we return to our soapboxes to fight for another law, find another expectant mother and think we can solve the issue.

Our churches should be the first place pregnant women and teenage girls turn to when they think abortion is their only option – and as Christians, we should be there to show them alternatives to abortion.

Why don’t these women feel they can approach a church, any church, and say, “I feel like abortion is my only option?”

Because most likely, they can already predict the condemnation they will receive from some for being pregnant and un-married or even for contemplating the procedure.

And even if a woman is lucky enough to stumble upon a church that embraces her, helps her through the pregnancy and offers her support, she will most likely be left to fend for herself after the birth as the church looks for the next unborn baby to save.

Right now, the church is holding out their hands to these women who are teetering on the edge of a cliff and promising they will catch her. And when she takes that first leap of faith and chooses to keep her baby, she does have a hand to hold.

But once she’s reached the first plateau, the hand disappears – and she’s stuck, not yet safely on the ground, but no longer in the frightening position she first found herself in.

Where is the church to help her cope with giving up her baby for adoption?

Where is the church when, 15 years later, her child wants to meet her?

And where is the church if no one is willing to adopt the baby?

We need to stop stranding these women halfway to safety and instead see them safely to the ground. Pro-life Christians cannot claim victory until the solutions they champion are real – not partial – solutions. The court’s job is to make and uphold statements.

But a Christian’s job is to serve, not talk about it.