Some evangelical leaders have embraced critical theory and social justice ideology—and in doing so, they’ve made themselves susceptible to accepting social justice myths.
One of the biggest indictments against the evangelical branch of the social justice movement is that it’s increasingly adopting talking points from the most fundamental social justice activists: abortion activists. In fact, many professing Christians who embrace social justice ideology inevitably become more apathetic—or in some cases—supportive of abortion.
Over the last five years, some of the most popular myths and propaganda narratives from abortion activists in America have become widely accepted by Christians who advocate for social justice. Particularly, many Christians are convinced Black Lives Matter, socialist healthcare, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and other social justice initiates are just as pro-life as anti-abortion advocacy.
But more recently, because of the upcoming election, many Christians are insinuating that voting for pro-abortion politicians—particularly, the Democrats—is a viable option for pro-life people because they believe Democrats decrease abortion rates.
That, however, isn’t the truth. It’s a myth—a popular myth developed by abortion activists to deceive pro-life and Christian Americans into voting against the pro-life movement.
Abortion activists, naturally, are prone to lying. They lie about science, and they lie about statistics.
The pro-abortion movement is actually centred on lies. One of their most powerful pioneers, Dr. Bernard Nathanson—a co-founder of the first American pro-abortion advocacy group (NARAL) and an abortionist who killed over 75,000 babies before he became pro-life—admitted the pro-abortion movement relies on lies to advance their agenda. He said:
“We fed the public a line of deceit, dishonesty, a fabrication of statistics and figures. We succeeded [in breaking down the laws limiting abortions] because the time was right and the news media cooperated. We sensationalized the effects of illegal abortions, and fabricated polls which indicated that 85% of the public favoured unrestricted abortion, when we knew it was only 5%. We unashamedly lied, and yet our statements were quoted [by the media] as though they had been written in law.”
In the same way, abortion activists today are lying and misleading many Americans into believing Democrats decrease abortion rates.
That myth was created by abortion activists during Bill Clinton’s presidency in the mid-1990s, when abortion rates under his administration were lower than his Republican predecessor, George Bush Sr. But the myth became more widespread during Barack Obama’s second-term, when abortion rates dropped to its lowest since Roe v Wade made abortion legal throughout America in 1973.
Abortion activists (and Christians who advocate for social justice) claim leftist, social justice bills on healthcare and the economy prevent abortions. They claim the Democrat’s commitment to expanding welfare programs like Medicaid is the reason why abortion rates decrease when a Democrat is president.
But the data is grossly misleading. In fact, the data is so misleading, I’m tempted to believe the main reason why people—including professing Christians—believe Democrats decrease abortion rates is because they desperately want it to be true, to justify their apathy on abortion.
Indeed, abortion rates decreased when Bill Clinton became president after George Bush Sr, and abortion rates decreased when Barack Obama became president after George Bush Jr.
However, abortion rates continued to decrease when George Bush Jr became president after Clinton, and they continued to decrease when Donald Trump became president after Obama. Actually, abortion rates have dropped to record-lows every year since Donald Trump’s election.
The truth is, abortion rates have been steadily dropping since Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the early 1980s. It’s shocking that it needs to be said: but abortion rates aren’t dropping because of policies from pro-abortion politicians, they’re dropping because initiatives and policies by the pro-life movement and pro-life politicians.
It’s disturbing that some professing Christians seem more willing to give pro-abortion politicians—who unashamedly threaten to expand abortion laws—more credit for decreasing abortion rates than pro-life advocates and pro-life politicians.
But that kind of illogical thinking is preceded by a failure to challenge our culture’s narratives on abortion. For instance, it’s not true that welfare programs decrease abortion rates. There isn’t a single legitimate research that supports that claim.
Nevertheless, many people believe welfare programs decrease the rate of abortions because they believe poor women are more likely than wealthy women to get abortions. But that’s not true either. Wealthier women are actually more likely to get abortions than poor women—that’s partly why African countries have the lowest abortion rates in the world.
Actually, In America, the states with the highest abortion rates are Democrat-controlled states with the most expansive welfare programs in the country. And that’s consistent with international data. The top 14 nations with the highest abortion rates in the world are either current or former socialist nations.
Welfare programs and socialistic policies do not decrease abortion rates. There’s actually more reason to believe they increase abortion rates.
That shouldn’t be surprising. Stealing from people to stop others from murder isn’t helpful. Overtaxing innocent people to decrease abortion rates doesn’t stop one injustice, it creates two injustices. After all, is that God’s reaction to people who kill their babies in the Bible? When the ancient Israelites sacrificed their children to Moloch, did God instruct the priests and kings to create welfare programs to stop the parents from killing their babies?
Abortion rates have been steadily declining since the early 1980s because after Roe v Wade, pro-life advocates and pro-life politicians developed what is now the modern pro-life movement.
Beginning in 1980, pro-life advocates and pro-life politicians worked together to produce the Hyde Amendment, a bill that prevents federal tax-payer money from funding most abortions. Abortion rates started to decline for the first time shortly after the bill was passed. In fact, research shows the bill has prevented 2 million abortions over the last 40 years. However, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have officially listed repealing the Hyde Amendment on their platform.
Nevertheless, other incremental pro-life laws like parental consent laws and gestation-limits dramatically decreased abortion rates when they were implemented by pro-life politicians in their respective states.
And finally, because of the pro-life movement, Americans are becoming increasingly pro-life. In 1995, only 33% of Americans identified as pro-life. In 2009, however, 51% of Americans identified as pro-life. Americans are having less abortions because Americans have become more pro-life.
The Democrats are not responsible for declining abortion rates. Why would we believe pro-abortion people want to decrease abortion rates, anyway? Low abortion rates isn’t good business for Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.
Still, God hasn’t merely instructed us to decrease abortion rates. He’s commanded us rescue all babies from slaughter (Proverbs 24:11-12), and he’s commanded us to establish justice for all pre-born babies—he’s commanded us to delegalize murder against babies.
And as a pro-life advocate at the Canadian Centre For Bio-Ethical Reform, I’m grateful I get to play a small role in the pro-life movement.