Will “dialogue” end abortion – or just the abortion debate?
I was recently reading an orthodox Catholic publication, and a writer (a pro-lifer) was advocating the need for more “dialogue” in the national abortion debate. 
She argued that the two sides had become calcified in their positions, but if they would just dialogue, then perhaps progress would be made. Although this argument is a common one made in many political debates today – immigration, the role of government, etc. – it is not exactly defined what this “dialogue” should entail. But the assumption seems to be that if people were not so rigid in their position, then compromise can occur and the problem will be solved.
Is this really the case with abortion? Should we “dialogue” with those who are pro-abortion? It depends on what you mean by dialogue.
- If it means discussing the issue with those on the other side in a respectful manner, then absolutely. We believe every person is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore deserves respect. Although someone might be horribly wrong in their beliefs, we still must respect them as persons, even if we don’t respect their viewpoint.
- If it means that we engage in vigorous debates with pro-abortion forces, then absolutely. We should never be afraid to confront evil and we should be willing to stand for truth in every situation.
However,
- If it means that we compromise our beliefs in order to “end” the debate, then absolutely not. There are certain “non-negotiables” in the Catholic Faith, and the evil of every abortion is one of them.
For example, the common refrain we hear from pro-abortion advocates is that pro-lifers, if they are really against abortion, should support comprehensive sex education and contraceptive use. Not only is this contrary to the moral teachings of the Church, it has proven to be a disaster and to increase abortions. Such a “compromise” is essentially a capitulation.
The fact remains that our goal is to make all abortions prohibited by law and unaccepted by society. When the campaigns to stop cigarette smoking or drunk driving were in full swing, their advocates did not “dialogue” with those who opposed them. They relentlessly continued to march forward, knowing that success only comes to those who persevere.
As always, we should take Jesus as our model. He did not “dialogue” with those who adamantly opposed God’s will (see Matthew 23). But he did lovingly discuss the ways of God with those who were not living moral lives and were willing to see the light (see John 4). We should do likewise.
The ever-present whine for “dialog” by the liberal, secular relativists reminds me of one of the prime directives to exorcists that they not engage in debate or conversation with the evil possessing entity. Satan is a liar and would trap us however he can. If they can keep us in “dialog”, they can at the very least gradually change the meaning and nuance of words (we see this all the time in the media) rendering the dialog itself meaningless. Meantime, confusion is created, and souls are lost.
Last month there was a public exchange between NYT’s Ross Douthat and William Saletan of the Slate, which you can read about here,about a compromise solution Saletan proposed. From the way Saletan describes the pro-choice conference’s attitude, there’s significant cognitive dissonance going on: they’re starting to uneasily realize that there’s something wrong with abortion, but they haven’t even begun to question their basic premises yet.
The problem with a negotiated compromise is that, while an “all or nothing” insistance means that more children die while we wait for the pro-choice movement to collapse on itself, abortion as a limited option, as the result of a compromise, could conceivably remain with us for far longer. In the end, whether fifteen million babies are killed in fifteen years or in fifty years, that’s still fifteen million babies killed.
You’re right, Eric; as long as our culture retains the delusion that pregnancy is some kind of undesirable “occasional side-effect” of sex rather than its natural biological goal and outcome, the same attitude that drives contraception will drive the insistence on abortion as a right. The only appropriate end to dialogue is to change the hearts and minds of the pro-choice culture, not to negotiate an end to the struggle.
What I love is the “you have to change hearts first” argument. I’d love to see the reaction if you used that argument for wife-battering or human trafficking. In truth, studies of the social effects of laws show that general public attitudes change after the law changes. Legal things tend to be approved of, but if made illegal the approval drops. If illegal things are made legal, approval rises. Slavery, once considered normal and necessary, is now considered ghastly; abortion, once considered ghastly, is now considered normal and necessary. A big fight by committed groups brought about the changes in the law, but the general public attitudes followed the changes.
And yes, we have to talk openly about the issue of sex and the accepted mainstream view that sex outside of committed marriage and disconnected from reproduction is normal and healthy. It has to be challenged, with intelligence and with detailed substantiation. Widespread misuse of sex, directly enabled by legalized abortion, has wrecked our society: affairs and broken marriages, broken homes, single mothers, fatherless children, dropouts, drugs, poverty, crime, not to mention stds, infertility and premature birth (abortion scars and weakens the uterus), cerebral palsy (caused by premature birth), economic and workplace effects (welfare and high absenteeism of single working moms who have no one to help with the kids), all have exploded since abortion was legalized, because abortion enables people to act out sexually without having to deal with unwanted childbirth.
It’s like a drug, and everyone is so addicted they can’t even see the widespread damage it is doing. And it turns out the “old-fashioned” way, marriage and monogamy and mom and dad’s responsibility for the children, is the best, most natural and healthy way for everyone after all.